LIFEAlerts

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

LifeAlerts – Medical Ethics

Medical Ethics

USA – Last research program to use human tissue from abortions

The Trump administration has declined to renew a contract that funded a research program using fetal tissue obtained from abortions. The research program involved the use of bone marrow, thymuses, and livers from aborted babies which were used to create mice with human-like immune systems. The “humanized mice” were then used for testing and experimentation. An official statement from the Trump administration said that the cancelled contract was further evidence that President Trump was pursuing pro-life goals throughout his presidency. In a release to media, Smith called the practice of using aborted remains “unethical” and “ineffective,” claiming that it has not produced “a single clinical treatment.” Read more

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

DFL member Dr de Vos takes a stand against abortion and then gets charged by HPCSA for misconduct.”

Please read the following articles about Dr de Vos:

SOWETAN LIVE

A hearing by the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) against an anti-abortion doctor got off to a rocky start and had to be temporarily adjourned on Tuesday in Cape Town. Jacques de Vos, 32, is facing charges of unprofessional conduct and was prohibited from practising medicine due to his views on abortion. READ MORE

EYEWITNESS NEWS

A doctor, prohibited from practising medicine over his views on abortion, will face the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) on Tuesday. Doctor Jacques de Vos reportedly believes abortion constitutes the killing of an unborn human being. De Vos was a medical intern at 2 Military Hospital in Wynberg when he made the utterance to a patient. He was then fired more than two years ago. READ MORE

IOL NEWS

An intern doctor and anti-abortionist appeared before a disciplinary hearing yesterday for allegedly dissuading a pregnant woman from terminating her pregnancy and likening it to the “killing of a human being”. READ MORE

ALGOA FM

A former military hospital doctor will appear before a disciplinary inquiry in Cape Town on Tuesday after being barred from practising as a doctor. Dr Jacques De Vos, who was a medical intern at 2 Military Hospital, was suspended two years ago after advising a patient that abortion is the killing of an unborn human being. READ MORE

DOCTOR CHARGED FOR ADVISING THAT UNBORN BABIES ARE HUMAN

Former Military Hospital doctor, Dr Jacques de Vos, has been charged by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) for advising that abortion is the killing of an unborn human being. Dr De Vos, who is a member of Doctors For Life International (DFL) will finally be able to respond to charges after waiting more than two years since being barred from practicing as a doctor.

Dr De Vos was a medical intern at 2 Military Hospital when he was suspended from the gynaecology rotation and refused to be signed off. As a result, Dr De Vos has also been prevented from commencing his community service year, effectively barring him from practicing medicine in South Africa for the past two years. Despite numerous efforts by Dr De Vos and his legal team, Dr De Vos has not received any assistance from the SA Military Health Service or the HPCSA to continue with his career.

Adv Keith Matthee SC, instructed by De Wet Wepener Attorneys, will represent Dr De Vos when he appears before a six-member panel disciplinary enquiry scheduled for 27 and 28 August 2019 in Cape Town. This case is likely to attract great interest in the medical community as healthcare practitioners such as Dr De Vos are often victimized and discriminated against for upholding the sanctity of life for unborn children and for advising women of the adverse effects of abortion on the mother of the unborn child.

The hearings are open to the public. The venue is yet to be confirmed by the HPCSA.

For more information, contact Martus de Wet of De Wet Wepener Attorneys at 057 004 0004 or [email protected].

12 Myths about Assisted Suicide and Medical Aid In Dying

Introduction In an age of “alternative facts”, it’s hard to sort out myth from reality when it comes to so-called ‘medical-aid-in-dying’ (MAID)—also called physician assisted suicide (PAS). By whatever label we attach to it, this practice involves a physician’s prescribing a lethal drug for a patient with a putatively terminal illness who is requesting this “service.” Some form of MAID/PAS is now legal in 5 states and the District of Columbia. People of good conscience, including many physicians, are sharply divided on the ethics of MAID/PAS. Unfortunately, much of the support for this practice is founded on several myths and misconceptions regarding existing MAID laws and practices. Here are 12 of the most common.

1. Everyone has a “right to die”, including a right to take one’s own life, acting alone or with assistance.

In contrast to “liberties”, rights entail the cooperation or assistance of others.1 Mentally competent people may be at liberty to end their own lives (i.e., will not be prosecuted), but there is no recognized right to suicide that involves the cooperation of others. In Washington v. Glucksberg [521 U.S. 702 (1997)], the US Supreme Court (USSC) denied that there is a constitutionally-protected “right to commit suicide” or a right to PAS. To rule otherwise, the majority held, would force them to “reverse centuries of legal doctrine and practice, and strike down the considered policy choice of almost every state.” That said, the USSC has held that all competent persons have the right to refuse unwanted or “heroic” measures that merely prolong the dying process.2 Similarly, in Vacco v. Quill [521 U.S. 793(1997)], the USSC held that there is a legal difference between withdrawal of care and provision of a lethal intervention; i.e., everyone has a right to refuse medical care, but no one has a “right” to receive a lethal means of ending one’s life.

2. People who request “medical aid in dying” usually do so because they are experiencing severe, intractable pain and suffering.

Most requests for medical-aid-in-dying are not made by patients experiencing “untreatable pain or suffering”, as data from Oregon have shown; rather, the most common reasons for requesting medical aid in dying were loss of autonomy (97.2{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}), inability to engage in enjoyable activities (88.9{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}), and loss of dignity (75.0{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}).3 Many patients who request assisted suicide are clinically depressed and could be successfully treated, once properly diagnosed.

3. In states such as Oregon and Washington, where PAS is legal, there are adequate safeguards in place to ensure proper application of the PAS law.

