Israel allows removal of sperm from dead men at wives' request

Israel's attorney general, Elyakim Rubinstein, has issued formal regulations that will allow the removal of sperm from a man's body at the request of his wife or common law wife.

His decision results from a series of eight cases in which bereaved wives had filed urgent requests in the courts to allow their husbands' semen to be removed within hours of death so that it could be frozen and used to impregnate them. In all the cases the judges made a decision, in the absence of legislation, according to their individual understanding of the case.

Under the new regulations the woman, who may be a wife or common law wife, must obtain the …