Racism, which has pervaded and debased life in many countries, was given little attention by the international community before the Second World War when international law only governed relationships between states; the way in which individuals were treated within their own states was considered to be a purely domestic affair. The revulsion engendered by the Nazi atrocities however had a profound effect on world opinion, and in 1945 the “United Nations” grew out of the League of Nations with the hope that this body could contribute to the maintenance of international peace and encourage worldwide respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Three years later, in 1948, the Nationalist Party came into power in South Africa and the racial attitudes of the time were committed to the statute books in this country.

Abortion is the most divisive issue in American society today, but that is not unique because the issue troubles many other Western countries as well. Acrimonious debate has ensued in America in the wake of the Supreme Court's latest pronouncement in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services. Anxiety about the future of the law in America has been widely expressed by pro-life and prochoice groups alike. These could well be the visible skirmishes of the abortion battle and the conflict over the existence of a woman's right to choose in almost any Western jurisdiction. Perhaps only the intensity of debate and venue of battle vary.

In the wake of Roe v. Wade the American battle fronts have mainly been in the courts. A plethora of cases in both state and federal courts has tested the constitutionality of legislation passed by State legislatures restricting the availability of abortion.

The marriage of academic research laboratories to the biotechnology industry has raised some very complex ethical and legal issues regarding commercialization of human body parts, products and derivatives thereof. Current statutes prohibit the sale of one's body or bodily organs although people may legally sell their blood or semen and are generally encouraged to donate certain body parts for transplantation or research both in life and death. No existing legislation, however, clearly addresses ownership rights with respect to human cells and tissues used in research, Commercialization of human biological material, either by the donor or by the recipient, e.g., researcher and/ or pharmaceutical company, is an uncharted area of the law.

The question of proprietary rights to one's own cells and tissues did not arise until the biotechnology industry rapidly expanded in the 1980s. Now, human organs, tissues and cells are used in research that may lead to the development of products with tremendous commercial value.