LIFEAlerts

LIFEalerts – Alternative Medicine

Alternative Medicine

Nigeria – FEC Approves bill on establishment of traditional

The ministry of health presented a memo on a bill to establish the council for traditional, Alternative and complementary medicine practice in Nigeria. This is a memo that seeks to take traditional and complementary medicine out of obscurity and give it a profile to institutionalise it as has been done in other countries like China and India. He said the emergence of Coronavirus has renewed the call for home grown solutions to public health diseases and value in Traditional medicines. And the proposed law, when approved, would also help protect the intellectual property of traditional medicine practitioners in the country. Read more

South Africa – Health Supplements, complementary medicines will soon no longer be regulated                                                                                                                                       

Health supplements and complementary medicines – which are not programmed prescription as defined by the Medicine’s Act – will soon no longer be regulated by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, which controls all medicines, including scheduled remedies. Judge Elizabeth Kubushi gave the minister of health and the regulatory authority 12 months to determine how best to adjust these alternative medicines. She said 12 months should give the health authorities ample time to decide how best to regulate this popular industry. The order was sparked by the Alliance of Natural Health Products in South Africa assume the minister of health did not have the power to add alternative and supplementary medications to the same regulations as that of scheduled medicines. It said the definition of alternative medicines was too broad and included products that did not fall under the meaning of remedy at all. Read more

LIFEalerts – Abortion

Abortion

Malawi – Seeks to introduce extreme abortion bill up to birth

An extreme abortion Bill, which would allow abortion on demand, with no age restriction or parental consent, right up to birth is being introduced in Malawi. Malawi’s Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship expressed ‘grave concern’ saying, those supporting the legislation have founded their arguments mainly on the premise that it will protect women and reduce maternal mortality which is high in the country. However, abortion is not needed to achieve low maternal mortality rates. “At Nkhoma Hospital in rural Lilongwe, maternal mortality rates fell from 1518/100,000 to 109/100,000 between 2008 and 2015 by improving obstetric care within the confines of the current restrictive abortion law.”

“An in-depth review of 58 maternal deaths at the same hospital, from 2007 to 2011, showed that only 3 maternal deaths were related to abortion complications. Most patients experienced a delay in seeking care (63.8%), a transport delay (74.1%), or a delay in receiving adequate care. Similarly, a study in Mexico found that differences in maternal deaths between states with restrictive and permissive abortion laws were not explained by abortion legislation, but by other factors, such as literacy rates among women, maternal healthcare, access to clean water, proper sanitation facilities, fertility rates, and the level of violence against women.” “The study suggests that developing countries do not need to relax abortion laws to reduce maternal mortality rates.”

“Many health workers in Malawi are not skilled in patient-centred counselling. This brings about the risk that vulnerable women and girls will be advised to a certain course of action without fully understanding either what is happening to them, or the potential physical and psychosocial consequences (including the risks of bleeding and infection).” Read more CMDF Statement, Article.

USA – Abortionist’s medical license revoked for shameful conduct

The Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners has suspended the temporary medical license of abortionist Leah Nicole Torres after it found she had lied repeatedly on her permanent medical license application by denying disciplinary action, medical malpractice claims, denied history of mental health conditions, etc. Torres on her twitter account with 26,900 followers, is known for unashamedly and unapologetically stating that she cuts the vocal cords of babies during abortions so that they do not have the opportunity to scream. Torres began working at the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in early August 2020, after the retirement of 82-year old abortionist Louis Payne, who left in the wake of an investigation into the death of a woman. Read more

USA – Group of senators asks FDA to classify abortion pill as hazard to public health

20 Republican senators sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), calling on them to remove the abortion pill from the U.S. market, and to classify the pill as an “imminent hazard to the public health” that poses a “significant threat of danger”. The letter notes that President Bill Clinton’s administration rushed the abortion pill through the FDA approval process under political pressure, saying it is “nakedly obvious that the abortion industry and its allies in the media, billionaire philanthropic circles, and special interest groups, have wanted an unregulated and de-medicalized abortion pill since the moment the FDA first approved it in 2000.”

Finally, the letter points out that Mifepristone poses a higher risk of complication than surgical abortion in the beginning of pregnancy, and somewhere between 5% and 7% of women require follow-up surgical abortions. “While we support the FDA’s continued fight to defend the Risk Evaluation Mitigation Strategy, to monitor dangerous clinical studies, and to shut down illegal websites,” the senators write, “these measures alone fail to protect the thousands of women harmed even by compliant usage of this drug – or the millions of children killed.” In the House, Representative Jody Hice led more than 70 congressmen in sending a similar letter to the FDA. Read more

USA – 100 Black pro-life leaders call out racist legacy of abortion industry

More than 100 Black pro-life leaders urged the Planned Parenthood (PP) abortion chain to denounce its racist founder’s views in a letter. One affiliate of the abortion chain has already done so – in word, though not in deed. The Greater New York branch removed Sanger’s name from its abortion facility in Manhattan and distanced itself from her eugenics beliefs after hundreds of its own employees accused it of “systemic racism.” “Since George Floyd’s tragic death in police custody, Planned Parenthood has openly voiced its support of the Black Lives Matter movement and its commitment to combating racism in all its forms,” the letter states. Yet, the abortion chain has refused to acknowledge “the iniquity that your abortion practices perpetrate against Black lives,” it continues.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, the abortion rate among Black women is almost five times higher than it is among white women. And in New York City, health data indicates that more Black babies are aborted than are born alive annually. While abortions harm families of every race and culture, they disproportionately harm Black families. Read more

