LIFEAlerts

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 – Same Sex Attraction

Same Sex Attraction

Australia – Australian Rugby urged to ban men from women’s game

Senator Claire Chandler, a senior politician, issued a demand that Rugby’s governing body in Australia must intervene to stop biological men from playing the women’s game. World Rugby currently allows men to play in the women’s game after twelve months of testosterone reducing treatment. Latest research shows that a reduction of testosterone “does not lead to a proportionate reduction in mass, muscle mass, strength or power”, presenting a “clear safety risk”. It calculates biological male players “are stronger by 25-50%, are 30% more powerful, 40% heavier, and about 15% faster” than women. Rugby Union already has one of the highest incidence of reported injuries in professional team sport. Read more

USA – Censoring medical information critical of total affirming LGBT approach proves to be trending

Retail giant Amazon has removed a book outlining the medical and psychological dangers associated with same-sex sexual acts from its website. Some say it is further evidence of a larger censorship trend. The book, Health Hazards of Homosexuality, compiles data taken from major medical professional groups, the Centers for Disease Control, and other sources, including LGBT medical and advocacy organizations. Amazon also pulled books from authors who exited the LGBT lifestyle. Journalist Abigail Shrier’s book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters was also disallowed by Amazon. Shrier’s book is an investigative work that scrutinizes the steep rise in teens that transgender. Read more

UK – New study shows more evidence of correlation between autism and transgender

According to a new study by scientists at the University of Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre, transgender and gender-diverse adults are three to six times more likely to be diagnosed as autistic. The research used data from over 600,000 adult individuals and confirms previous smaller-scale studies from clinics. Transgender and gender-diverse individuals were also found to be more likely to have had received diagnoses of mental health conditions, particularly depression. Dr Varun Warrier, who led the study, said that the co-occurrence between being autistic and being transgender and gender-diverse is robust. What is now needed, is to figure out a way to help these individuals. The study did not investigate if one causes the other. Read more

USA – Study makes false claim about children knowing their gender

According to a report by the National Academy of Sciences, transgender children have a sense of their “true gender”, But the study contradicts itself in the following way: The study says some 300 transgender kids prefer toys and clothes that match their gender identity, not their birth sex. Well, of course. The kids surveyed were already either identifying as transgender, so it’s impossible to tell from the study whether their toy and clothing preferences were innate. The results were baked into the cake. The study contradicts itself by saying how transgender feelings can change. How can this study affirm that gender identity is real and valid, while also suggesting that children can later revert back to their sex at birth? Read more Here

USA – Medical professionals take advantage of minor’s emotional immaturity

A recent article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggests that provision be made for intervention to “transition” children against their parents’ will. The authors prioritize the developing autonomy of transgender minor’s in the decision-making process. In fact, a range of scientific literature indicates that reinforcing gender confusion is harmful in the long term, and often fails to prevent significant emotional harm up to and including attempted suicide (with or without surgery). Fixating on “gender affirmation” tends to distract from exploring other issues that may be at the root of a patient’s mental or emotional unrest. Minors are emotionally and physically underdeveloped, and unable to fully comprehend what it means to transition.

Dr. Michelle Cretella, president of the American College of Pediatricians has said that Other studies have found that while there is a “honeymoon period” of “reported relief and happiness” following sex change surgery, it does not last. “Ten years beyond transition, however, rates of additional mental illness begin to rise precipitously, to the point that thirty years following surgical transition (mutilation), the suicide rate is 19 times greater than that of the general population.” “Do not be fooled. like all trans youth studies before it, it is a political agenda masquerading as science,” Read more Here, here, here, here and here

USA – Men identifying as transgender females to get access to female prisons

An inmate at Illinois’ largest women’s prison says she was raped by a transgender inmate and that the officials conducted a “sham investigation” to help cover up the incident. Males have been claiming to be transgender females and getting transferred to female prisons. In an attempt to justify the transfers, the officials covered up the sexual assault and tried to falsely classify it as consensual, to keep it from being considered a prison rape. Female inmates are suffering under the so-called transgender laws which attempts to force society to accept the false idea that people can change their genders. Read more

UK – landmark court case could change the way childhood gender dysphoria is treated

A woman who received treatment for Gender Dysphoria (GD) as a teenager says the puberty-delaying drugs and testosterone prescribed to her has caused irreversible damage to her physical and mental health. Keira Bell is now taking Tavistock (gender affirmation clinic) to court. Keira says her transition was a “coping mechanism” and that there was no real investigation into the other mental health issues she was going through. Keira adds that the transition left her feeling more depressed and suicidal and solved nothing. Sky News research suggested that 35 psychologists have resigned from the children’s gender-identity service in three years. Six of them have now raised concerns about hormone treatment being given to children with GD. Read more

Australia – Gender clinics operate with weak evidence

According to a new global watchdog body called, the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM), many mainstream doctors are unaware that children’s hospital gender clinics carry out invasive medical treatments based on low-quality evidence. US physician William Malone, the spokesman for SEGM explained that the best treatment for such children should be found through scientific study, investigation and open debate. There has been an exponential rise in troubled teenagers seeking to transition. Many reportedly come to gender clinics with pre-existing mental health problems, autism, suppressed same-sex attraction, a history of child sex abuse or family trauma, and there is debate about whether they are getting the right treatment. Scrutiny of the transgender “affirmative” treatment model is intensifying, and inquiries or reviews are underway in Australia, the UK, Sweden, Brazil and Germany. Read more | See video one & two

USA – Multiple states respond to transgender laws

Arizona & Ohio state recently passed a “Save Women’s Sports Act” that bans biological males who identify as transgender females from participating in women’s sports. Recent research verifies that even with taking cross-sex hormones, men have an unequivocal advantage since they have stronger bones and greater lung capacity, etc. Alabama passed a bill that criminalizes sex-related surgeries, prescribing opposite sex hormones, and drugs used to arrest puberty to gender-confused youth under the age of 19. It’s reported that England is also expected to drop plans that would have made it easier for people to change their gender amid concerns about the impact on children. Read more: foxnews, Redstate, Dailywire, Lifesitenews

