An amendment to the Government’s Health and Care Bill sought to force the Government into drafting an assisted suicide bill within a year of the Health and Care Bill becoming law. The Association of Palliative Medicine (APM) has warned that the public is being “scared” into supporting assisted suicide through an excessive focus by the media on cases of suffering at end-of-life, This can lead to the perception that there is no hope and create the false choice between a painful, drawn-out and unnecessarily unpleasant death and assisted suicide or euthanasia. But this is not the case at all. Good palliative care is, or should be, an option for everyone at the end of life.
LIFEAlerts
The killing of one human being is one of the 3 fundamental prohibitions (France)
Freud correlatively differentiates between three fundamental prohibitions, three universal taboos which form the basis of the conditions of existence of culture: the taboos of cannibalism, incest and murder. Since the dawn of human history, this triple prohibition separates the state of culture from the state of nature, writes Freud.
Suicide Rates Don’t Decrease After Legalising Medical Assistance In Dying (UK)
It has been argued that the legalisation of medical assistance in dying would decrease or, at least, not have an effect on suicide rates. David Albert Jones, Director of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre in Oxford, published a study in The Journal of Ethics in Mental Health showing the opposite. In Switzerland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium there have been very steep rises in suicide compared with those of neighboring non-EAS states. In Switzerland suicide rates have approximately doubled from 1998 to 2017. The data from Europe is not reassuring: The non-assisted suicide rates have not declined relative to comparable non-EAS countries, whereas there have been very large increases in suicide (inclusive of assisted suicide) and intentional self-initiated death, especially among women.
Assisted suicide: Psychiatric assessment should be systematically provided (France)
In France, the public debate about the legalisation of assisted suicide, is raging. In December 2021, psychiatrists published a study that reconsidered the role of psychiatrists in dealing with requests for medical aid in dying. The study was based on 127 articles obtained mostly from Pubmed and Cairn, from 1997 to 2020 in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and Oregon. It emphasized that an in-depth visit with a psychiatrist should be provided in all cases, given that the most prevalent reasons for a request to die are “spirituality, attachment style, social isolation, despair, depression […]. Factors, such as a doctor’s qualifications, influence the psychiatric evaluation and can obscure the motivations that lead a person to request assisted suicide.
French Council of State Rejects Dignitas’ Appeal (France)
In December 2021 Dignitas, a Swiss organisation that promotes “the right to die with dignity”, submitted a Preliminary Question of Constitution (PQC) countering the ban of pentobarbital in France. Pentoparbital is used in Switzerland and Belgium for assisted suicide. On 21 December 2021 the French Council rejected the proposal highlighting the risks of pentobarbital to public healthcare.
Dignitas prides itself on its role in having assisted suicide recognised by the German and Austrian constitutional courts; it attempted to archive this in France, but thus far failed. It’s website explicitly criticises France for its suicide prevention policy; indicating the association’s ideology to strive to impose its deadly practices in foreign countries.
So-called ‘Gold Standard’ Abortion Pill Regimen Causes Serious Adverse Reactions (Canada)
A summary of spontaneously reported adverse reactions from the so called “gold standard “ abortion pill regimen shows numerous reports of serious events resulting in hospitalization. Reports of life threatening sepsis, numerous reports of haemorrhaging and numerous failed abortions were among the findings. The report released by The Canada Vigilance Program, concerns the abortion pill regimen Mifegymiso, the name used in Canada for the combined use of Mifepristone and Misoprostol. The report highlights the fact that the adverse reactions were reported on a voluntary basis. Health Canada also released a 195 page adverse events report on Mifigymiso, some of which is documented on the blog of pro-life blogger Patricia Maloney.
The ACOG should reconsider fetal pain (America)
There is increasing evidence to show that a foetus may feel pain as early as 12 weeks gestation. Currently the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), “Facts are Important”, states that foetal pain cannot occur before 24 weeks gestation. Updated findings, particularly from two studies done in 2016, suggest that subcortical structures develop much earlier than 24 weeks and are enough for perception of pain. The ACOG’s “Facts are Important” does not reflect these studies and has not been updated since 2013. The Charlotte Lozier Institute recommends the ACOG makes several revisions.
Exposure to job-related violence among young female prostitutes (Nigeria)
In Nigeria, many young girls are engaged in commercial prostitution as a means of livelihood and support of dependent relatives. Although studies have documented some of the violence related issues among commercial prostitutes, the plight of adolescent and young prostitutes particularly in urban slums may be different in context and depth. This study explored the experiences of violence and health related harm among vulnerable young female prostitutes in urban slums in Ibadan and Lagos, Southwest Nigeria. It also analysed their coping strategies and survival mechanisms. Young female prostitutes aged 15–24 years who reported having experienced violence were recruited for the study. Twelve participants completed the interviews out of the 20 initially contacted. The study was conducted in brothels of two selected slum areas in Ibadan and Lagos, Southwest Nigeria. The results showed that the major motivation for engaging in commercial sex work was for economic reasons. However, there are inherent risks involved particularly for the vulnerable young people. Stigmatization from the community, clients’ uncontrolled-aggressive behaviour and harassment from law enforcement agents are some of the frequent violence experiences reported. Self-help coping strategies are usually employed to prevent or mitigate the challenges. The plight of these young people requires policy and program attention towards alternative economic empowerment to rehabilitate those willing to leave the profession. Also the need to develop arm reduction interventions towards protection of young prostitutes against violence.
About 90 people go missing (South Africa)
Missing Children South Africa said, it roughly records between 60 to 90 missing people cases per month. The daughter of the former Economic Freedom Fighters secretary-general has also been reported missing. It is understood that she was last seen at a retail store with her daughter. Her 3 year old child was found the same day stranded on the street. Reporting missing cases as soon as possible is essential as the first 24 to 48 hours are crucial particularly when a child goes missing. Human trafficking has escalated in South Africa and it is now being declared as a human trafficking hub by the US department of state”.
Proposed online safety bill poses threats to prostitutes (UK)
The UK Parliament received a bill proposition about the regulation of “harmful” online content which will target the safety of prostitutes. The internet has given prostitutes an opportunity to safely practice their occupation without the dangers of in-person work. A 2018 U.K. research showed that online prostitution is actually a safer method, as it revealed that only 5% of prostitutes surveyed had experienced physical assault in the last year. To put things into perspective, there’s a 45% to 75% chance prostitutes will experience violence throughout their careers. With this new proposed law, tech companies will be financially penalised for allowing the advertisement of prostitution on their platforms, and they could face jail time.