UK – New survey shows global increase in opposition to abortion

A new survey by Ipsos MORI, a market research company in London and a member of the British Polling Council and Market Research Society, shows a growing number of people around the world are opposed to abortion. The poll questioned 17,500 people from 25 countries and found a 5% decrease between 2016 and 2020 in the number of people supporting abortion either when the woman decides she wants one or in certain situations like when a woman has been raped. Of the 25 countries, 56% (14) showed a decline in abortion support and just 32% (8) countries showed growing support. Despite the change in attitudes towards abortions, members of parliament around the world have ignored the people. Read more: survey, article

USA – 14 Texas Towns have outlawed abortion

Lubbock may soon be the 15th and largest city in Texas to become a “sanctuary city for the unborn” and outlaw abortion. The proposed ordinance says that “It shall be unlawful for any person to procure or perform, or knowingly aid an abortion of any type and at any stage of pregnancy in the City of Lubbock, Texas,” It also defines abortion as “the act of using or prescribing an instrument, a drug, a medicine, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to cause the death of an unborn child of a woman known to be pregnant. Read more

USA – New study: first child abortion makes woman more likely to abort future pregnancies

A new longitudinal study that has been published in the Journal of Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology, claims that women who abort their first child, are more likely to abort future pregnancies. The study looked at 7.3 million pregnancy outcomes of Medicaid-eligible women over 13 years of age occurring from 1999-2014 in 17 states which allowed for the use of state taxpayer funds to pay for abortions. According to the authors, low-income women who have abortions are more likely to have subsequent abortions, [and this] would support the body of evidence indicating that abortion is associated with greater reproductive health risks. The authors also wrote. “The hope that easier access to abortion would decrease maternal mortality has been rebutted by evidence to the contrary.” Read more: Study

LIFEalerts – Sexual Exploitation

Sexual Exploitation

Scotland – Scottish Government could make buying sex illegal

Community Safety Minister Ash Denham said prostitution was harming women and a cultural shift was needed so that men who buy sex will change to see it is no longer acceptable.  Government is also looking for ways to support women and help them to exit prostitution, which may be their only real source of income. She said: “Prostitution has wide reaching impacts both on the individuals involved and across Scotland’s communities. “It is sometimes portrayed as glamorous or an easy way to make money, the reality is often very different”.  Behind closed doors and hidden from public view, prostitution can be harmful. Campaigners are hoping the consultation is the first step in Scotland moving towards the criminalisation of sex, as seen in countries such as Sweden, Canada, Iceland and Ireland. Read more

India – Prostitutes in India find better ways to earn amid COVID-19

When India entered its first lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, hundreds of thousands of prostitutes across the country were cut off from their major source of income.   Some of the higher-class-category prostitutes have been able to earn with the use of phone and internet sex. An NGO was able to organize grants for a few women to set up microbusinesses, such as stores for selling dry fish, onions and potatoes, or tea stalls. The women of DMSC (Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee) have been employed in making masks and sanitizers themselves. “In the coming days, we’re also going to start producing PPE kits. As we increase our production, we are planning to sell all these items in the future,” the DMSC adviser Jana said. Read more

LIFEalerts – Medical Ethics

Medical Ethics

California – A bill to Sterilize Children Awaits Governor’s signature

While California has been in lockdown the state legislature has been passing legislation that creates a fund to pay for children to be sterilized in the name of transgender ideology. A law creating this fund is not only unnecessary and irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars, promoting an agenda at their expense, but it makes it legal and possible for young people to receive treatments that could adversely affect their health for life—treatments many doctors oppose. Dr James Grisolia, a San Diego neurologist and California state director of the American Academy of Medical Ethics expressed his concern for the youth because the legislation states that funds will go to transgender organisations who will partner with medical clinics they choose, and mean that transgender organisations will be in the driver’s seat on the treatment of children. Read more

UK – International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing      

The National Academy of Medicine, of Engineering and of Sciences, The Royal Society and Heritable human genome editing -says “making changes to the genetic material of eggs, sperm, or any cells that lead to their development, including the cells of early embryos, and establishing a pregnancy – raises not only scientific and medical considerations but also a host of ethical, moral, and societal issues. Human embryos whose genomes have been edited should not be used to create a pregnancy until it is established that precise genomic changes can be made reliably and without introducing undesired changes – criteria that have not yet been met. Read more

LIFEalerts – Substance Abuse

Substance Abuse

UK – Government urged to sell cocaine and ecstasy in pharmacies

A UK drugs liberalisation campaign group called Transform has recommended that Cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamines should be “nationalised” and sold legally in government-run pharmacies to undermine global drug-related crime. In a book the group sets out practical ways to sell the drugs in pharmacies: no over 18’s, health and risk warning labels on the packaging, and specially trained chemists. Sounds like the same failed recommendations proposed by marijuana activists, because none of what they said would happen actually undermined global drug-related crime – it only made the problem worse and marijuana usage among teens increased in states that legalised it compared to states that did not. Fortunately, Home Office spokesperson said that the government remained opposed to legalising cannabis “because it is detrimental to health and mental health”. Read more