USA – “Gender-neutral” bathroom shuts down after sexual assault on student

A high school in Wisconsin shuttered its inclusive gender-neutral bathroom after an 18-year-old student was arrested for fourth-degree sexual assault of a minor. Fourth-degree sexual assault is defined as “sexual contact with a person without the consent of that person.” Advocates claim gender-neutral bathrooms are more inclusive for people struggling with their sexual identity, but others argue the bathrooms create privacy issues for men and women. Read more

UK – Equalities Minister blasts unapproved LGBT guidance for schools

The Equalities Minister in the UK has rejected claims that were made by the LGBT guidelines document for schools, the minister said that these claims do not reflect government policy. The LGBT guidelines for schools in the UK have falsely claimed the following; that schools have a legal and moral duty to embed LGBT teaching in the curriculum, and the guidelines suggest that schools should ignore the concerns of parents and carers who object. The guidelines document also encouraged schools to ignore advice from groups such as Transgender Trend, A Woman’s Place UK and Fair Play for Women, because these groups do not fully endorse the affirmative approach to gender confusion.  The guidelines document also falsely claims that “refusing a child or young person access to the changing room or toilet of their gender identity would constitute an act of discrimination”. Read more

Romania – Bans gender studies in schools

Similar to its neighbours Hungary and Poland, the Senate of Romania voted in June to ban all studies and courses linked to gender ideology in schools and higher education. The amendment bans “activities spreading the theory or opinions related to gender identity which hold that gender is a separate concept from biological sex and that the two are not always identical.” For the amendment to be made law it has to be signed by President Iohannis. Read more

USA – The dangers of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones

Jane Robbins is an attorney who graduated from Harvard Law School. Recently a piece written by Robbins was published in The Federalist on the topic of transgender youth. In the article Robbins expresses concerns over the youth being experimented on with medical interventions that actually prove to do more harm than good.

Multiple studies show how puberty blockers and cross sex hormones (the same intervention being pushed by the transgender industry on children) disrupt mental health. Women who identify as transgender men receive megadoses of testosterone, enough to raise their levels 10-40 times above the female reference range.  Past studies have documented multiple psychiatric problems — mania, hypomania, major depression, and even psychosis — with similar high doses of anabolic steroids like testosterone.

Estrogen also affects mood in complex ways. Post-menopausal women treated with even normal doses of estrogen often experience severe anxiety. Because men who identify as women receive megadoses of estrogen, this intervention could worsen both anxiety and depression.

“Evidence mounts that these medical interventions increase the risk of stroke, heart disease, blood clots, cancers, and a host of other maladies no young person should ever have to face. They almost certainly result in infertility or sterility and put children on a lifelong path of medicalized warfare against their own bodies. Because there are no long-term studies of the effects of some of these interventions, they constitute a ghoulish experiment on confused but innocent kids.” Read more; The Federalist, Pubmed, Psycheducation

Australia – Court Case could change the rules when it comes to transitioning children

A mother, along with a psychiatric expert who questions the safety of transgender treatments for children, will appear in court against doctors who permitted her son to take opposite-sex hormone drugs. The psychiatric expert said that the gender clinic’s puberty blocker drugs, opposite-sex hormones and surgery for minors who have gender issues overlook deeper and more complex rational and psychological difficulties. The better response would be non-invasive psychotherapy and ‘watchful waiting’.

The growing concern of young adult “detransitioners” who regret medical treatment, evidence that gender clinics have falsely promoted puberty blockers as reversible, the possible role of “social contagion” in teenage transgender declarations, the dangers of “aggressive trans activism”, a failure of media reporting, and “persecution” of parents and practitioners worried about child welfare make this a case to watch. 

The journalist covering the case, Kirralie Smith, said that laws needed to be written taking into consideration all available evidence, science and medical studies. Academics and doctors who do not comply are being threatened and censored. Read more

Canada – calls for national inquiry into increasing number of children transitioning

Derek Sloan, a candidate for the Conservative Party leadership in Canada, is calling for a national inquiry into the increasing number of children undergoing medical “gender transitioning” or “sex reassignment.” Emphasising his position on gender ideology, he said “no one younger than 18 should be allowed to take hormones or get a sex change surgery, and educational systems need to stop pushing one-sided content on this subject at extremely inappropriate ages for students.” Sloan also explained that several governments, including in the United Kingdom and Australia, had already “investigated this trend and taken action on it. There are good reasons for this.” Read more

USA – Federal investigation to be launched on transgender bathroom enabled sexual assault of kindergartener

In November 2017, a kindergarten girl was sexually assaulted in her school bathroom by a boy who was allowed to be there because of that policy. The little girls’ mother Pascha Thomas has filed a federal lawsuit, the first suit in the nation seeking to hold a school district accountable for demonstrable harm inflicted on the girl. The parents of City Schools students warned this kind of thing would happen, and now it has. In June 2020, an investigation done by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found that the school failed to investigate the assault, tried to sweep the problem under the rug, and actively misled local parents about what had happened and what it meant for their children’s safety. Read more

USA – 14 States consider restricting transgender sports participation

Fourteen states in the USA are considering laws that would restrict transgender sports participation according to the Human Rights Campaign. Legislators adjourned amid the coronavirus pandemic, so actions have not been taken on pending bills. However, special sessions are likely to resume in the coming weeks and it’s possible the transgender bills may receive attention. Transgender athletes were prohibited from competing with women’s sports teams in public schools, colleges, and universities in Idaho after Republican Gov. Brad Little signed a bill into law in March. Attorney General William Barr said that Idaho is not in violation of the Constitution by denying support for biological males which compete against biological females. Read more

USA – Exploiting child suicide to bully parents of transgender kids denies science

Parents are being told that if they do not agree to experimental medical interventions for their transgender children, that their children might commit suicide. In reality, suicide among transgender children are rare, especially when compared to other at-risk groups of youth, such as those with anorexia and autism. More importantly, there is no long-term evidence that puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or “transition” surgeries prevent suicide. On the contrary, the best long-term research shows that people who go through medical transition kill themselves at a rate many times greater than the general population. In no other medical or psychological condition is a suicidal patient — let alone a child — allowed to dictate treatment. Children and adolescents are cognitively immature, and their thinking is further impaired under psychological distress. To proceed with treatment would be gross medical negligence.