In Oregon, reporting to the state is done solely by the physician prescribing the lethal drugs, who has a vested interest in minimizing problems. Moreover, if a physician was negligent in making the initial diagnosis or prognosis, there is no way to track this, since, by law, all death certificates will state that the person died of the putative underlying disease. At the same time, the physician is rarely present at the time the patient ingests the lethal drug, so the possibility of abuse—e.g., by coercive family members—cannot be adequately assessed. The Oregon department of human services has said it has no authority to investigate individual death-with-dignity cases,4 and Oregon has acknowledged that its law does not adequately protect all people with mental illness from receiving lethal prescriptions.5 Thus, it is nearly impossible to determine cases in which, for example, terminally ill patients were pressured to end their lives by family members. A study in the Michigan Law Review (2008) found that “seemingly reasonable safeguards for the care and protection of terminally ill patients written into the Oregon law are being circumvented…[and that]…the Oregon Public Health Division (OPHD), which is charged with monitoring the law…does not collect the information it would need to effectively monitor the law…OPHD…acts as the defender of the law rather than as the protector of the welfare of terminally ill patients.”6 Kenneth R. Stevens, Jr., MD, and William I. Toffler, MD, both of the Oregon Health & Science University, point to other actual or potential abuses in PAS-permissive states, including “physician shopping” to get around safeguards; nurse-assisted suicide without orders from a physician; and economic pressures to use PAS, such as Oregon Medicaid patients being denied cancer treatment but offered coverage for assisted suicide.7 Furthermore, an investigative piece by the Des Moines Register revealed that mandatory reporting requirements were not followed by hundreds of doctors in states where MAID/PAS is legal.8

4. In the US, only people with terminal or incurable illnesses are eligible for PAS.

Most PAS legislation applies to an adult with a terminal illness or condition predicted to have less than 6 months to live. In Oregon and Washington State, nearly identical criteria are interpreted to mean less than 6 months to live—specifically, without treatment. Thus, a healthy 20-year-old with insulin-dependent diabetes could be deemed “terminal” for the purpose of Oregon’s “Death with Dignity Act.” So, too, patients refusing appropriate treatment may be deemed “terminal” under current interpretation of the Oregon law. Thus, a patient with anorexia nervosa who refused treatment could be eligible for PAS under Oregon law, even though she could recover with intensive therapy. As Swedish investigator Fabian Stahle observes, “This is in fact an alteration of the traditional meaning of the concept of ‘incurable.’”9

5. “Slippery slope” arguments against PAS are overblown. In European countries that allow PAS, there is no evidence that patients are being euthanized improperly.

People with non-terminal illnesses have been legally euthanized at their own request in several countries for nearly 15 years. This has included certain eligible patients who have only psychiatric disorders. In 2002, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg removed any distinctions between terminal and non-terminal conditions—and between physical suffering and mental suffering—for legally permitted PAS. Between 2008 and 2014, more than 200 psychiatric patients were euthanized by their own request in the Netherlands (1{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of all euthanasia in that country). Among them, 52{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} had a diagnosis of personality disorder, 56{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} refused 1 or more offered treatments, and 20{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} had never even had an inpatient stay (1 indication of previous treatment intensity). When asked the primary reason for seeking PAS/euthanasia, 66{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} cited “social isolation and loneliness.” Despite the legal requirement for agreement between outside consultants, for 24{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of psychiatric patients euthanized, at least 1 outside consultant disagreed.10-12 The US has not been immune to the slippery slope, either. For example, in Oregon, a psychiatrist opened a fee-for-service death clinic, where for $5,000, “terminally ill patients who are eligible to take advantage of…Oregon’s suicide law can book a death that might look a lot like a wedding package.”13

6. The method of “assisted dying” now used in Oregon and other PAS-states assures the patient of a quick, peaceful death, without serious complications.

A peaceful death is by no means guaranteed using current methods of PAS, as a recent piece by Lo pointed out: 14 “Physicians who support PAD need to consider how to address the potential for adverse outcomes, including longer time to death than expected (up to 24 hours or more), awakening from unconsciousness, nausea, vomiting, and gasping.” Data collected between 1998-2015 showed that the time between ingestion of lethal drugs and death ranged from 1 minute to more than 4 days. During this same period (1998-2015), 27 cases (out of 994) involved difficulty ingesting or regurgitating the drugs, and there were 6 known instances in which patients regained consciousness after ingesting the drugs. However, it is difficult to know the actual rate of drug-induced complications, since in the majority (54{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}) of cases between1998-2015, no health care professional was present to attend and observe the patient’s death.15

7. “Death with Dignity” all comes down to the patient’s autonomy, and the right of patients to end life on their terms.

In the first place, under current legislation permitting so-called medical aid in dying, the patient is completely dependent on the judgment, authorization, and prescriptive power of the physician—hardly a state of autonomy.1 Moreover, autonomy is only 1 of the 4 ‘cornerstones’ of medical ethics; the others are beneficence, non-malfeasance and justice. As Desai and Grossberg observe in their textbook on long-term care: “The pre-eminence of autonomy as an ethical principle in the United States can sometimes lead health care providers to disregard other moral considerations and common sense when making clinical decisions…we strongly feel that the role of the medical profession is to understand but not to support such wishes [for physician-assisted death]. Every person’s life is valuable, irrespective of one’s physical and mental state, even when that person has ceased to deem life valuable.”16

8. Doctors who conscientiously oppose PAS are perfectly free to refuse participation in it.

In theory, the California guidelines state that “A healthcare provider who refuses to participate in activities under the act on the basis of conscience, morality or ethics cannot be subject to censure, discipline … or other penalty by a healthcare provider, professional association or organization,” the guidelines say.17 However, prior to its PAS law being declared unconstitutional, physicians in California could be compelled to participate in PAS, under certain circumstances. California’s health department regulation requires a state facility to provide PAS. If the request is denied, the patient has a right to a judicial hearing on the matter. If the court determines the patient is qualified, the attending physician must write a prescription for lethal drugs.18 Moreover, there is evidence that physicians are sometimes pressured or intimidated by patients to assist in suicide.7

9. Terminally ill people who request MAID are not suicidal and don’t commit suicide. They are dying, and simply want “hastening” of an inevitable death. In contrast, genuinely suicidal people are not dying of a terminal condition, yet they want to die.