South Africa – Marijuana use before surgery can worsen pain during recovery

According to a small recent study, smoking or ingesting it in the hope of managing your pain after surgery might end up doing quite the opposite. Early research suggests that Cannabis is not effective for “, acute pain such as for surgery of a broken leg,” said lead author Dr Ian Holmen, an anaesthesiology resident at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, in a statement published by the American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA). Apart from an increase in acute pain, people who used marijuana before surgery also ended up requiring more anaesthesia during surgery, and used more painkillers during recovery. 

For their study, the research team studied the charts of 118 patients who had undergone surgery at the University of Colorado Hospital to repair a fractured tibia. They found that 30 (25.4%) patients had reported using cannabis prior to surgery. Comparing the two groups they found cannabis users used 58% more painkillers per day while in the hospital compared to non-users. Users also required an additional 12.4 millilitres of anaesthesia during surgery than those who did not use marijuana. The type and method of cannabis use, as well as how frequently it was used, were not known. Read more

LIFEalerts – Euthanasia

Euthanasia

Australia – Assisted dying explodes in Victoria

In Victoria, a progress report from the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board, shows that ten times more people than expected have chosen to end their lives in the first full year of 2017. According to the report people seeking euthanasia were aged between 32 and 100, with an average of 71-44% being female, and 55% male. Unbearable pain was not a major factor amongst the reasons for requesting assisted dying. In fact, the word “pain” was only mentioned once, and no percentages were given. The common reasons for euthanasia includes being less able to engage in activities that make life enjoyable, losing control of body functions, and loss of dignity. Such reports show how euthanasia increasingly cultivates a culture where anything goes and people can commit suicide for any reason. Read more

Argentine – Argentine mother seeks to euthanize son who has cerebral palsy

These are two examples of how euthanasia can be used for the wrong reasons. Argentine woman Brinocoli is asking to be allowed to kill her 22- year old son who has cerebral palsy even though he is not dying or terminally ill. She says she’s exhausted and fed up with caring for Adrian. Another parent from Canada murdered his daughter Tracy because she had cerebral palsy, claiming that she was suffering in pain and misery, even though she was known to have been a cheerful, happy girl who lived games, parties, and pets. After killing his daughter, Latimer was given, in essence, a slap on the wrist, and is seen by many as a hero in Canada for ending Tracy’s “suffering”. Many people in society believe life with disability is not worth living. A parent who kills their disabled child is portrayed as a martyr, while one who kills a healthy child is rightly portrayed as a murderer. Read more

Netherlands – Dutch MD Euthanized Dementia Patient Despite Being Told ‘No’

Marinou Arend, a Dutch doctor euthanized a woman with dementia struggling to stay alive. First she drugged her patient’s coffee and then, when the woman awakened and fought against being killed, she had the family hold the patient down while administering the lethal injection. Not only was she exonerated, but she was even praised by the judge. The patient told Arends that she did not want to be euthanized! Not once, not twice, but three times. This is not the first time people are euthanized without their consent. Read more

Netherlands – Dutch doctor minimizes disastrous effect of legalized euthanasia 

Dutch Dr Bert Keizer, who recently wrote in the Dutch Medical Association Journal, does not think this is a disaster. He agrees that euthanasia has become a slippery slope where legalized, but suggests that it should be embraced and viewed as ‘gradual erosion of boundaries’ instead of a slippery slope that leading to disaster. But imagine your spouse is being euthanized because he is disabled and you have no say over it because the doctor says so, or your daughter wants treatment for her depression and the doctor tells her that her only solution is to be euthanized. She eventually considers it because the doctor gives her no hope despite significant and continuous developments in medicine for depression. Both scenarios actually happened in the USA and in the Netherlands. Moreover, nurses in Belgium admitted to euthanizing patients without their consent. Read more: bioedge, NYpost, Christian post UK

Netherlands –  Dutch mental health patient angry at euthanasia offer

A Dutch mental health patient has shared how she was “overwhelmed and angry” when her new psychiatrist offered her euthanasia during their first appointment. Manon, who was seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder, was told she met the criteria to be euthanized. The doctor said Manon had already done “everything humanly possible” to get treatment for her condition, which made Manon feel like she didn’t “deserve” to continue living.  “Yes, I’m broken, but I want to become whole again. I’m asking for help to get better, not for death!”. Read more

USA – Compassion & Choice show their true colors

According to the Public News Service, Californian people of color rarely commit assisted suicide. The new report from the state also found big difference in who actually uses the law. The patients are 87% white, just over 1% are Black. 4% are Hispanic. And 6.4% are Asian American. But the Compassion and Choice (C&C) believing there’s never enough assisted suicides continue to run “public service” advert to increase the number of suicides by people of color. By this statement the C&C shows their true colors for euthanizing ethnic groups. Read more