Scientific research tells us that youth with gender dysphoria often also suffer depression, anorexia, autism, and other psychological conditions predisposing them to suicide. Self-harm among trans-identified youth may be due to the dysphoria, but maybe not. It could stem from other psychological conditions or a combination of both. If that’s the case, radical chemical and surgical interventions administered to help the patient mimic the opposite sex won’t resolve the underlying psychological problem. Suicide prevention for trans-identified youth is the same as for youth who suffer other psychological distress: talk therapy and Food and Drug Administration-approved psychiatric medications.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reported that 90% of people who die by suicide have an underlying – and potential treatable – mental health condition. One study found that 96% of U.S. adolescents who attempt suicide suffer from at least one mental illness. There is no evidence trans-identified children who commit suicide are any different. In fact, the most up-to-date research shows the effectiveness of psychotherapy for resolving gender dysphoria in children and adolescents.

Swedish child and adolescent psychiatrist Sven Roman and Psychologists Dr. Michael Bailey and Dr. Ray Blanchard agree: There is no persuasive evidence that gender transition reduces the likelihood of gender dysphoric children from killing themselves. Read more

UK – British Broadcasting Corp drops radical transgender info page

The BBC has removed some of UK’s most controversial pro-transgender groups from its online ‘Gender identity’ information page. Links to Mermaids, The Gender Trust, and The Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES), which promote radical transgender ideology, have been replaced with a link to the National Health Service (NHS). Some of these groups provoked outrage after exposing names, telephone numbers, addresses, and deeply intimate details of children’s mental state and medical history online for all to read. The trans group called GIRES also falsely claimed that gender treatments mitigate the symptoms of Autism spectrum disorder. The NHS recently changed its guidance on puberty-blocking drugs to reflect the growing evidence of the dangers posed to children by hormone suppressors. Read more

USA – Study claiming health benefits of gender-affirming treatment say they were wrong

The authors of a study who claimed “gender-reassignment” procedures brought mental health benefits issued a correction to their 2019 findings, admitting that those who have had “gender-reassignment” surgery “were more likely to be treated for anxiety disorders.” The study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry and utilized data from the Swedish Total Population Register, with information from more than 9.7 million Swedes, or about 95% of the country. The claim that gender-affirming treatment improves transgender mental health hinged on the outcomes of only three people from the total dataset of 9.7 million people. Read more

LifeAlerts – Abortion

Abortion

USA – People tweet photos of their unborn children

A tweet resurfaced from 2018 of Sen. Kamala Harris advocating against a ban on abortions past 20 weeks. People reacted to the reappearance of this tweet by posting photos and sonograms of their children at 20 weeks or earlier, denouncing Harris’s pro-abortion platform and call for ban. Others shared photos of babies prematurely born around 20 weeks, fully developed and alive. Harris is a long time pro-abortion activist with a long congressional record supporting the movement.

According to Dr Chris Warton, Lecturer on Human Anatomy, embryology and neuroscience at the University of Cape Town, there is no specific event which defines the developing fetus as being at 19 weeks. The unborn baby’s heart starts beating at 24 days (3 ½ weeks), the brain is active by 5 weeks, fingers appear at 7 weeks, toes at 8 weeks, fetal movements happen between 9 and 12 weeks. Dr Warton was recently spokesperson for a webinar hosted by Doctors For Life on the Humanity of the Unborn. The Federalist, Dr Warton’s expert summary

UK – Mother gets hate mail for not aborting her children

A British mother of four children, two of whom are autistic, reported this month that she received hate mail telling her she should have aborted her disabled children. Samantha Kenny does a lot of campaigning online and has experienced this kind of remarks but never expected it to come to her door and was rather shocked and saddened. Pressure to abort is not uncommon, many women report being pressured by boyfriends and parents. A recent case study this year June showed that 50% of women who had abortions were pressured into it. 77% said they regretted it. This is not a choice this is an ultimatum which the woman is given and it should be illegal. LiveAction, Study

China – Group of Chinese doctors propose killing unwanted babies by microwaving them

A group of Chinese doctors has published a proposal for killing unwanted unborn twins or triplets by microwaving them. This is to selectively destroy one of two or more unborn babies sharing a placenta, and they published their protocol in the British Medical Journal in August. This is a procedure in which heat from radio waves is used to cauterize human tissue, often to stop nerves from signaling pain to the brain or to kill small tumors. As an abortion method, a needle is inserted in the twin, and an electrical current passes through it, essentially boiling the fetus alive. Read more

USA – Four Pro-Life laws might soon go into effect

Four Arkansas pro-life laws may soon be allowed to be enforced to protect unborn babies from dismemberment abortions after a federal appeals court ruled in favour of the state. State Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said in a statement celebrating the victory that “Arkansas has taken a strong stance to protect the unborn from inhumane treatment,” The laws include; protecting the unborn from Dismemberment Abortions – typically referred to as dilation and evacuation, protecting unborn babies from discriminatory sex-selection abortions, requiring the remains of aborted babies to be buried or cremated and lastly, to report evidence of sexual abuse of young girls under 14 to authorities. Eleven other states have already passed laws to ban dismemberment abortions. Read more

USA – New study shows medical community effective in keeping extreme preemies alive

According to the US Supreme Court, viability is the determining factor of whether or not unborn babies should be protected from abortion or not. Viability is actually the earliest point at which technology can keep a baby alive outside the womb. A new study published February this year in the Journal of Pediatrics now shows that the medical community has become very effective in keeping extreme preemies alive and sent home to their families. The study looked at 255 infants born between 22 and 25 weeks’ gestation, and showed that 78% survived that were born between 22 and 23 weeks, and 89% of those born between 24-25 weeks survived. What’s more, 64% of the surviving babies in both categories experienced “no or mild neurodevelopmental impairment.”

What does this mean for the abortion industry?

