The Acceptability of Wrongful Birth Actions within Jurgen Habermas' Discursive Theory of Law

This article examines the acceptability of wrongful birth (WB) actions based on Jurgen Habermas' discursive theory of law. Initially, it is described how different genetic tests are used nowadays to inform reproductive decisions. Then, it delimits legal cases of abortion requests, in contexts where abortion is legal because of embryo and fetus problems unknown to their parents as the lex artis ad hoc was not followed in pre-conception, pre-implantation, and prenatal diagnostic procedures. After that, the article presents the explanation of the reasons that Habermas, in the debate with Thomas McCarthy, suggested for evaluating the legitimacy of the norms and judicial decisions in terms of foundation discourses and their application. Finally, the consequences arising from these arguments are considered to assess the admissibility of this type of lawsuits.