Half of US States are expected to ban or limit abortion after the US Supreme Court overruled the infamous 1973 ruling that imposed abortion throughout that nation. Abortion will now be limited or banned outright, except in rare cases. Michael Robinson, executive director (Public Affairs and Legal Services) said, “Potentially millions of babies will now go on to live fully-fledged lives because of the repeal of Roe v Wade”… At last apologists for abortion must argue their case democratically and accept the will of pro-life states.”
Publisher
New South African Studies on cannabis/dagga (Press Release)
New South African Studies done on cannabis/dagga since the legalisation for private use by the Constitutional Courts ruling in 2018
A recent study published in the South African Medical Journal found Cannabis use during adolescence affects the endocannabinoid system, which is particularly susceptible to the harmful effects of cannabis as it undergoes profound developmental changes.
The study states that adolescent cannabis use causes structural, functional, and histological alterations in the frontoparietal, cerebellar and other regions of the brain with some evidence suggesting that cannabis related neurocognitive impairments persist into adulthood, even after prolonged abstinence. Adolescent cannabis use should be actively discouraged, and pregnant women should be advised to avoid cannabis use.
Thirdly According to another study published in the South African Journal of Psychiatry, ADHD is common amongst cannabis users seeking substance abuse treatment and advises that cannabis prevention activities be strengthened.
Also, an observational study by the University of Witwatersrand on cannabis exposures reported to the Poisons Information Helpline of the Western Cape (PIHWC) noted there was a threefold increase in cases reported during the period June 2018 to June 2019 compared to the period June 2015 to June 2016. This coincides with the South Africa Constitutional Court ruling in favour of decriminalising cannabis for private cultivation and consumption.
Accidental ingestion of edible cannabis products was a common occurrence in patients aged 12 years and younger.
The introduction of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill in 2020 further clarified how consumers can legally use cannabis.
The expectation of many is that changing legislation will lead to the increased use of cannabis products.
In general, there has been an increase in reports made to health care facilities of acute cannabis intoxication and other adverse effects in countries when cannabis was legalised.
The same study warned that Cannabis use is not without consequences, and it is important for all health care practitioners involved in acute patient care to be aware of the various adverse effects associated with its use.
Prolonged cannabis use during adolescence also disrupts the neuromaturation processes of the brain that occur during this period, with synaptic pruning and white matter development particularly affected. Adolescent cannabis use is also associated with cognitive deficits and interference in logical thinking processes.
Cannabis use during pregnancy increases the risk of adverse outcomes for women and their neonates, to the extent that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists advised physicians to discourage use of cannabis during preconception, pregnancy, and lactation.
Cannabis use during pregnancy and breastfeeding alters the development of multiple brain regions and may result in lasting functional consequences, including impaired higher-order executive functioning (i.e., impulse control, visual memory, and attention). As a result, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during childhood affects academic performance and social adjustment.
Prenatal cannabis exposure is associated with an increased risk of foetal growth retardation and childhood behavioural disturbances. Infants exposed to cannabis in utero tend to have lower birthweights and are more likely to need placement in the neonatal intensive care unit compared with infants without exposure. Cannabis may be toxic to human chromosomes, with chromosomal changes caused by in utero cannabis exposure contributing to the lower fertility and higher miscarriage rates known to occur among women who use cannabis.
Doctors For Life International would like to caution the South African government on whether they want to continue to experiment with the approximately 60 million people of South Africa as it moves towards ratifying the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill introduced to Parliament in October 2020.
The Motionless Walker (France)
Le Promeneur immobile (The Motionless Walker), by Philippe Pozzo di Borgo. Published 31/8/22.
The French autobiography denounces the “tyranny of performance and autonomy” which would like to eliminate, out of selfishness, the “weight” of disability. In a story he explains the difference between his two lives, that of the able-bodied man and that of the quadriplegic, “that of the senses, noisy and agitated, and the other, insensitive, suffering and inert”. “To what encumbers us so much, competition, normality, productivity, efficiency, appearance respond to silence, relationship, simplicity, intimacy, assumed dependence. » This reflection leads him to denounce euthanasia which is a “violence done to the humiliated, as well as to their companions and caregivers”. He criticizes society for its inability to support, with respect and dignity, people at the end of life.
Are we really free when death is better than life? (France)
President Macron wishes to establish a “legal framework” concerning euthanasia and assisted suicide which has been illegal in France until now. In this context, two philosophers and a journalist comment: Euthanasia is an anthropological rupture: Society is not just a juxtaposition of individual freedoms. We are bound. A law can be repressive, but it is also expressive: it translates the values of a society. No one is alone in this gesture. This causes shocks throughout society. Helping someone to die is saying to him: yes, your life is indeed worth nothing. It is breaking a civilizing taboo. We will no longer call killing the name of killing but it is the right to kill that will be legalized.
