Abstract
In clinical practice, there sometimes arises a conflict of interests between the woman in labour who refuses a medical intervention (such as a caesarean section) and the child that is in immediate danger of death or severe harm. The paper strives to answer the question of whether the interests of the child can possibly override the mother's right to autonomy and self-determination.
We acknowledge that under Czech law, the right to life does not emerge before the moment of birth. However, we argue that Czech law, as well as the Council of Europe system of human rights protection, implicitly bases its approach to unborn human life on gradualist notion that the embryo and foetus acquire ever stronger legal protection in the course of their development.
The interests of the child during labour can, under certain conditions, be stronger than the interests of the mother and justify necessary medical interventions.