For a start, viability is now receding earlier and earlier and this is exciting news for parents, but the abortion industry would rather keep this secret because late-term abortion is lucrative. It is also carefully guarded from public view because the killing of babies past the point of viability has the least support among public opinion. As viability slips earlier into pregnancy, the vast percentage of American opinion against abortion follows. With time and the advancement of technology, a stronger case is being made for an America without abortion. Read more

USA – Panel to review applications for use of foetal tissue is established

Earlier this year the Trump Administration established a panel to review applications to use foetal tissue. Scientists are to be funded only if there are no adequate alternatives and if acquisition and disposal of the tissue are ethical. Human foetal tissue research has been touted as a pathway to studying the coronavirus as well as HIV, diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease. However, in the United States this is extremely controversial because of opposing views on the status of the foetus.  Science magazine complained that the panel is stacked with members who oppose abortion, and calls the use of tissue from induced abortions “scientific necessity”. Read more

USA – Alabama abortion facility under investigation for woman’s death

In May 2020, after a woman who had an abortion at the West Alabama Women’s Center died, a coalition of pro-life groups decided to look into the incident. The pro-life groups filed complaints against the facility since it was found that they never called 911 even though the woman looked unwell, struggled to walk, and needed help getting into the parking area. The Alabama Department of Public Health refused to investigate since someone other than an ambulance crew drove her to the hospital where she died later that same day. The abortionist who saw the woman, conveniently retired in July after the incident. When patient deaths are ignored it only makes abortion more dangerous, because it cultivates an understanding that there will never be consequences, even if a woman dies. Read more

USA – Abortion boils down to whether it’s okay to kill a baby or not

Claire Chretien holds a bachelor’s degree, is a journalist and Editor. Claire has written thousands of articles on Abortion and other topics. She writes how America legalized “the murder of whole, distinct, living human beings,” when it legalized abortion and argues that abortion is not about women’s empowerment, or “choice” but rather about whether it should be legal to violently kill a tiny, growing baby inside the mother’s womb. Claire points out how hard cases like rape, and the dehumanization of the unborn baby are nothing more than tactics used to justify killing babies. When we March for Life, we should mourn the innocent little souls that could not cry or scream to defend themselves. Read more

Africa – Abortion kills Africa’s youngest and most vulnerable

A leading African pro-life advocate says Canada’s prime minister should not have been allowed to speak in her continent because of his commitment to funding the killing of pre-born African babies. Culture of Life Africa founder and president Obianuju Ekeocha, creator of the documentary Strings Attached exposes the brutality, deception and criminality that underlies the Western world’s exporting of abortion and contraception to Africa. Strings Attached documents the fact that countless millions of aid dollars poured into Africa go not for education, clean water or basic medical needs for mothers and babies, but fill the coffers of international abortion-peddlers such as Marie Stopes.

Ekeocha secretly video recorded Paul Cornelissen, regional director for South Africa of Marie Stopes International, confirming in a meeting that: “We do illegal abortions all over the world.” Moreover, in calls made to various Marie Stopes clinics throughout Africa, most clinics were willing to refer women for illegal abortions, and some to commit the abortions. Read more

USA – Justices say abortion rights could potentially be seeing a legal rollback

The Supreme Court is taking a new look at abortion access in America. Justices say that this could be the start of potential legal rollback of broader abortion rights. The issue is that the state requires abortionists to have admitting privileges to a nearby hospital. Abortion supporters oppose this requirement and claim that this will somehow interfere with abortion access but, The Alliance Defending Freedom calls it “common-sense protections that ensure the maximum safety for women.” So many reports of women experiencing abortion procedure complications, and sometimes death, have surfaced in multiple articles from the UK and across America. State attorneys have also pointed out saying that “Louisiana abortion clinics have a history of serious health and safety problems.” Read more; Foxnews, bmcmedicine, cambridge, Ic.ord, Docs.house.gov, Women Who Suffered Emotionally from Abortion: A Qualitative Synthesis of Their Experiences

USA – Do unborn babies feel pain and when?

The question of fetal pain was first raised decades ago. During certain in utero surgeries, unborn children have been seen flinching, grimacing, and moving away from pain. Because of this observation, it has become normal to use anaesthesia during these in utero surgeries. Some states restrict abortions in certain circumstances after 24 weeks since “the baby can feel pain,” according to previous standard thought. But a brand-new study now shows that it is possible for a fetus to feel pain as early as 12 or 13 weeks’ gestation, which calls into question the accepted thoughts and practices on the matter in the medical field and in society at large. 

John Bockmann is a physician’s assistant in the army and he focussed his research toward understanding fetal pain. While delving into the topic of fetal pain, Bockmann realized that the previous understanding about fetal pain was based on a false presumption: that the cortex, which does not develop until about 24 weeks, is responsible for sensations, including the pain sensation. It has been shown in other research that even humans born without a cortex can feel experience pain and emotion. Watch here

USA – Pro-abortion groups oppose safety measures for women

In an interview with Lila Rose founder of Live Action, Fox News Host Tucker Carlson asked why abortion supporters are so angry if having an abortion makes them happy? This is because abortion activists are opposing two humane Louisiana laws that would safeguard women by requiring abortionists to make arrangements for admitting women to nearby hospitals in the event of life-threatening procedural complications, and to transfer infants who survive abortions to hospitals. Lila replied saying that this angry behaviour is because of the pain experienced through abortion and that’s why they have to keep justifying it. It’s the antithesis of women’s empowerment to say in order to have a nice car and nice house, I have to kill my child.” Read more

USA – Abortion providers ask for exemption from safety regulations

State abortion providers are challenging a Louisiana law that, in case of emergency, requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. Abortion-rights advocates lobbying against the law are essentially demanding that they be exempted from the safety standards properly applied to every other type of surgical medical procedure. Why would an industry that claims to prioritize women’s health fight regulation aimed at ensuring that women who seek abortions can receive emergency care?

Louisiana is also suggesting that abortion providers do not have standing to challenge state regulations aimed at protecting women, especially because of their distinct financial interest in performing abortion procedures. abortion providers actually have a conflict of interest with women when it comes to safety laws. If the Court were to determine that abortion providers cannot challenge abortion regulations on behalf of women, it would drastically reduce the number of cases brought against state laws seeking to protect women from unsafe abortion practices.

