Comparative Analysis of the Concept of Bio-Citizenship with a Focus on the Youthful Population and Protection of the Family Law

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Abstract

Recent advances in biotechnologies, demographic policies, and state interventions in reproductive affairs have led to the emergence of a new form of citizenship in which the biological body becomes the primary locus of legal and governmental intervention. This concept, widely referred to in contemporary literature as bio-citizenship, captures the growing convergence between biological life and legal subjectivity. This article offers an analytical and comparative inquiry into the notion of bio-citizenship and examines its institutional manifestations within the Iranian legal system particularly under the framework of the Law on Family Protection and Youthful Population (2021). The central research question explores how this law, through its legal mechanisms and executive institutions, constructs a specific modality of citizenship based on biological characteristics and what implications this model has for human dignity and fundamental rights. Employing a descriptive-analytical and comparative methodology, the article draws on interdisciplinary, Islamic jurisprudential, and public law perspectives, along with critical theories. The findings reveal that the law in question by focusing on Human bodies, reproductive policies, infertility treatment, and abortion control normalizes a form of legal biopolitics that, in the absence of dignity-based safeguards and effective legal limitations, risks transgressing the boundaries of public legitimacy. The study ultimately recommends restoring the balance between demographic interests and individual rights through targeted legislative and institutional reforms.

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Main Subjects

Legal Research Quarterly

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 27 August 2025

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History

  • Receive Date: 06 July 2025
  • Revise Date: 19 August 2025
  • Accept Date: 27 August 2025

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