This argument plays fast and loose with language, logic, and law. In fact, it turns ordinary language on its head, thereby eliminating suicide by linguistic fiat. As the American Nursing Association states, “suicide is the act of taking one’s own life,”19 regardless of the act’s context. There may indeed be different psychological profiles that distinguish suicide in the context of terminal illness from suicide in other contexts, but that does not overturn the ordinary language meaning of suicide. Thus, when a terminally ill patient (or any other person) knowingly and intentionally ingests a lethal drug, that act is, incontrovertibly, suicide. Most suicides occur in the context of serious psychiatric illness. Yet patients who express suicidal ideation in the context of a condition such as major depression rarely want to die; rather, as numerous suicide prevention websites note, “Most suicidal people do not want to die. They are experiencing severe emotional pain, and are desperate for the pain to go away.” 20

10. People requesting PAS are carefully screened by mental health professionals to rule out depression.

Most PAS statutes modeled after the Oregon Death with Dignity statute do not require examination by a mental health professional, except when the participating physician is concerned and decides to do so. Specifically, “The patient is referred to a psychologist or psychiatrist if concern exists that the patient has a psychiatric disorder including depression that may impair judgment.”21 A study of the Oregon law concluded that “Although most terminally ill Oregonians who receive aid in dying do not have depressive disorders, the current practice of the Death with Dignity Act may fail to protect some patients whose choices are influenced by depression from receiving a prescription for a lethal drug.”21 In Oregon, 204 patients were prescribed lethal drugs in 2016 under the “Death with Dignity” statute, yet only 5 patients were referred for psychiatric or psychological evaluation.22

11. Doctors who participate in PAS are almost always comfortable doing so and rarely regret their decision.

Many doctors who have participated in euthanasia and/or PAS are adversely affected— emotionally and psychologically—by their experiences. In a structured, in-depth telephone interview survey of 38 US oncologists who reported participating in euthanasia or PAS, nearly a quarter of the physicians regretted their actions. Another 16{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} reported that the emotional burden of performing euthanasia or PAS adversely affected their medical practice.23 For example, one physician felt so “burned out” that he moved from the city in which he was practicing to a small town. Similarly, reactions among European doctors suggest that PAS and euthanasia often provoke strong negative feelings.24

12. For terminally ill patients, the only means of achieving “death with dignity” is by taking a lethal drug prescribed by one’s doctor.

Only a small minority of persons with a terminal disease seek a physician’s prescription for a lethal drug. It is not clear why self-poisoning confers more dignity to one’s death than more traditional and much more common ways of dying. Many people who are dying choose to “bear with” their pain. Some seek hospice care and—in cases of severe, intractable pain—merit palliative sedation.25 Some choose voluntary stopping of eating and drinking (VSED), which, according to one study involving hospice nurses, results in a more satisfactory death than seen with PAS. In fact, “as compared with patients who died by physician-assisted suicide, those who stopped eating and drinking were rated by hospice nurses as suffering less and being more at peace in the last two weeks of life.”26 A form of VSED called ‘sallekhana’ has been practiced in the Jain religion for centuries and is regarded as an ethical and dignified means of achieving a “natural” death.27

Conclusion

The case for physician-assisted suicide legislation rests on a number of misconceptions, as regards the adequacy, safety, and application of existing PAS statutes. The best available evidence suggests that current practices under PAS statutes are not adequately monitored and do not adequately protect vulnerable populations, such as patients with clinical depression. The American College of Physicians,28 the American Medical Association, the World Medical Association and the American Nurses Association have all registered opposition to physician-assisted suicide. It is critical that physicians inform themselves as regards the actual nature and function—or dysfunction—of medical aid in dying legislation. The first step is to recognize and challenge the many myths that surround these well-intended but misguided laws.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to recognize the important contributions of Dr. Mark Komrad and Mr. Alex Schadenberg to the discussion of physician-assisted suicide. Ronald W. Pies, MD is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Lecturer on Bioethics at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY; and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Tufts U. School of Medicine, Boston. Annette Hanson, MD, is Director of the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program, and Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine.