In the course of defending its law, Louisiana has provided abundant evidence that abortion providers in the state have a history of violating other state laws such as; refusing to ensure that staff members are competent medical professionals, failed to report possible rapes of minors, hired radiologists and ophthalmologists to perform abortions, and neglected basic medical practices such as failing to monitor the vital signs of sedated women. Another important detail in the case is that Louisiana’s admitting-privileges law treats abortion providers the same way that it treats all medical professionals who perform surgeries. Read more

USA – More states pass pro-life bills

Wyoming state has become the latest state to ensure life-saving care for babies who survive botched abortions, thanks to a bill that just cleared its final legislative hurdle. The law requires physicians to provide care for children delivered alive after failed abortions, even if a baby is deemed to have a condition “incompatible with life.” Physicians who fail to do so would face as many as 14 years in prison. Oklahoma state moves to ban abortions as soon as an embryonic or fetal heartbeat is audible or if fetal brain waves are detected which occurs at around six weeks’ gestation. Read more; Lifesite, Tulsaworld

USA – Pro-abortion professor changes his mind about fetal pain

The following discussion on fetal pain does not attempt to suggest having an abortion procedure should depend upon whether or not an unborn baby can feel pain or not. Especially since there are thousands of Biology and embryology textbooks, modern DNA studies, Medical Dictionaries, Science professors and medical researchers that all confirm that life begins at fertilization. This is a scientific certainty that alone should discourage abortion. Furthermore, it is also well documented how women suffer emotionally, psychologically and in the long term physically due to choosing an abortion. This discussion of fetal pain is to share new insight on previous thought standards that are now changing because of new research on the cortex.

British psychology professor Stuart Derbyshire and John C. Bockmann, a physician’s assistant in the U.S. Army, published a paper in the Journal of Medical Ethics titled “Reconsidering fetal pain.” They conclude that according to several published papers on the necessity of the cortex for pain experience may have been exaggerated, for example, one study demonstrated continued pain experience in a patient with extensive damage to cortical regions generally believed to be necessary for pain experience. A further study has demonstrated activation of areas generally thought to generate pain in subjects congenitally insensitive to pain but receiving noxious stimuli. Those two studies appear to neatly dissociate pain experience from the cortex. In conclusion unborn babies can feel pain at 18 to 20 weeks, and possibly as early as 12 or 13 weeks. Read/watch more; read, read, & watch

UK – British doctor: at-home abortions injure women and can lead to death

The UK has loosened its guidelines to allow chemical abortions to be committed at a woman’s home, under the guidance of a doctor through Facetime, Skype, or telemedicine. As a result, Dr Gregory Gardner, a general practitioner and an honorary lecturer at Birmingham University is sounding the alarm. Dr Gardner submitted a report to the High Court to overturn this decision. The report outlines how the abortion pill regimen has numerous associated risks such as; death and other complications such as haemorrhage, infection, sepsis, and psychological trauma. It would be unwise to leave a woman in that state. It would also be impossible to detect if a woman is being coerced into having an abortion to cover up a rape crime.  At-home abortions would not be safe practice due to the risk of serious injury and harm being done to women self-administering Mifepristone and Misoprostol at home. Despite what the abortion advocates say, the abortion pill regimen is not easy, painless, or without complications. Women regularly experience pain and trauma, with extremely heavy bleeding for days on end. Read more

Mexico – Mexico passes pro-life education law

Mexican state legislatures passed an education reform bill on 21 May to foster a “respect for life from conception to natural death” in students. The law reflects the state constitution, which affirms that “the state recognizes, protects and defends the right to life that every human being has. From the moment of conception that life comes under the protection of the Law and is considered as having been born with regards to all corresponding legal effects until its natural death.” state legislator Juan Carlos Leal, who introduced the education reform bill, said “We want to create a new generation of students that have values and respect, which unfortunately in Mexico, we have seen is being lost,” Read more

Poland – Polish president supports banning eugenic abortions against disabled babies

Abortions are currently illegal in Poland except that in cases of disability or abnormality in the preborn baby comprise 98% of legal abortions in Poland. But Earlier in April, Polish lawmakers debated a bill that changes this. Kaja Godek, a pro-life legislator, rightly described the bill as protection for disabled children. Polish President Andrzej Duda said in an interview “I am a strong opponent of eugenic abortion and I believe that killing children with disabilities is frankly murder. If the plan finds itself on my desk, I will in all certainty sign it.” Read more

USA – Defund Abortion providers to save black lives

Matt Walsh an American writer, actor and director wrote a piece on Black Lives Matter in Daily Wire. He said “defunding the police is sure to kill many more black people than it saves, defunding Planned Parenthood, and then abolishing abortion entirely, is sure to save many millions of lives while costing none.” Abortion has destroyed over 60 million people in the USA since Roe v. Wade. In some American cities, the situation has gotten so bad that more black babies are aborted than born. Planned Parenthood kills close to 100,000 black people every year. For comparison sake, police killed 1,000 people total last year — white, black, armed, and unarmed. Read more

England –  British court grants review of at-home abortions

In March this year, the British government permitted women up to 10 weeks pregnant to self-administer abortion pills, at home without a medical practitioner present. In June the court decided on a judicial review to question the legality of this decision during the covid-19 lockdown. The Abortion Act stipulates that abortions may take place only in hospitals run by the National Health Service and in “approved” clinics. The second is that permitting women to perform abortions on themselves is directly contrary to the aims of the Abortion Act, “which is to prevent ‘backstreet abortions’ and ensure that the abortions take place in safe [sic] and hygienic conditions.” Read more

USA – Ruling allows US to limit taxpayer funding of pro-abortion foreign groups

The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the federal government can limit funding for international organizations based on their policy positions. USAID’s rule says that foreign affiliates of humanitarian organizations must have policies opposing prostitution and sex trafficking in order to receive any US funding to combat HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Foreign organizations said this rule was a violation of their free speech, but SCOTUS’ ruling said that international affiliates do not have First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution. In terms of abortion, this ruling could allow the federal government to withhold funding from international organizations, even those affiliated with organizations in the United States, which commit abortions or refer for abortions. Read more

USA – Trump Admin reverses rule forcing doctors to participate in ‘sex-changes,’ and abortions.

