Justifiability of Putting an End to Life of In Vitro Embryo in Light of Contradiction with an Analysis of Imam Khomeini’s Views

Identifying and diffusion of a new type of cells known as stem cells is among new findings in medical science. Stem cells are capable of regulating human body’s safety system, reproduction, regeneration, transformation into specialized cells (differentiation) with a more specific function and tissue repair, for which they have drawn attention of scientists during the recent years.In vitro embryo is one major source of stem cell that practically puts an end to the life of embryo. Now questions arise vis-à-vis such practice: Is putting an end to embryo life for stem cell extraction and medical treatment religiously permissible or justifiable? Are we allowed to generate embryo for stem cell extraction? This study, developed through a descriptive-analytical methodology and a review of diversified fundamentals of embryo, jurisprudential sources in particular, intends to present a new criterion for embryo life and to prove worthiness and full human life status for in vitro embryo from the moment of gamete maturation. Apparently, proving human worthiness and dignity at the stage of gamete maturation with the criterion of embryo purposefulness and resorting to the principle of contradiction and rejection of distress and constriction, the practice of putting an end to the life of in vitro embryo becomes justifiable. However, this reasoning falls short of justifying embryo regeneration for destruction. By virtue of a legal ruling by Imam Khomeini, we have tried to infer permissibility of taking the life of in vitro embryo by analogical reasoning on priority of rulings.