References

1. Szasz T: Fatal Freedom. Syracuse University Press, 1995. 2.  https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/does-the-constitution-protect-a-right-to-die 3. Loggers ET, Starks H, Shannon-Dudley M et al. Implementing a Death with Dignity program at a comprehensive cancer center. N Engl J Med. 2013 Apr 11;368(15):1417-24. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1213398 4. Oregon board investigates failed assisted suicide. Jun 20, 2005 http://www.drugtopics.com/community-pharmacy/oregon-board-investigates-failed-assisted-suicide 5. The Oregon Death With Dignity Act: A Guidebook for Healthcare Providers, page 43. Accessed at: http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/continuing-education/center-for-ethics/ethics-outreach/upload/Oregon-Death-with-Dignity-Act-Guidebook.pdf 6. Hendin H, Foley K.  Physician-Assisted Suicide in Oregon: A Medical Perspective, Mich. L. Rev. 106; 1613 (2008). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol106/iss8/7 7. Stevens KR, Toffler WI. Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. JAMA, 2016;316(15): 1599 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2569774 8. Suicide with a helping hand worries Iowans on both sides of ‘right to die’. Desmoine Register, 2016 Nov 25 https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/investigations/2016/11/25/too-weak-kill-herself-assistance-legal/92407392/ 9. Stahle F. Oregon Health Authority Reveals Hidden Problems with the Oregon Assisted Suicide Model. https://www.masscitizensforlife.org/oregon-health-authority-reveals-hidden-problems-with-the-oregon-assisted-suicide-model 10. Kim SYH, De Vries RG, Peteet JR. Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide of Patients With Psychiatric Disorders in the Netherlands 2011 to 2014. JAMA Psychiatry. 2016;73(4):362-368 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5530592/ 11. Komrad MS. APA Position on Medical Euthanasia. Psychiatric Times. Feb. 25,c 2017.  http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/suicide/apa-position-medical-euthanasia 12. https://fatalflawsfilm.com 13. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/oregon-doctor-opens-death-clinic-physician-assisted-suicide/story?id=10994210 14. Lo B. Beyond Legalization — Dilemmas Physicians Confront Regarding Aid in Dying.”  N Engl J Med. 2018; 378(22):2060-2062 https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMp1802218?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}3dwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov 15. https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES/EVALUATIONRESEARCH/DEATHWITHDIGNITYACT/Documents/year19.pdf 16. Desai AK, Grossberg GT.  Psychiatric Consultation in Long-Term Care, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010, p. 262. 17. McGreevy P. Guidelines issued for California’s assisted suicide law http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-guidelines-california-assisted-suicide-law-20160120-story.html 18. California Code of Regulations. § 4601. Petitions to the Superior Court and Access to the End of Life Option Act. http://www.dsh.ca.gov/Publications/docs/Regulations/2016_10_31_End_of_Life_ISOR.pdf 19. American Nurses Association. Position Statement. Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, and Aid in Dying. April 24, 2013 https://www.nursingworld.org/~4af287/globalassets/docs/ana/ethics/euthanasia-assisted-suicideaid-in-dying_ps042513.pdf 20.  https://medicine.umich.edu/sites/default/files/content/downloads/macomb-county-cmh-holding-on-to-life-toolkit.pdf 21. Ganzini L, Goy ER, Dobscha SK. Prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients requesting physicians’ aid in dying: cross sectional survey BMJ 2008; 337:a1682 https://www.bmj.com/content/337/bmj.a1682 22. https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/year19.pdf 23. Emanuel EJ, Daniels ER, Fairclough DL, Clarridge BR. The Practice of Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide in the United States. Adherence to Proposed Safeguards and Effects on Physicians. JAMA. 1998;280(6):507–513. doi:10.1001/jama.280.6.507 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/187854 24. Stevens KR Jr. Emotional and psychological effects of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia on participating physicians. Issues Law Med. 2006 Spring; 21(3):187-200. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16676767 25. Statement on Palliative Sedation. Approved by the AAHPM Board of Directors on December 5, 2014 http://aahpm.org/positions/palliative-sedation 26. Ganzini L, Goy ER, Miller LL et al. Nurses’ experiences with hospice patients who refuse food and fluids to hasten death. N Engl J Med. 2003 Jul 24;349(4):359-65. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa035086 27. Tukol JTK. Sallekhana. https://www.jainworld.com/education/seniors/senles15.htm 28. Sulmasy LS, Mueller PS. Ethics and the Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide: An American College of Physicians Position Paper. Ann Intern Med. 2017;167(8):576-578.  http://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2654458/ethics-legalization-physician-assisted-suicide-american-college-physicians-position-paper
Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Doctors for Life International]]>

LIFEalerts: 11 May 2018

Abortion

USA – Debating the pro-abortion argumentsUSA – Abortion is equivalent to murder

Alternative Medicine

[No news today]

Euthanasia

Netherlands – Suicide machine from ‘Dr. Death’ draws outrageBelgium – Research reveals trends in medical practice of euthanasia Belgium – How many people is Flemish doctors really euthanizing?

IVF and Surrogacy

China – Post-one-child-policy causes posthumous conception desperation

Medical Ethics

UK – British toddler Alfie Evans dies in hospitalFrance – Macron encourages Church to speak out on bioethics

Pedophilia

USA – Jennifer Haley creates avatar girls to explore pedophilia

Pornography

India – New law propose death sentence for child rapeUSA – Parents enraged over school sex videos for children

Same Sex Attraction

Nigeria – Homosexual men fight over HIV infectionUSA – First Ever Ex-LGBT march and an uprising of truth USA – Harmful transgender book scientifically inaccurate

Sexual Exploitation

USA – Trump signs ‘FOSTA’ bill targeting online sex traffickingSouth Africa – Sex Trade’s Female Victims have ‘Damaged Lives’

Substance Abuse

UK – Substance abuse and addiction services decline with lack of fundingUSA – New data shows that fatal drug overdose has nearly tripled

Abortion

USA – Debating the pro-abortion arguments

In this 11-minute debate a few interesting points on abortion are raised. First is the argument where the government should not have the right to tell a woman what to do with her body when she is pregnant. However, when a murderer chooses to kill someone we can agree that the government has the right to stop them and the same should apply to the unborn baby. Secondly, the argument of pro-choice groups are strikingly similar to slavery arguments in that someone gets to define human life based on their emotional or financial state, which is a dangerous place to be. The pro-life argument is very simple and clear and the pro-choice groups try and make it complicated so that they can make it morally and emotionally more acceptable to abort the unborn child. When pro-choice people say they had to make a very difficult decision to abort their baby – it tells us that they know they are doing something wrong and that it has moral weight. https://youtu.be/ZcEJ2ArQCBE [back to top]

USA – Abortion is equivalent to murder

Iowa passed a bill that would prohibit abortion after the baby’s heartbeat is detected at 6 weeks of pregnancy. State Rep. Shannon Lundgren (R), while speaking on the House floor, called the bill “a courageous step” that sends the message that Iowa “will defend its most vulnerable, those without a voice – our unborn children.” The bill would require women seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound, at which time a physician would detect whether there is a heartbeat. The bill also would prohibit someone from acquiring, providing, receiving or using baby body parts in Iowa. A violator could be charged with a Class C felony. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/05/02/iowa-lawmakers-just-passed-one-of-the-most-restrictive-abortion-bills-in-the-u-s/ [back to top]

Alternative Medicine

[No news today]

Euthanasia

Netherlands – Suicide machine from ‘Dr. Death’ draws outrage

A 3D-printed suicide machine designed to aid euthanasia is planned to be made public for the first time at the Amsterdam Funeral Fair. Dubbed the Sacro, the device was created by Dr. Philip Nitschke, a euthanasia activist who’s also known as “Dr. Death”. It has been reported that event attendees could actually try the device using virtual reality technology. Plans to demonstrate the euthanasia machine has sparked outrage. According to critics, Nitschke’s creation is “gruesome” and it also glamorizes suicide. https://www.christiantoday.com/article/suicide-machine-from-dr-death-philip-nitschke-draws-outrage/128393.htm [back to top]

Belgium – Research reveals trends in medical practice of euthanasia

Only about 15{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of euthanasia cases in the semi-autonomous region of Flanders in Belgium are being reported, according to the latest research by physicians. It has long been known that euthanasia is underreported on official forms but that there are about 550{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} more cases of euthanasia than are currently in government statistics seems to have astonished even researchers. Research lists several reasons; physicians consciously or unintentionally not recognizing their cases of euthanasia as such, because they believe that they have not complied with the legal due care criteria (e.g. not reported euthanasia to the evaluation committee as is required by law), because they have privacy concerns for themselves as reporting attaches their name to the euthanasia case and the patient, and because they do not consider it necessary to report it on the death certificate. The lack of clear guidelines is probably also a reason for the low number of euthanasia cases indicated on death certificates. https://www.bioedge.org/ [back to top]

Belgium – How many people is Flemish doctors really euthanizing?