LIFEalerts – Same Sex Attraction

Same Sex Attraction

UK – Government drops gender self-ID plans

Originally, the UK government planned in 2018 to remove the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria enabling people to ‘change sex’ by self-identification. The Government has officially dropped its plans to make it much easier for people in England and Wales to change legal sex. Equalities Minister Liz Truss also confirmed the rights for service providers to protect single-sex spaces would remain in place. In April Liz announced that under 18s would be protected from making “irreversible decisions” while “still developing their decision-making capabilities”. At this point it is unclear what is meant by the restrictions and if it means to limit surgery and whether it includes puberty blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones. Read more, Article 1, Article 2

UK – New survey shows people are concerned about teaching LGBT curriculum to kids

Kantar, the world’s leading data, insights and consulting company, shows almost four in ten people agree that it is inappropriate for schools to teach six-year-old boys that “being gay is acceptable”. The survey comes as a law will require all schools in England to teach two new compulsory subjects: Relationships Education in primary schools and Sex and Relationships Education in secondary schools. The survey also shows that 56% of those who practice a religious faith disagreed and 30% of people described as ‘not religious’ also disagreed. Not only does opposition cut across all sections of the public but the percentages are significant and show that the government is out of step with the public. Read more

UK – Organizations face Legal action for misrepresenting the law to give males access to female spaces

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Government Equalities Office (GEO) are facing legal action for issuing unlawful guidance which contradicts the Equality Act 2010. Women’s rights organisation the Authentic Equity Alliance (AEA) says that the organisations incorrectly stated that “trans people” or anyone with a gender recognition certificate have an automatic right to enter and use women-only spaces. AEA founder Ann Sinnott, a former Cambridge City Councillor says the “misguidance” has led to disputes as men who say they are women believe they have an absolute right to access female-only spaces. AEA has now told the EHRC and GEO to “provide guidance that is compliant with the law” or face the possibility of a judicial review.

Elsewhere, a judicial review has been launched against the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over its partnership with Stonewall. Earlier this year the CPS withdrew controversial guidance on LGBT hate crimes in schools following legal action by a 14-year old girl who accused it of “misrepresenting the law”. The CPS said it would review the guidance, but the girl told the prosecuting body that its association with Stonewall breaches the law, because while it remains partnered to the LGBT group it cannot be impartial on transgenderism. Her lawyers instructed the CPS to withdraw from Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme in May, but as it has failed to do so, they have now pressed ahead with applying for a judicial review. Read more

UK – Gender clinic trial date set and transgender activists are denied participation

A judicial review date has been set regarding a lawsuit against a London-based gender clinic’s medicalized gender-transitioning of children and teenagers. Susan Evans, a psychiatric nurse and former member of Tavistock, that has filed the lawsuit in part, has voiced repeated concerns that the safety of children being treated at the facility was disregarded in favour of experimental transitioning, and that minors are not cognitively capable of giving informed consent. Keira Bell, a young woman now regrets transitioning as a teen, joined the suit as a claimant in January. Bell says she wasn’t adequately informed of the dangers when she was hormonally transitioned which included both hormones and a mastectomy, and is among the growing number of men and women known as “detransitioners” who say they were physically, mentally and emotionally harmed.

On the other hand, transgender activist groups Mermaids and Stonewall UK have been denied permission to get involved and will not present evidence in the case. The Tavistock clinic has come under increased scrutiny in recent years following a 4,000-fold increase of girls being referred to the gender clinic in the past decade. A BBC Newsnight investigative report in June revealed leaked documents that showed Tavistock staff saying that concerns about patient welfare were shut down. Clinicians there also reportedly expressed concerns that some youth were being fast-tracked into gender-transitioning. Read more

Scotland – Policy wants to allow male nurses in female nurse showers

According to new transgender guidelines published by NHS Lanarkshire in Scotland, women’s toilets, showers and changing rooms can now be used by a male employee living as a woman, even if female members of staff object. Sarah Phillimore, a London barrister who specialises in public law and child protection, described this section of the policy as “Unlawful and coercive.” Campaign group For Women Scotland has written to Scotland’s Health Minister demanding the policy be immediately withdrawn and an investigated. They pointed out how the policy misrepresents the Equality Act, and the Gender Recognition Act, and even frames the mere act of thinking of a male as male as “discriminatory practice”. NHS Lanarkshire has removed the policy from its website. Read more, Letter to Health Minister of Scotland.

