What is the value of a human face? It is a vexing question with no simple answer. The question, however, is no longer fanciful given the trajectory of biomedical science that simultaneously captures our imagination and challenges our essence. Essential to each of us and to the whole of humanity, the face is primal in its individuated image and identity. It is intrinsically connected with us in a way that defied question—until now, given the highly anticipated next step in transplant science and technology, facial transplantation. This Article examines the value of the face in this context, along with a range of related issues.The human face has rich significance. It is intrinsic and instrumental to the ontology of a person. A portal for emotions and expressions, the face reveals an inner-self essential to identity and is inscribed with an inherent dignity of human life.
A substantial segment of the American population consists of adolescents. Adolescents, defined as persons between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, have traditionally been regarded as “minors” by law. Minors, as a group, are legally disabled, meaning they are presumed to lack the skills necessary for capable decision-making. Capable decision-making is requisite to the exercise of legal rights. Although the U.S. Supreme Court has extended federal constitutional guarantees to minors, including the liberty right for decision-making in intimate, personal matters, the Supreme Court has observed that vulnerability impairs their decision-making capability. Accordingly, the law regulates decision-making liberties of minors far more extensively than those of adults.The underlying tenet of law governing adolescents—that they lack the skills required for capable decision-making—seems well-settled. It is an artifact from an industrial society that spawned legislation authorizing governmental regulation of adolescents for education and labor in order to protect and promote their health and well-being.
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