It has long been known that euthanasia is underreported on official forms but that there are about 550{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} more cases of euthanasia than are currently making their way into the government statistics, seems to have astonished even researchers. In a letter to the European Journal of Epidemiology, researchers from the End-of-Life Care Research Group at the Free University of Brussels admit that “death certificates substantially underestimate the frequency of euthanasia as a cause of death in Belgium and are therefore an unreliable tool for monitoring its practice. The authors of a BMJ article noted that “societal control over the euthanasia practice is an important prerequisite for effective euthanasia legislation”. If that is the goal, Belgium’s experiment with euthanasia has failed. https://www.mercatornet.com/careful/view/wow-how-many-people-are-flemish-doctors-really-euthanasing/21259 [back to top]

IVF and Surrogacy

China – Post-one-child-policy causes posthumous conception desperation

An underground market in surrogacy is booming in China after the government reversed the decades-old one-child policy. Nothing illustrates this better than a bizarre legal battle fought by two sets of grandparents over frozen embryos. In 2013 a young couple who had just had IVF treatment were killed in a car accident which appeared to end the bloodline of the two families. The heartbroken grandparents decided to engage a surrogate mother to carry the embryos but the IVF clinic refused to release them, as China has banned surrogacy. Rather than risking the consequences of a lawsuit with the hospital, the two couples sued each other to get the courts to back their case. The court handed down a favorable decision: “The only carrier of the two families’ blood lines carries the burden of their grieving memories and consolation.” A surrogate mother in Laos was impregnated with the embryos and gave birth to the child – a boy named Tiantian, or Sweet-Sweet. China is not the only country where posthumous conception is an issue. In Israel an informal legal instrument has been created, the “biological will” to cater for the spouses and grandparents of men who died before they were able to have children. The document asserts that “a person who has their semen or eggs frozen would like them to be posthumously used to create offspring”. https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/in-post-one-child-policy-china-posthumous-conception-is-a-matter-of-despera/12654 [back to top]

Medical Ethics

UK – British toddler Alfie Evans dies in hospital

Terminally ill British toddler Alfie Evans has died just a little under one week after having life support withdrawn. The protracted legal dispute over the boy’s fate reached its climax with protesters attempting to storm Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in a bid to have the boy released. Evans was suffering from an unidentified neurodegenerative disease and specialists from Alder Hey Hospital said that “almost the entirety of Alfie’s brain has been eroded, leaving only water and cerebral spinal fluid”. Vox News journalist Tara Isabella Burton summarized the debate as a disagreement about whether parents or the state should decide what is in the best interests of a child: Ultimately, however, the Evans case is about who gets to decide what the best interest of a child really is. When the view of the state and the view of a child’s parents are at odds, who gets to have the final say? The answer ties into wider questions about medical ethics and what it means for a life to be “not worth living,” and about popular trust, or lack thereof, in the UK’s National Health Service, a paradigmatic example of both the pros and cons of socialized medicine. https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/Alfie/12674 [back to top]

France – Macron encourages Church to speak out on bioethics

In a speech that garnered both criticism and praise, French President Emmanuel Macron told a gathering of Catholic bishops they should not be afraid to contribute to public debate, saying that Christians bring a valuable perspective on the human person to otherwise secular political discussions. Macron said that “Our contemporaries need, whether they believe or do not believe, to hear from another perspective on man than the material perspective…They need to quench another thirst, which is a thirst for absolute. Macron praised the Church for its consistent defense of the vulnerable in society, ranging from the unborn and the elderly to migrants and the poor. “You consider that our duty is to protect life, especially when this life is defenseless. The speech appears to be an invitation for the Church to express its opposition to impending bioethics legislation due to be introduced in the French parliament by the end of the year. The legislation will seek to make single women and lesbian couples eligible for assisted reproduction, which currently is only available to infertile heterosexual couples in France. It would also reconsider legalizing euthanasia, which is now banned. https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/macron-encourages-french-bishops-to-speak-out-on-bioethics/12650 [back to top]

Pedophilia

USA – Jennifer Haley creates avatar girls to explore pedophilia

Is virtual reality real? Is it so real that some of our interactions in computer-simulated, 3-D environments should be banned? Jennifer Haley has produced a provocative play unlike most of the popular war and fantasy games on the market; this game takes you into one of the darker corners of cyberspace. This is about men who are free to indulge their sexual desires with pre-pubescent girls. What is most unsettling are the issues the playwright raises about the lure and morality of the boundaries between imagining and acting. Ms Haley wanted to probe the potential ethical issues arising from our fascination with computerized illusions. Recently criminal justice officials in Germany, Australia and other countries have debated whether visitors of “underground” virtual sites that involve pedophilia should be prosecuted for child pornography crimes. Some have suggested that virtual reality avatars of young girls be used to help identify, diagnose and possibly punish the adult clients. http://news.abs-cbn.com/life/03/18/17/theater-review-disturbing-nether-takes-us-to-the-dark-internet [back to top]

Pornography

India – New law propose death sentence for child rape

Amid growing anger over rising incidents of child rape cases India has started the process to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), 2012, to ensure maximum punishment of the death penalty in child rape cases where the victim is under 12 years of age. The Act was framed to protect children from offences of sexual abuse, sexual harassment and pornography. The move comes amid rising tensions over the rape and murder of an eight-year-old in Jammu and the alleged rape of a minor in Unnao. There is a rising national consensus for punishments that set an example in both the cases. https://www.firstpost.com/india/centre-tells-supreme-court-process-is-underway-to-ensure-death-penalty-for-child-rape-under-pocso-act-4439429.html [back to top]