LifeAlerts – Euthanasia

Euthanasia

USA – Euthanasia polling data may fail to capture people’s considered views

A new paper in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry find that public attitudes to euthanasia for patients with dementia change when they are presented with case studies of individuals with severe dementia who have made an advanced request for euthanasia. An online survey of 1700 US-based participants show 54% supported legalized euthanasia and 22.6% were unsure, but after reading the ethical and practical complexities of the scenarios, support decreased. The study authors say that it is not enough to ask whether advanced request for euthanasia should be legal following a description of life with dementia because it may fail to capture the public’s considered views. Rather, it is important that the public is given insight into the complexities of illnesses like dementia to avoid clouded public views. Read Bioedge, ajgponline

Canada – Wife Loses Lawsuit to Prevent Husband’s Euthanasia

According to Wesley J. Smith, euthanasia destroys the family bond. Imagine your spouse wants to be euthanized and you have no say over it, or if your depressed brother decides to be euthanized and you beg doctors not to kill him, to no avail. Both cases happened in Canada. One involving a wife trying to prevent her husband’s death by euthanasia but lost because the benefit of the doubt goes to death once euthanasia becomes legal. In Oregon a psychiatrist determined that an elderly woman with dementia was mentally unable to consent to assisted suicide, and believed her daughter was pushing for it, but it happened anyway. Read more

New Zealand – Underfunding no argument for assisted dying

In an upcoming referendum a vote on Euthanasia will be done. Pro-euthanasia, unsupported claims have been promoted in the media. Specialist doctor Sinead Donnelly is trained in palliative medicine, who decries the move to make underfunding and overworked staff the reason to euthanize the old and dying. Dr Donnelly says it’s a little like arguing that the car needs a clean so we should push it off a cliff. This “End of Life Choice Act” gives no choice for the patient but to die. The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners told Parliament they won’t be able to detect coercion or pressure in all cases with this test, and that there will be wrongful deaths under this law.

“Lawyers for Vulnerable New Zealanders advised that: “… under the Act a person could be dead within only a matter of days after being diagnosed, and without needing to tell any loved ones. There’s no mandatory cooling-off period between a request and the lethal prescription. That’s a serious flaw because terminally ill people can go through a whole range of emotions from day to day. If they’re caught in a moment of weakness and have the wrong people around them they could be dead within 72 hours”.

Every week as doctors we see cases where patients with advanced illnesses with limited prognosis who are also disabled, sick or mentally ill will, at their most vulnerable point, contemplate suicide. With the right care and medicine, the vast majority are brought out of this vulnerable state to a place of health. Under the proposed Act, those same people could be dead within 72 hours.” Read more

Canada – Organ donation increases after euthanasia

In 2016, Canada legalized euthanasia or Medical Aid in dying (MAiD), but since euthanasia was legalized organ donations increased. The CEO, Ronnie Gavsie, of the organization called Trillium insists that euthanasia is totally separate from organ donation and that they only provide the information to the dying patient and wait for them to decide. Yet there is a subtle sense of coercion since in the very next breath Ronnie says “it’s the right thing to do for those no the wait list.” Organs donated by euthanized patients are often of better quality than organs harvested from accident victims. There is more time to test them and find a match with potential recipients.

Wesley J. Smith commented in the National Review saying “The clear message being sent to suicidal, ill, and disabled Canadians – with the active support of the organ transplant community – is that their deaths can have greater value to Canada than their lives.” “Someday, Canada will probably dispense with the euthanasia part altogether and go straight to killing by organ harvesting—already being proposed bioethics and medical journals. Read more

Spain – Legalized euthanasia pressures elderly to die

According to an article by Francisco José Contreras, a lecturer in legal philosophy, Euthanasia once legalized will pressure the sick elderly to die. Francisco said that it will be easy to convince the elderly that the final stretch of their life, along with all the difficulties, is not worth being lived and that it is dignified not to impose one’s decay on others – exactly what the Nazi legislation used to justify the extermination of the deficient. In both The Netherlands and Belgium, once euthanasia became legal, the interpretation became increasingly lax. They have evolved from killing only terminally ill patients, to those with chronic illnesses; from killing people with physical illnesses, to people with psychological illnesses; from voluntary cases to killing people without their express permission. Read more

Belgium – Court clears Doctors for murder

A Belgian court has cleared three doctors accused of murder in the country’s first criminal case concerning euthanasia. The doctors were alleged to have unlawfully poisoned 38-year-old Tine Nys in April 2010 because she did not fulfil the conditions to be euthanized. The deceased’s family said that Nys did not have an incurable mental disorder. Belgian law allows adults to request euthanasia if they are facing unbearable physical or mental suffering resulting from a serious and incurable disorder. In the Netherlands, a doctor was cleared in a trial after being accused of failing to secure proper consent from a woman who had Alzheimer’s disease. Read more

Netherlands – Euthanasia now kills patients who could receive healing and hope

According to a file analysis by the Euthanasia Expertise Center requested by the Ministry of Public Health, Men turn to euthanasia more often because they suffer from addiction problems, and women more often suffered from mood disorders. The average age of women in this study is 50 years, of the men 49. A depressive mood disorder was the most common disorder across the board. Bullying, sexual abuse, or trauma played a role with relatively many patients. Many of these lives could have turned out differently if they had sought out counselling and support. Another example of how euthanasia has crossed the lines and become a slippery slope. Read more

Canada – No one talks about the cons of euthanasia

Hendrik van der Breggen, PhD, retired last year as Associate Professor of Philosophy at Providence University College, Manitoba, Canada. He feels that there are more cons to euthanasia that are often dismissed. For example; with the acceptance and expansion of euthanasia, our society will see suicide as a legitimate way of solving an individual’s problems. Life will no longer be seen as society’s default position. the elderly, terminally ill, disabled, and whoever else is suffering—must justify the continuation of their lives. Why should we spend so much money on healthcare for them? This may not be stated explicitly, but will be an unspoken assumption. Law professor Carter Snead correctly points out, a “subtle coercion.” Adding insult to injury. To those becoming handicapped or infirm we insult them as the most vulnerable with euthanasia by saying: We would rather be dead than be like you! If that isn’t an insult, what is?

