Given the profound moral-ethical controversies regarding the use of new biotechnologies in medical research and treatment, such as embryonic research and cloning, this book sheds new light on the role of religious organizations and actors in influencing the bio-political debates and decision-making processes. Further, it analyzes the ways in which religious traditions and actors formulate their bio-ethical positions and which rationales they use to validate their positions.

Highlights central problems concerning the political regulation of biotechnologies

Introduction: Challenging the Political - Religious Actors and Religious Arguments in Liberal Democracies (Mirjam Weiberg-Salzmann and Ulrich Willems).- Part I: Catholic-Latin states with low level or little religious pluralism.- Discursive Strategies of Catholic Churches in Assisted Reproduction Technology Regulation: Poland and Spain in Comparison (Anja Hennig).- The Role of Religion in Debates on Embryo Research and Surrogacy in France (Jennifer Merchant).- Embryonic Silences: Human Life Between Biomedicine, Religion, and State Authorities in Austria (Ingrid Metzler and Anna Pichelstorfer).- Religion and Biopolitics in Ireland (Mirjam Weiberg-Salzmann).- Part II: Protestant(-English) states with high or moderate level religious pluralism.- Biotechnology and the Non-religious Uses of God Talk (John H. Evans).- The Political Debate on Embryo Research in New Zealand and the Role of Religious Actors and Arguments (David Gareth Jones).- The Political Debate on Embryo Research in Australia and the Role of Religious Actors and Arguments (Frank O'Keeffe and Kevin McGovern).- Part III: Protestant(-Scandinavian) states with low level religious pluralism.- The Status of the Human Embryo: A Case Study of Embryo Experiments and Embryo Research in Denmark (Jacob Dahl Rendtorff).- Religion and Biopolitics in Sweden (Göran Hermerén and Mats Johansson).- Negotiating Embryo Politics in Norway and Italy (Mirjam Weiberg-Salzmann and Massimiliano Passerini).- Part IV: Mixed-confession states with high level religious pluralism.- The Role of Religion in the Political Debate on Embryo Research in the Netherlands (Wybo J. Dondorp and Guido M. W. R. de Wert).- Moralizing Embryo Politics in Germany (Mirjam Weiberg-Salzmann).- Bioethics and Biopolitics in Switzerland: Stem Cell Research and Pre-Implantation Diagnostics in the Public Discourse (Monika Bobbert and Yvonne Zelter).- Morality Policies: How Religion and Politics Interplayin Democratic Decision-making in Belgium (Nathalie Schiffino).