USA – Parents enraged over school sex videos for children

On behalf of parents enraged that their 14-year-old girls at a Virginia high school were exposed to pornographic videos and curriculum, a Christian legal group is demanding that the Planned Parenthood affiliated agency presenting the obscene material be prohibited from continuing its so-called “education” classes. Parents were particularly upset over the fact that they were not asked or even forewarned about the sexually explicit content being presented to their early teens. “The ‘Sex Positivity’ curriculum was presented without the consent or knowledge of parents. Nowhere in the curriculum are the words ‘abstinence’, ‘legal,’ ‘moral,’ ‘faith,’ or ‘parents. However, the word ‘sex’ or derivatives appears more than 49 times in the document, including the sentence ‘I’d like to have sex tonight, would you?’ https://www.onenewsnow.com/education/2018/04/28/parents-enraged-over-schools-sex-vids-for-14-y-os [back to top]

Same Sex Attraction

Nigeria – Homosexual men fight over HIV infection

In Lagos State, Nigeria, a man infected with HIV by his boyfriend protested against his boyfriend wanting to sleep with another man and infect him too. The argument quickly broke out into a fight that had neighbours calling the police for help. Inter-partner violence is a common occurrence in the homosexual community. In the Journal of Human Sexuality (volume 1) of 2009 on page 87, studies reviewed and derived from hundreds of sources by the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuals (NARTH), reveal that despite homosexuals knowing the risks, they repeatedly and pathologically continue to indulge in unsafe sex practices. Homosexuals have the highest number of STI cases and many homosexual sex practices are medically dangerous, with or without protection. Homosexual relationships in comparison to heterosexual relationships are far more violent and frequent and more than one third of homosexual men and women are substance abusers. 1) https://www.360nobs.com/2018/04/homosexuals-fight-dirty-after-contracting-hiv-in-lagos/#comment-1059537 2) http://www.factsaboutyouth.com/wp-content/uploads/What-research-shows-homosexuality.NARTH_.pdf [back to top]

USA – First Ever Ex-LGBT march and an uprising of truth

In Washington the first ever Ex-LGBT Freedom March will be hosted by an Organisation called Voice of the Voiceless which supports and advocates for individuals that have left the homosexual lifestyle. Attendees from around the country will attend and share their journey of life before and after homosexuality. The movement of so many individuals debunks the claims from LGBT advocates and medical organisations (that have abandoned science and research integrity) which have said homosexuality is “unchangeable”. https://www.christianpost.com/news/men-women-who-left-homosexuality-transgenderism-rally-freedom-march-223443/ [back to top]

USA – Harmful transgender book scientifically inaccurate

Michael K. Laidlaw, MD is a board-certified physician in Rocklin, California specializing in endocrinology who reviewed the book for children called “I am Jazz” by Jazz Jennings about an adolescent being “diagnosed” as transgender. Dr. Laidlaw expresses concerns from a medical point of view that this book makes false claims that are scientifically incorrect and fails to mention the “multitude of health risks, potential infertility and sexual dysfunction associated with the hormonal and surgical treatment of gender dysphoria. “I could not in good conscience recommend these treatments to any child or adolescent.” Harm has already occurred at Rocklin Academy in a kindergarten class where the book was read as a number in the class were emotionally harmed. http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2018/04/21220/ [back to top]

Sexual Exploitation

USA – Trump signs ‘FOSTA’ bill targeting online sex trafficking

President Trump signed a bill that gives federal and state prosecutors power to pursue websites that host sex-trafficking ads and enables victims and state attorney general’s to file lawsuits against those sites. The signing comes just days after seven executives for Backpage.com were arrested on a 93-count indictment that alleges the website facilitated prostitution and laundered tens of millions of dollars in profits and that teenage girls were sold for sex on the site. Some of those girls were killed. The government also shut down Backpage’s classified ad websites around the world and moved to seize houses and bank accounts around the United States. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2018/04/11/trump-signs-fosta-bill-targeting-online-sex-trafficking-enables-states-and-victims-to-pursue-websites/?utm_term=.7bac6412e2b8&noredirect=on [back to top]

South Africa – Sex Trade’s Female Victims have ‘Damaged Lives’

A quarter of a million people live in modern slavery in South Africa. Every eight hours a woman is killed by a male partner and one woman in five has suffered rape or sexual assault at least once. Among prostituted women estimates of HIV rates range between 39 percent and 71 percent. Men from both the U.S. and the U.K. regularly travel as sex tourists and pay to have sex with the most vulnerable and marginalized women and girls. The presence of international aid agencies, charities and nongovernmental organizations working toward developing better civil society infrastructures appear to do relatively little to tackle the problem of sex trafficking. Until paying for sex under any circumstance is stigmatized and criminalized and women and girls are helped to escape the sex trade, trafficking will continue to flourish and abusers will act with impunity Julie Bindel is a journalist, writer, broadcaster and researcher and has been active in the global campaign to end violence towards women and children. https://www.truthdig.com/articles/sex-trades-female-victims-spoiled-goods-damaged-lives/ [back to top]

Substance Abuse

UK – Substance abuse and addiction services decline with lack of funding

Dependency services are at a crisis point as a result of a lack of funding from government, a new survey has warned. In a report from Alcohol Research UK and Alcohol Concern, the survey, which received 154 completed responses from medical professionals and service users, found that only 12{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of the medical facilities and doctors surveyed felt that substance abuse services in their area were sufficient and cuts of up to 58{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} were reported. ”Public Health England estimates that around 595,000 people in England alone are in need of specialist treatment. In 2016-17, only 80,454 people received treatment for dependencies, with 80{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of substance and alcohol dependent people currently not in rehabilitation services. Government needs to recognise the vital role that treatment plays in addressing the tragic consequences dependency can have on individuals.” http://www.publicsectorexecutive.com/Robot-News/substance-abuse-and-addiction-services-decline-with-lack-of-funding- [back to top]