If the choice or autonomy of the sufferer constitutes acceptable personal and legal grounds for euthanasia, then will suicide interveners have to add to their script some directions as to where euthanasia is available? Will National Suicide Prevention Week include some Suicide Promotion Days? Will suicide intervention or counselling against suicide become grounds for a lawsuit against the intervener or counsellor? If we kiss good-bye the above portion of the Hippocratic Oath, then we invite a deep change of character to the practice of medicine. Healers will be asked to be killers. Health care becomes careful killing. And those conscientious persons who refuse to kill will be discouraged from practicing medicine.

In conclusion: Ideas have consequences—and sometimes the consequences of bad ideas can be disastrous.

In view of the above cons, it would be wise for Canadians not to embrace euthanasia. Instead, we should do a better job of providing excellent palliative care—pain relief and life-enhancing dignity—for all who suffer. We should embrace a culture of life, not a culture of death. Read more

Germany – Death on demand comes to Germany

German people now have the right to kill themselves at any time and for any reason. The right to a self-determined death is not limited to situations defined by external causes like serious or incurable illnesses, nor does it only apply in certain stages of life or illness. Rather, this right is guaranteed in all stages of a person’s existence. One radical court ruling leads to another. The right to commit suicide could soon become a right to be killed. Since Germany’s absolute right to assist in suicide is open-ended and not limited to doctors, why not permit friends to kill friends? How can the state now restrict the taking and selling of addicting drugs? Drugs may be harmful, but if an autonomous person chooses to spend their days high, how can the state gainsay that decision or inhibit the commercial providers who supply the fixes? A culture that has lost its faith in life cannot comprehend why it should be endured.” If we don’t change our current cultural trajectory, we will become “Germany” too. Read more

UK – Academics says euthanasia saves money

Academics have argued how killing patients through assisted suicide in the United Kingdom would save money and provide organs for transplantation in a new report published in the journal of Clinical Ethics. Dr Gordon Macdonald, Chief Executive of Care Not Killing said that this report “exposes the real agenda” of assisted suicide and demonstrates the dangers of legalising assisted suicide and euthanasia. While the authors may not believe money is a motivation for assisted suicide there are some people who do. In the US states of Oregon and Washington the majority of those ending their lives cite fear of being a burden on their families and finances.”  Read more at Lifesitenews, Sagepubjournals

Texas – Disabled man euthanized without his consent

In Texas, a disabled, 46-year old African American man named Michael Hickson, was euthanized without his consent or that of his wife. Michael contracted COVID-19 and was admitted to hospital. Melissa, his wife, was given no choice over whether he lived or died. Melissa recorded her conversation with the doctor who said it was better to euthanize Michael because he is paralyzed and not like “walking and talking people.” Giving her husband food, water, oxygen and medicine would not have been a burdensome treatment, and the hospital had plenty of space. The doctor made clear that the issue was his disability. The National Council on Disability is calling for an investigation into the hospital for violating Michaels civil rights. Read more

USA – Girl kills herself with the help of assisted suicide website

Shawn Shatto who was dealing with depression and anxiety for years and seeing a therapist. A website provided Shawn with lethal directions and encouraged her to die by suicide through cheering her on by telling her what kind of drugs to mix in order to kill herself, and by wishing her ‘good luck and ‘safe travels.’ Shawn’s mom has been advocating for “Shawn’s Law” Which “strengthens penalties against anyone who assists in a suicide, especially anyone under the age of 18 or has a mental disability. Shawn’s Law has passed the House, and is now in the Senate. Read more

LifeAlerts – Substance Abuse

Substance Abuse

USA – States that legalized marijuana experience skyrocketing workforce positive rates

According to national data released by Quest Diagnostics, rates of marijuana positive testing in the workforce have sharply risen both over the last year (2018-2019), and since legalization was implemented. “Marijuana continues to be an enduring presence in the U.S. workforce. Changing attitudes toward its use could pose heightened risks especially in safety-sensitive positions and those states exploring legalization,” said Barry Sample, PhD, senior director, science and technology for Quest Diagnostics in a press release. Marijuana continues to top the list of the most commonly detected illicit substances across all workforce categories. Read more

USA – Association between Marijuana and Heart Disease risks

More than 2 million people with heart disease currently use marijuana or have used it in the past, either recreationally or “medical” reasons, according to estimates published in a research review in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. That’s alarming for researchers, who may have found an association between using cannabis and cardiovascular risks. “Our review suggests that smoking marijuana carries many of the same cardiovascular health hazards as smoking tobacco” lead author Muthiah Vaduganathan, M.D., a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart and Vascular Center in Boston said. “While the level of evidence is modest, there is enough data for us to advise caution in using marijuana for our highest-risk patients, including those who present with a heart attack or new arrhythmia, or who have been hospitalized with heart failure. The review also cautions that marijuana can interfere with certain medications for cardiovascular problems. For example, if you’re taking lipid-lowering statins and using marijuana your statin levels can climb—that’s because both drugs are metabolized by the same liver enzymes in the body. And if you use marijuana while taking blood thinners, like warfarin, it’s a similar result: The levels of the blood thinners in your blood can increase. Read more