Adolescents’ views on pornography (UK)
After 30 qualitative studies were examined to determine young peoples’ views on pornography, the following conclusions derived:
- Young people consider porn as normal;
- They see porn as a tool for pleasure;
- They see it as a form of information;
- Young people do become distressed by misogynistic (strongly prejudiced against women), racist, homophobic, transphobic, or violent pornography content;
- Young people express the need to have trusted adults to discuss their needs with; and
- The lack of trusted adults causes young people to develop harmful attitudes and unrealistic expectations about sex.
Peterson, A. J., Silver, J. K., Bell, H. A., Guinosso, S. A., & Coyle, K. K. (2022). Young People’s Views on Pornography and Their Sexual Development, Attitudes, and Behaviors: A Systematic Review and Synthesis of Qualitative Research. American Journal of Sexuality Education, DOI: 10.1080/15546128.2022.2096163
Uruguayan Lower House committee okays euthanasia bill (Uruguay)
On Tuesday 6th September 2022, The Health Committee of Uruguay’s Lower House has passed a bill approving euthanasia. “Any person of legal age, psychically fit, who suffers from one or more chronic, incurable and irreversible pathologies or health conditions that seriously undermine their quality of life, causing them unbearable suffering, has the right to be euthanized at their request”. A patient who wishes to receive assistance in dying must go through a series of stages and medical interviews before his/her request is approved: interview with two different physicians within a period of no more than ten days, record in writing of his/her will to die before two witnesses in the three following days of the last interview. The Ministry of Public Health (MSP) must be informed.
Where Most People Die by Assisted Suicide (USA)
Official data shows that the number of people dying with assistance has been rising much faster in Canada over the past three years than in other countries where assisted suicide or euthanasia are legal. The Netherlands and Belgium which, like Canada, allow both have seen numbers rise more slowly. The United States also saw a somewhat faster rise in those dying by self-administered physician-assisted suicide over the past four years (euthanasia is not legal in the U.S.). This was also aided by the fact that four states – New Jersey, Hawaii, Maine and New Mexico – legalized it between 2018 and 2021, while two more populous ones, Colorado and California, started the practice in 2016. Switzerland is another practitioner of physician-assisted suicide, but not euthanasia. 1,196 people died with assistance in the country in 2019, the latest year on record.
Judge agrees: the conscience rights of doctors violated in California (USA)
U.S. District Judge Fernando Aenlle-Rocha for the Central District of California ruled that California Senate Bill 380, which passed last year to amend the End of Life Option Act, that legalized assisted suicide in California violates the First Amendment rights of doctors by requiring them to participate in assisted suicide. SB 380 required a doctor who opposes assisted suicide to document a request for assisted suicide and that request was considered the first of two of the required requests. Therefore doctors who opposed assisted suicide were required to participate in the act. The case has not ended, but this decision is a great victory for conscience rights. Judge Aenlle-Rocha recognized that SB 380 violated the rights of physicians who oppose assisted suicide and he granted an injunction to prevent the egregious parts of the law from forcing physicians to participate in assisted suicide.
Pornography to be studied in junior class (Ireland)
A new Junior Cert curriculum will see lessons about pornography given in the classroom for the first time in Ireland, following a major review of Relationships and Sexuality Education. This could prove to be very controversial for parents. The draft curriculum will tackle pornography, with reference to the online world, and the sharing of sexual images. It will then further deal with consent and matters such as gender stereotyping. The Department of Education concluded that the existing approach to such education in schools was “heavily concerned with the risks and dangers associated with relationships.” “Every school, irrespective of ethos, will have to deliver it.” The curriculum involves consent, safe use of the internet, pornography, gender identity and sexual orientation, healthy and positive relationships, and addiction issues. Senator O’Reilly said it is important to have an “education that is not tied to religious or other ethos”.
More underage schoolgirls join prostitution (South Africa)
A growing number of school pupils are engaging in prostitution. This is the view of delegates at a recent prostitution symposium that was organised by the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in Durban. There is a new trend where school learners who are underage work as prostitutes on weekends and go back to school on Monday. KwaZulu-Natal is estimated to have more than 30 000 sex workers with Durban accounting for the highest number of prostitutes. The Commission for Gender Equality also weighed in, saying the Chapter 9 institution backs calls to repel all laws against prostitution. The proposals deliberated will be tabled to the provincial legislature for MPLs to discuss before KwaZulu-Natal engages other provinces about the matter.