USA – New data shows that fatal drug overdose has nearly tripled

Fatal drug overdoses nearly tripled between 2014 and 2017 according to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Opioid related fatal overdoses accounted for nearly 61 percent of overdoses in 2016 and for 63 percent of the fatal overdoses in 2017. Deaths from heroin and synthetic opioids increased sharply across many states. Between 2014 and 2017 fatal overdoses involving synthetic opioids increased by 71{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}.This epidemic is a problem that doesn’t discriminate. Rates of opioid deaths increased overall between both sexes aged 25 to 44 and all ethnic groups. The CDC data was analyzed by the Office on National Drug Control Policy and revealed that opioid related fatalities outnumbered gun-related deaths by nearly 3 to 1. https://www.drugaddictionnow.com/2016/12/16/fatal-drug-overdoses-nearly-tripled-new-cdc-data-shows/2/ [back to top] Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of Doctors for Life International]]>

LIFEalerts: 20 April 2018

Hawaii legalises assisted suicide

Abortion

Ireland – Poll shows support for abortion is declining Argentina – Hundreds of thousands march to protest legalized abortion

Alternative Medicine

[No news today]

Euthanasia

USA – Battle for medical conscience rights of doctors’ USA – Not a single patient has used new controversial assisted suicide law USA – Hawaii legalizes assisted suicide

IVF and Surrogacy

USA – Woman discovers her father was her mother’s fertility doctor

Medical Ethics

USA – Time for Gene Editing global ‘observatory’ UK/USA – When should we provide life sustaining care for premature babies? UK – Nuffield Council issues note on whole genome sequencing of babies

Pedophilia

China – Call Me by Your Name’ Pulled From Beijing Film Festival Australia – Deported reoffending pedophile sparks law review

Pornography

[No news today]

Same Sex Attraction

Indonesia – Government blocks 80,000 websites USA – Military transgender ban

Sexual Exploitation

Thailand – Tourism body says it opposes ‘sex tourism’

Substance Abuse

USA – Quantifying population-level health harms of e-cigarette use Canada – Energy drinks cause many sudden cardiac deaths in young people USA – Binge drinking rates among students are worrying

Abortion

Ireland – Poll shows support for abortion is declining

The Irish Mirror reports on a poll that found a major drop in support for the pro-abortion campaign. Ireland has been under great pressure to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which protects unborn babies’ right to life. Pro-Life Irish families have been knocking on doors across Ireland to urge voters to consider the life of the unborn and to make known the consequences of abortion. Despite biased media and illegal donations, the efforts of Pro-life groups are changing minds. http://www.lifenews.com/2018/03/26/poll-shows-irish-campaign-to-legalize-abortion-losing-ground/#.Wrn_s_MH3ms.twitter [back to top]

Argentina – Hundreds of thousands march to protest legalized abortion

Thousands of Argentineans’ filled the streets in 200 cities across the country to March for life against a bill that would permit the killing of babies up to nine months! The march was promoted and included free ultrasounds for pregnant women and collections of donations for charities that help mothers in distress. 50,000 people marched in the capital of Buenos Aires and other cities reported seeing crowds of up to 20,000 participants in the “Great Rally for Life” under the theme “Save them both”. The bill is currently being debated in Argentina’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/hundreds-of-thousands-march-to-protest-legalized-abortion-in-argentina [back to top]

Alternative Medicine

[No news today]

Euthanasia

USA – Battle for medical conscience rights of doctors’

Medical conscience is the new battlefront in right to life issues. The Trump administration announced rules that place emphasis on enforcing federal laws protecting medical conscience. Supporters of “medical conscience” argue that forcing doctors to participate in interventions they find morally abhorrent is involuntary medical servitude. Pro-euthanasia lobbies are strategically dismantling laws which protect medical practice in the United States and Canada. Some bioethicists are lobbying to enact laws that would give dementia patients the right to sign an advance directive requiring nursing homes to starve them to death once they reach a specified level of cognitive decline and increasing calls to do away with the dead-donor rule in transplant medicine so that patients can be organ-harvested while still alive. Assisted-suicide advocates are pushing an “aggressive advance directive” that would force nursing homes to starve dementia patients, even if they willingly eat, when they reach a specified stage of cognitive decline. http://www.lifenews.com/2018/04/02/euthanasia-activists-wants-nursing-homes-to-starve-dementia-patients-to-death/ [back to top]

USA – Not a single patient has used new controversial assisted suicide law

Nearly a year after the District of Columbia enacted a law (2016) allowing terminally ill patients to end their lives, disregarding the objections of congressional Republicans, religious groups and advocates for those with disabilities, not a single patient has used it. Just two of the approximately 11,000 physicians licensed to practice in the District have registered to help patients exercise their rights under the law and only one hospital has cleared doctors to participate. Mary Klein, a D.C. resident in the final stages of cancer who became the public face of the pro-euthanasia movement, says she hasn’t been able to find a willing doctor. The physician community was not out there advocating for it, according to Pia Duryea, spokeswoman for the Medical Society of the District of Columbia. No local practicing physician testified in favor of the measure and several opposed it, during debate before the D.C. Council. The bill allows patients with less than six months to live to receive a fatal dose of drugs after making two requests at least 15 days apart. Two witnesses must attest that the requesting patient was of sound mind, and patients must take the medication without assistance. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/a-year-after-dc-passed-its-assisted-suicide-law-only-two-doctors-have-signed-up/2018/04/10/823cf7e2-39ca-11e8-9c0a-85d477d9a226_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.139d0aafa5ac [back to top]

USA – Hawaii legalizes assisted suicide

Hawaii has become the seventh American jurisdiction where assisted-suicide is legal, by a vote of 23-2. Governor David Inge signed the bill. “It is time for terminally ill, mentally competent Hawaii residents who are suffering to make their own end-of-life choices with dignity, grace and peace,” he said. The legislatures of Hawaii, Oregon, Washington State, California, Colorado, Vermont, Montana and the District of Columbia are all permitting assisted suicide now. In the same time ten states have passed laws explicitly banning assisted suicide. The latest was Utah, where the criminal code was clarified to include assisted suicide. It was prompted by a gruesome case in which 18-year-old Tyerell Przybycien helped 16-year-old Jchandra Brown to hang herself and filmed her last moments. https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/hawaii-legalises-assisted-suicide/12646?utm_source=BioEdge&utm_campaign=5017a47ef9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_76ab23e62c-5017a47ef9-124733715 [back to top]