USA – Cannabis impairs driving skills long after the high is gone

A recent study published widely confirms what Doctors For Life International (DFL) has been cautioning for years: that cannabis influences your driving skills long after you have smoked or used the drug. The study revealed that whether it is running red lights, driving at high speeds, crossing center lines into the opposite lanes, getting into accidents or even hitting pedestrians, these were some of the dangerous driving behaviors of regular, heavy users of recreational cannabis who began using before the age of 16. But more concerning is that users drove this badly even when they were no longer high. The study in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, asked chronic, heavy marijuana users to drive in a customized driving simulator. “Heavy use was defined by daily or near daily use, a minimum of four or five times a week, with a lifetime exposure of 1,500 times,” said lead author Staci Gruber, director of the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND) program at McLean Hospital, the largest psychiatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. 

Despite having little THC in their system, heavy users consistently performed worse on driving tasks than non-users, making critical, dangerous mistakes. Although both Gruber and Dahlgren claim it’s too early to tell how significant these ‘results’ may be, data in states where cannabis has been legalised reveal the shocking reality. Both Colorado and Washington for example, experienced a significant increase in fatal motor vehicle accidents since cannabis has been legalised recreationally. Gruber does however admit that is worrisome that weed appears to be replacing cigarettes in recent USA national surveys. “Daily cigarette use among 12th graders was 2.4% and marijuana use was 6.4%,” she said. Read more

France – Man hallucinates and kills woman while high on marijuana

A French appeals court ruled that a suspect will not stand trial for killing a female doctor while being high on marijuana. Kobili Traore, a Malian immigrant to France, allegedly beat the doctor for an hour while calling her a “demon” and shouting about “Allah.” This is nothing new, the impact of high potency marijuana and frequent use are well documented. A 6-year study done in 2015 by British Psychiatrists found that daily users of high potency marijuana are five times more likely to suffer psychosis than those who never touch it. The finding suggests that about 60,000 people in Britain are currently living with conditions involving hallucinations and paranoid episodes brought on by the abuse of high-potency cannabis. Read more at National Review, The Telegraph

LifeAlerts – Paedophilia

Paedophilia

South Africa – Paedophile threat escalates in SA

Pro-paedophilia propaganda has increased dramatically on the internet since the global lockdown took effect in March this year. Paedophiles are aggressively rebranding themselves as “Minor Attracted Persons” (MAP) in attempts to remove the negative social stigma associated with paedophilia.  The World Wide Web, children’s entertainment (like Disney animated movies and cartoons) and national educational systems have all become the primary environments for the targeting, isolation and sexual indoctrination and grooming of innocent children. Parents backed by the Church must aggressively lead the fightback against the sexualisation of children. Its starts with the rejection of CSE (Comprehensive Sex Education) and SOGI (Sexual Orientation & Gender identity) in public schools. Parents must take urgent steps to monitor their children’s online activity including installing software on all devices that protects against online pornography and sexual predator activity. Read more

Australia – New law a ‘major victory for paedophiles’

Tens of thousands of sexual assault survivors in Victoria have been stripped of their legal right to tell their stories using their real names. The changes to the Judicial Proceedings Reports Act – which were quietly introduced in February – silence all sexual assault victims whose offenders have been found guilty, by banning them from ever speaking out under their real identities. The new ‘gag laws’ have been described as a “major victory” for convicted paedophiles and rapists, as their victims are now “muzzled” and prohibited from self-identifying in publications – including media and autobiographies – regardless of their consent. Victorian Attorney-General, Jill Hennessy says that she has asked the Department of Justice and Community Safety to urgently look into these cases and consider how future reform could remedy any unintended barriers (to speaking out). Read more

UK – Catching Paedophiles by Looking at the Marks on Their Hands

Professor Sue Black is a forensic anthropologist and human anatomist in the UK and proposes a new way for identifying paedophiles. When the pedophile films his crime, he can be tracked using nothing more than his veins, scars, and other markings on their hands. Each person has their own unique vein pattern that matches no one else’s.

A case in 2006 of a teenage girl being interfered with at night by her father began this process for Sue. The girl’s mother did not believe her so she turned on her Skype camera and left it running all night, the camera went into near-infrared mode – when you look at the human body through near-infrared the veins stand up like black trams lines – which enabled Sue to trace the vein pattern associated with her father and they matched.