Last month the Trump administration announced the reversal of a 2016 “anti-discrimination” rule which would have required healthcare providers receiving federal funds to perform “gender transition” operations and abortions. now the Department of Health and Human Services has announced that they will “enforce Section 1557 by returning to the government’s interpretation of sex discrimination according to the plain meaning of the word ‘sex’ as male or female and as determined by biology.” Read more

Belgium – Vote to decriminalize abortion blocked for a third time

In Belgium, four government parties joined forces to block yet another attempt at decriminalizing abortion. The law would extend the current 12-week abortion window to 18th week. At this stage the baby already has a heartbeat, brain wave activity (which can be measured), is sensitive to noises, can feel pain, can swallow and pull faces. The baby at this stage also has fingers and toes with nails. Of course, those who support baby killing through abortion make this about ‘rights’ and not about science, and so deny the humanity of the unborn. Read more

USA – Abortionist admits to discouraging women from going to the emergency room when having complications.

Three abortionists are being sued for the 2017 death of Keisha Atkins after a late-term abortion in New Mexico. The video shows one abortionist admitting to telling patients they are not to contact emergency personnel if something goes wrong. The women were not given a list of potential risks as would be normal for any procedure performed or medication administered.  The abortionist claims that emergency personnel are not qualified to care for the woman’s needs. The problem with this argument is that women do not visit emergency rooms to get abortion procedures but instead to seek emergency care when an abortion has gone wrong, and they are in pain, injured, or possibly dying.

In that case, women do not need to see an abortionist, whose primary aim is to make sure the preborn baby does not survive, and who has a vested interest in making sure botched abortions never become public knowledge. Atkins suffered from sepsis, a bacterial infection caused by the four-day abortion process, which brought about symptoms consistent with Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC). Atkins suffered haemorrhaging in her brain and left adrenal gland, a build-up of fluid around her lungs, and other symptoms of DIC that the autopsy ignored. Read more

USA – Dozens of legislatures demand update on investigation on abortion industry

Over 60 members of Congress asked the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide an update report of the DOJ’s investigation into Planned Parenthood (PP) and its affiliates, as well as to explain the steps it is taking to prioritize the enforcement of fetal trafficking laws altogether. This comes after the release of a video by the Center for Medical Progress showing PP executives admitting under oath to selling body parts of aborted babies. Another video contains a sworn testimony of abortion industry officials admitting to awareness of babies being born alive, and suggesting that they are murdered soon after. The legislators call these admissions morally repugnant and a federal crime. Read more

USA – Investigation underway of abortion center linked to Pornhub trafficking case of minor

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is calling on the Department of Law Enforcement to investigate an abortion center that provided an abortion to a 15-year-old girl. The girl was brought in by her trafficker who tried covering up his crime. The girl was repeatedly raped and filmed in videos that were uploaded to Pornhub. The goal of the investigation is to find out whether the abortion center failed to report abuse or neglect of the minor and if such failure enabled the further exploitation of the victim in this case. Read more

USA – Judge strikes down rule to compel abortion clinics to report on complications after abortion procedure

An Indiana federal judge struck down an Act which was passed in March 2018. Act 340 required that all doctors in the state annually report any treatment of 26 different conditions known to be potential abortion complications. These conditions included perforation of the uterus or cervix, infections, haemorrhaging, blood clots, cardiac or respiratory arrest, and emotional or psychological conditions. According to the judge, the statute lacks the standard to guide physicians in determining whether a condition qualifies as an abortion complication. The judge did uphold a section of the same Act that mandates annual inspections of abortion facilities, saying that the State had offered “at least a plausible explanation for the decision to subject abortion clinics to stricter inspection requirements.” Read more

Belgium – Woman kills her children because she grieves her aborted child

Three years after Julie Lambotte’s abortion of her daughter with Down syndrome, the Belgian woman admitted to police that she murdered her other three children out of grief and guilt due to post-abortion trauma. Julie drowned her 22-month-old daughter in the bathtub and stabbed her other two daughters (a seven and a nine year-old), killing her seven year-old and leaving her nine year-old in a serious but stable condition in the hospital. According to Julie, she committed the crimes because she “missed her little girl,” with her violent spree taking place shortly after the three-year anniversary of her abortion.

Dr. Priscilla Coleman, a tenured full Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University, has researched abortion trauma. “An unbiased and valid synopsis of the scientific literature on increased risks associated with abortion would include depression, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders (including PTSD), as well as suicide ideation and behaviors,” “The literature now echoes the voices of millions of women for whom abortion was not a liberating, health-promoting choice: A conservative estimate from the best available data is 20 to 30 percent of women who undergo an abortion will experience serious and/or prolonged negative consequences.”

In numerous countries around the world, particularly in Europe, women with a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome or other conditions are frequently pressured to abort.

A company which recently introduced a new prenatal screening to Nigeria openly said they hoped it would lead to Down syndrome being “wiped out.” In Iceland, this has already happened, as almost 100 percent of preborn children with Down syndrome in the country are aborted. Women in the Netherlands have been told they have a “moral duty” to abort their babies with Down syndrome. In the United Kingdom, 90% of women with a prenatal diagnosis have an abortion, and similarly, in the United States, women are frequently pressured to abort their children with Down syndrome.

It’s no different in Belgium, where over 90 percent of babies with Down syndrome are aborted.

Women frequently experience overwhelming pressure to abort, and it’s also becoming more apparent that abortion trauma is real, as the majority of the scientific literature on the subject has revealed. Read more

USA – Global findings prove pro-life laws effective

According to a recent study from 166 countries between 1990 and 2019, pro-life laws work. The Lancet Global Health released this interesting study this week showing how the incidence of abortion is affected by its legal status. Between 2015 and 2019, in countries where abortion was mostly legal, 70% of women with unintended pregnancies chose abortion. During the same time period, only 50% of women with unintended pregnancies chose abortion if they lived in a country that offered preborn children some legal protection.

Other studies claimed that legal status has little effect on a countries’ abortion rate. But the problem with these studies is that most of the countries with legal restrictions on abortion are located in South America, Africa, and the Middle East, where countries tend to have higher poverty rates, higher unintended-pregnancy rates, and a high incidence of other social pathologies, all of which may increase the demand for abortion.