This was the first time evidence was presented in this format in court and because they were anatomists the court accepted the scientific evidence. The devastating decision of the court to dismiss the case was because the girl, according to the jury, did not cry enough for her to be believed. Since then Sue has had the research academically researched and validated. Watch video presentation here

South Africa – Pedophilia/Psychology today in SA

Pedophilia is an ongoing sexual attraction to pre-pubertal children. It is considered a paraphilia, a condition in which a person’s sexual arousal and gratification depend on fantasizing about and engaging in sexual behavior that is atypical and extreme. For people with pedophilic disorder who do seek help, research suggests that cognitive-behavioral treatment models may be effective. Such models may include aversive conditioning, confrontation of cognitive distortions, building victim empathy (such as by showing videos of consequences to victims), assertiveness training (social skills training, time management, structure), relapse prevention (identifying antecedents to the behavior [high-risk situations] and how to disrupt antecedents), surveillance systems (family associates who help monitor patient behavior), and lifelong maintenance. Read more

New York – The Emerging Psychology of Pedophiles

Images of child sex abuse have reached a crisis point on the internet, spreading at unprecedented rates in part because tech platforms and law enforcement agencies have failed to keep pace with the problem. What drives people to sexually abuse children?  Science in recent years has begun to provide some answers. One thing most pedophiles have in common: They discover that their sexual preferences have not matured like everyone else’s. Studies suggest that at least 40 percent of sex offenders were using drugs or alcohol when they committed their crimes. “The important thing, is that people know that treatment is possible, there’s a subgroup out there, they refer themselves here, and they are quite convinced that they do not want real-life sex with children.” [Dr. Fred Berlin, director of the Johns Hopkins Sex and Gender Clinic.] Read more

USA – Doctor claims pedophiles are born that way

According to a study by Dr. James Cantor, a neuroscientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, based on MRI brain scans of convicted child molesters, that “pedophilia begins in the womb.” Strangely, however, no brains of infants or children were examined in the study. There has been an active campaign going on for years to categorize pedophilia not as some kind of sexual deviancy worthy of society’s harshest condemnation, but rather a ‘sexual orientation.’ In other words, in the very same ballpark as the LGBT crowd. Will this research serve to give child sex predators more rights than their victims? Will society fall for this attempt to make predators look like “victims of nature”? Read more

USA – Amazon promotes pedophilia

Amazon has come under fire for selling a children’s T-shirt with ‘Daddy’s Little Sl*t’ printed on the front, and while the controversial top has since been removed, the site is still offering other clothing items for babies and toddlers featuring the disturbing phrase. Journalist Yashar Ali drew attention to the horrific clothing item by sharing a screenshot of the children’s shirt on Twitter. People were outraged and quick to share their disgust with Amazon. Read more at daily mail, Independent

USA – Man claims to be 8-year-old child in porn defense

A 45-year-old man from Michigan is facing charges for possessing child pornography. He defended himself by claiming he identifies as an eight-year-old girl and therefore should have his rights protected under the First Amendment. His collection reportedly contained over 50 pornographic images of everything from infants to 5-year-olds, and police were able to identify at least eight victims who were sexually assaulted. Prosecutor Daniel Helmer said he was a danger to the public “Even during the trial, the defendant continued to draw, talking about raping babies in Jail.” We are seeing pedophiles trying to climb aboard the LGBT “sexual orientation” train in an attempt to normalise raping children. Read more

USA – Professor backs sex with children!

Thomas Hubbard a professor at the University of Texas has written that it should not be illegal for people to have sexual relationships with children. He also says age-of-consent laws prohibit the liberated sexuality of adolescents. This is so twisted; Laws are written to protect children from criminal sexual deviants who want to force sexual acts on the immature and underdeveloped bodies of children. The American Psychiatric Association tries to put some instances of pedophilia in the category of “sexual orientation.” Just like the homosexual groups, Pedophilia is pushing to be another group that should not be discriminated against regardless of the child’s protection rights.

As a result, everyone else’s freedom gets trampled on for example, we now find men allowed in women’s locker rooms if they say they “identify” as a female. We have men who “identify” as females entering high school athletic competitions and demolishing their competition. Businesses are being doxed if they don’t bake a wedding cake in opposition to their religious beliefs. We are also told that there are 60 something genders that have never before existed in human history. Read more

USA – Social media contributing to normalization of pedophilia

Screenshots captured by Big League Politics’ Shane Trejo show several Twitter users who identify as MAPs (Minor Attracted Persons) openly engaging in conversation about sexual contact with children. Twitter policy now explicitly allows discussions surrounding “child sexual exploitation,” so long as posts don’t promote or glorify it. The policy has led to MAPs and pedophile enablers having a platform to discuss sexual contact with children. Shane traces the policy back to Dr James Cantor, who petitioned Twitter back in January 2018 to allow “non-offending pedophiles,” arguing that not doing so could cause them to act out in the real world. Twitter’s refusal to ban pedophiles suggests the company is on-board with the new movement attempting to normalize pedophilia. Read more

USA – Another pedophile calls to legalise child sex abuse

Gary Wolchesky, 31, admitted he induced under aged boys to send him sexually explicit videos but insisted at his 2016 trial that pedophilia should be legal. Fortunately, he lost that argument and was convicted of 21 crimes for which he is serving a 46-year prison term. But now, his criminal conviction could be in jeopardy, if a judge rules he was denied a speedy trial because of a seven-year wait from his 2009 arrest to go to trial. The appellate judges, in their ruling, said a number of circumstances led to the trial delay, including a “high volume of defense motions.” The jury found Wolchesky guilty of aggravated sexual assault and related child-pornography charges. Read more