It is worth noting that four of the authors of this Lancet study are affiliated with the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. Unsurprisingly, Guttmacher is spinning the findings to attack pro-life laws and advocate increased spending on contraception programs. They say that abortions still happen in countries where it is legally restricted and argue that increased access to contraceptives is responsible for the worldwide decline in unintended-pregnancy rates. What’s more, some studies analyzing fertility rates across countries have found that availability of contraception has little effect on unintended-pregnancy rates. Read more

USA – More charges dropped against pro-life journalist

Additional charges against two pro-life investigative journalists have been dropped in the case of The People of the State of California vs. David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). In a hearing held over Zoom on Tuesday, two of the 10 charges against Merritt and one of the 10 against Daleiden were dropped. Daleiden and Merritt are the undercover journalists from CMP responsible for exposing the fetal body part trafficking scandal taking place at Planned Parenthood affiliates around the nation. The charges that remain for the journalists include recording Planned Parenthood staffers without their consent. However, the recordings took place in public spaces within earshot of other individuals, including waitstaff. Read more

USA – New survey shows women change their minds about abortion pill availability

Pro-Life Live Action group conducted an investigative report in consultation with the American Association of Pro-Life OB/GYNS. The new survey played an informational video to respondents of which 45% supported availability of the abortion pill and 31% did not. After watching the video about the abortion pill and how it affects women and children, the 45% in support dropped to 39%, and the 31% who opposed the abortion pill rose to 42%. Those who changed their minds were asked why, and the top two responses were seeing information about prenatal development and understanding that the abortion pill works by killing a human life or a baby. Read more, Survey results

USA – New case study finds many women left damaged and changed for the worst after abortions

A case study which analyses the testimonies of women who took the abortion pill was published this year in June. The study found that 83% of the women said they have been changed by their abortions, 77% said the change was negative, 77% regretted their abortions, 60% reported feelings of isolation and alienation, 38% reported problems with anxiety, depression, drug abuse, and/or suicidal thoughts as a result of the abortion, and 50% said the baby’s father or other family members used negating language as a means to pressure them into having abortions. Keeping the baby was portrayed in a negative light. The women also expressed feeling lied to by abortions workers and said they were poorly prepared for the experience. Read more, study

USA – Flawed study claims most women do not regret abortions

The study, known as the Turnaway Study, is the subject of a new book titled “The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having—or Being Denied—an Abortion,” by Diana Greene Foster, PhD. In short, this study claims that most women do not regret their abortion and do not suffer emotionally. But Dr Priscilla Coleman, a professor of human development and family studies calls the composition of the sample studied flawed because initially, only 37.5% of the women who were invited to participate agreed to participate, and then, across the study period, 42% dropped out. So the final results are based on 22% of eligible women.” Said Coleman.

The study may also have put two women who had abortions at considerably different points in their pregnancies together in the same research group. She said that many of these delineations were not made clear by the study’s authors, which further complicates their conclusions. “Not every woman’s going to regret her abortion or have mental health problems, but there’s an increased risk. And so that’s something women have a right to know about prior to undergoing the procedure.” “Most of the literature–the peer-reviewed scientific articles–indicate that a significant percentage of women are at risk for regretting their abortions,” “There are hundreds of studies and if (women seeking abortions) are only given the results of the Turnaway Study, they’re not being informed, they’re being misled. And that’s problematic in my view.”

Coleman has testified as an expert on abortion and mental health in state and civil cases involving abortion, in state legislative hearings on abortion, before a U.S. Congressional committee, and to legislatures in the United Kingdom and Australia. Read more

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

LifeAlerts – Sexual Exploitation

Sexual Exploitation

Canada – Online child exploitation on the rise

Predators and children are both spending more time online due to COVID-19, RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] said. They say victims range in age from 9 to 17 years old.  Sgt. Stephen Rear, director of the internet child exploitation (ICE) unit in Manitoba, said his team has gone from receiving a handful of cases per week to, in recent months, upwards of a dozen cases a week. He attributes the spike to more people — both predators and children — spending more time at home and online due to COVID-19. Parents think even though the kids are in the room with them, that that’s enough.” Read more

USA – He focuses more on Johns.

Just as much as there are misconceptions about how prostitution happens, there is a long-standing myth that we can’t fix the problem. This is an assumption one researcher, Dr. Michael Shively, Senior Advisor on Research and Data Analysis at the U.S. based National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), refuses to accept. “Anywhere there is prostitution, there is trafficking.” Where sex is sold, coercion follows. You only generate the supply—the people—if there is demand, and without demand, there is no motivation whatsoever to come up with that supply.”

Fighting sex trafficking needs a multi-faceted solution. Shively said we must continue to rescue victims and hold traffickers accountable, but we cannot ignore the buyers and cultural influences that encourage trafficking. Read more

USA – Amazon is profiting from the sale of sexual exploitation

Amazon, a member of our 2020 Dirty Dozen List, is selling a wide array of sex dolls. Poses of the dolls sometimes feature scenes of bondage and captivity. Some dolls are featured in school girl uniforms or in swimsuits with Disney characters. Some are marketed with images that include pictures of the doll’s genitalia. Many of the dolls have childlike facial features, small waists, and hips, but exaggerated bust sizes. Since launching our campaign some have been removed from the site but many remain. To make your advocacy efforts more seamless, we’ve made an easy-to-use action that allows you to quickly contact Amazon executives and urge them to remove these exploitative objects from their platform. Read more

USA – Governments, Big Tech Team Up Against Online Child Sexual Exploitation

In efforts to prevent child sexual abuse online, the United States, along with the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, have created new voluntary principles that tech companies are promoting. Social media have all endorsed the principles, which ask them to prevent child sexual abuse material from being made available on their platforms, and taking action against advertising, soliciting children, and the livestreaming of child-related sexual abuse.  In 2019, it received 16.9 million reports. In Congress, a group of bipartisan senators introduced a bill on March 5 that would create incentives for companies to “earn” liability protection for violations of laws related to online child sexual abuse material. “Companies must do more to combat this growing problem on their online platforms.” Read more

USA – He focuses more on Johns.

Just as much as there are misconceptions about how prostitution happens, there is a long-standing myth that we can’t fix the problem. One researcher, Dr. Michael Shively, Senior Advisor on Research and Data Analysis at the U.S. based National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), refuses to accept this. “Anywhere there is prostitution, there is trafficking.” Where sex is sold, coercion follows. You only generate the supply—the people—if there is demand, and without demand, there is no motivation whatsoever to come up with that supply.” Fighting sex trafficking needs a multi-faceted solution. Shively said we must continue to rescue victims and hold traffickers accountable, but we cannot ignore the buyers and cultural influences that encourage trafficking. Read more

South Africa – Movement for sex trade survivors protest

Members of the sex-trade survivor movement Kwanele will be protesting outside the court before the appearance of the guilty man who killed, 20-year-old Siam Lee’s. Her remains were found on a farm in New Hanover, in the Midlands.  “We want all the men who buy women to know that it is not okay to buy women for sexual acts. “Women are not commodities to be bought and sold,” said Meji, a survivor of Embrace Dignity project called Kwanele. She said Lee’s murder case revealed that whether or not prostitution was legalised, women in the sex the trade were never safe. “It shows that legalisation and full decriminalisation of prostitution will not make the sex trade safe for prostituted women,”. Read more

France – 5th Global Report

The Fondation Scelles was created with the goal of “knowing, understanding, and fighting” sexual exploitation. Prostitution is a form of violence. Prostituted people display, after a few years, similar marks of trauma to survivors of concentration camps from WWII; those who have managed to escape prostitution refer to themselves as “survivors.” Prostitution is extremely violent and procurers attack vulnerable people. Prostitution is neither work, nor sex. It is the commodification of human beings. The fight against all forms of sexual exploitation must be a clearly defined priority by governments, equipped with the means to meet the challenges. Nevertheless, progress has been made in recent months. It must be continued, invariably in the direction of the abolition of prostitution. Read more

France – 5th Global Report Part III

Public opinion is stirred and authorities are addressing the sexual exploitation issue: governments are commissioning studies, parliaments are setting up thinking committees, media are debating, etc. Beyond these observations, appropriate legislative and judicial responses are emerging and lines of action have been identified. The past few months have reinforced the growing awareness of the online phenomenon which can facilitate the perpetration of these abuses, are now being held liable. In the USA, the adoption of the FOSTA/SESTA law allowed the authorities to seize a website specialized in dating offers and paid sexual acts. An online advertising platform prosecuted for aggravated procuring offences closed its “Encounters” section. These are the first significant milestones towards an authentic governance of the Internet. Read more

USA – America’s Hidden Sex Trafficking Epidemic

In 2019 alone, according to the FBI, 169 individuals were arrested in connection with sex trafficking during an 11-day operation that was undertaken in conjunction with Super Bowl happening in Atlanta. However, as deeply problematic as the trafficking that occurs around large events, the 24/7/365 reality of sex trafficking in the United States is an epidemic of proportions most Americans have not even begun to comprehend.  This lack of awareness is precisely why it’s important that we leverage the increased spotlight that the topic of sex trafficking gets in conjunction with the Super Bowl. In an age of distraction and increased competition for human attention, it is vital that we use opportunities for visibility as opportunities for education. Read more

Child sexual abuse and exploitation: 10 things a new study found

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) recently released a report on child sexual abuse and exploitation, based on a study of the approach which 40 countries took to such offences. South Africa was one of the countries included in the study. It ranked 15th out of 40 for its measures to protect children against sexual abuse and exploitation. From the report, titled “Out of the Shadows”. We see just over half (21) of the 40 countries analysed have legal protections for boys within their child rape laws. Social stigmas associated with sexual violence against boys discourage formal reporting and are exacerbated by “macho” masculine norms, homophobia and fears of being viewed as feminine, vulnerable or helpless. Read more

Netherlands – Prostitutes should not be a tourist attraction but that’s what happens when legalised

Amsterdam’s mayor Femke Halsema has called for changes to the city’s red light district, arguing that turning prostitution into a tourist attraction is ‘humiliating’ and ‘unacceptable’. There has been growing concern that the number of tourists flocking to the red light district has made it more difficult for prostitutes to work in the area and compromised their safety. An open letter from a cross-party group of young political activists demanded an end to the ‘public meat market’ in the red light district. The group said the exploitation of prostitutes had gone too far. In an opinion piece titled ‘Enough is enough, take action in the Wallen‘, they wrote: ‘We, the youth of Amsterdam, have come to the conclusion that regardless of your point of view on sex work, the current situation cannot be justified. ‘Whether your view of the value of human life is based on humanitarian or confessional ideas, this circus, this public meat market, is humiliating.’ Read more


LifeAlerts – Alternative Medicine

Alternative Medicine

Portugal – Do No Harm

Prof Cardoso, head breast surgeon at the Champalimaud Cancer Centre in Lisbon, Portugal, told the BBC that it was important that patients always checked with their doctors first before trying complementary therapies for cancer that had spread to the skin. The danger is that many products can interfere with hormone therapy or chemotherapy treatments, and certain ones prolong the blood clotting process – which can lead to wounds taking longer to heal and more scarring. The following herbal products are examples of those which slow down clotting: Green Chiretta, Feverfew, Garlic Ginkgo, Ginseng, Hawthorn, and Horse Chestnut Turmeric. Prof Cardoso said it was not surprising that patients search for complementary or alternative treatments that might make a difference. But she said people should know “they could end up doing more harm than good”. Read more

USA – Doctor suspended over Medical Marijuana Approval          

Dr. Andrew Medvedovsky from South Jersey, had The State Board of Medical Examiners suspend his licence over authorizing marijuana for thousands of patients at new jersey Alternative medicine indiscriminately. Medvedovsky will be actively suspended for a year, with a second-year to be served as a period of probation. He may also not enter any medical practice during business hours, when patients may be present, during his active period of suspension. The board expects him to complete courses in medical ethics and recordkeeping since he failed to take Medical history from patients or did not examine them before approving the use of Medical Marijuana. Read more