IVF and Surrogacy

USA – Woman discovers her father was her mother’s fertility doctor

Genetic testing company Ancestry.com has become a leading source for people to track their heritage. However, the company warns “We are committed to delivering the most accurate results, however with this, people may learn of unexpected connections”, as with Kelli Rowlette, a 36-year-old American woman who used the company’s services to complete her family tree. Unexpectedly, the man whom the test showed to be her father was unknown to her. She thought it was an error and complained to her now-divorced parents who knew immediately what the problem was. They had fertility problems and sought help from a fertility clinic. Because of the husband’s low sperm count, the doctor, Gerald Mortimer, offered to use 85{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of the husband’s sperm and 15{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} donor sperm. The couple specified that the donor should be a college man taller than six feet with brown hair and blue eyes. Instead, Dr Mortimer used his own sperm. He remained the doctor of Ms Rowlett’s mother and delivered her in 1981, without ever divulging the secret. She and her parents are suing Mortimer and Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates for US$10 million, accusing them of medical negligence, fraud, battery, negligent infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract. https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/us-woman-discovers-that-her-father-was-her-mothers-fertility-doctor/12644 [back to top]

Medical Ethics

USA – Time for Gene Editing global ‘observatory’

Through CRISPR gene editing scientist can literally change the nature of any cell and genetically alter every life form. Yet we are not having a meaningful discussion about whether and how to regulate what I believe to be the most powerful technology ever invented says Bioethicist Wesley Smith. In the journal Nature, authors Sheila Jasanoff, professor of science and technology at Harvard Kennedy School, and J. Benjamin Hurlbut associate professor of biology and society at Arizona State University, argue it is time for a “global observatory,” which is essentially an international heart-to-heart discussion. In current bioethical debates there is a tendency to fall back on the framings of those who are at the frontiers of research. But free enquiry, the lifeblood of science, does not mean untrammeled freedom to do anything. As the dark histories of eugenics and abusive research on human subjects remind us, it is at our peril that we leave the human future to be adjudicated in biotechnology’s own “ecclesiastical courts”. It is time to invite in voices and concerns that are currently inaudible to those in centers of biological innovation and to draw on the full richness of humanity’s moral imagination. An international, interdisciplinary observatory would be an important step in this direction. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-03270-w [back to top]

UK/USA – When should we provide life sustaining care for premature babies?

A new article in Bioethics criticizes policies in neonatal care units that mandate the withholding of treatment from babies born before 25 weeks gestation. Neonatologist Manya Hendriks (University Hospital Zurich) and pediatrician John Lantos (Children’s Mercy Hospital) argue that many extremely premature babies born between 22 weeks and 25 gestation can survive and develop healthily if given adequate treatment. Yet many neonatal intensive care units in Europe and North America routinely withhold treatment based on the fact that they were born before 25 weeks gestation. In evaluating current neonatal care policies the authors write that neonates are sometimes seen as “conditional persons” with less of a claim on our health care resources than fully-developed adult human beings. The authors assert that newborns, even those born prematurely, are full-fledged members of the human community and have the same right to treatment as other humans. This entails giving extreme preterm babies the best possible chance to life. Policies and practices that limit treatment based on gestational age alone violate this basic principle of justice. https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/when-should-we-provide-life-sustaining-care-for-premature-babies/12643 [back to top]

UK – Nuffield Council issues note on whole genome sequencing of babies

Whole genome sequencing is starting to be used in the UK’s National Health Service in the care of seriously ill babies, and will also become available through commercial companies. This raises important questions about what kind of genetic information should be shared with parents, how parents can be supported to make informed choices, and how genomic information should be stored and accessed by others, such as researchers. Within the medical genetics community, using whole genome sequencing to look opportunistically for a broad range of conditions and traits in babies who are not ill is widely thought to be unacceptable. Researchers generally agree that direct-to-consumer genetic tests for children should normally be deferred until they are adults. There are also broader questions about whether increased uptake of whole genome sequencing will change views about genetic variation and disability in society. Professor Dave Archard, Chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics says: “Genome sequencing technology has moved at an incredible pace, and we are starting to see the benefits that it can offer to patients with genetic disease. But we need to think carefully about how we handle the sensitive information that can be revealed. Babies do not get a say in this, making it especially important that they, and others, are not disadvantaged in their future lives by a decision taken at birth. We need to make sure there are opportunities for public consideration of the challenges.” https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/nuffield-council-issues-brief-note-on-whole-genome-sequencing-of-babies/12638 [back to top]

Pedophilia

China – Call Me by Your Name’ Pulled From Beijing Film Festival

Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me by Your Name,” which just won an Oscar for adapted screenplay, has been pulled from the Beijing Film Festival. The festival’s removal of the gay-themed coming-of-age film, first reported by Reuters, comes as Chinese authorities tighten their control over media content of this nature. Earlier this month, China’s rubber-stamp parliament voted to allow the Communist Party’s propaganda department to have control over the film, news and publishing. “Call Me by Your Name,” is handled by Sony Pictures Entertainment. It follows the romance between a teenager and a much older graduate student over a summer in the Italian countryside. This is in and of itself a victory against the normalizing of pedophilic tendencies in a main stream cinema. http://variety.com/2018/film/news/call-me-by-your-name-pulled-from-beijing-film-festival-1202736106/ [back to top]

Australia – Deported reoffending pedophile sparks law review

A pedophile, who sexually abused two boys in Australia after being deported from Canada for raping his stepson, has prompted the attorney general of Australia to look at required law changes. Attorney General John Quigley conceded it was “a huge problem” that pedophiles could relocate and continue abusing children without the strictest possible monitoring. The dangerous sex offender’s act only allows for people who are in prison to be declared a dangerous sex offender, not people who have been deported back to Australia after serving a prison term overseas. Mr. Quigley said he now realizes the oversight and would look at what laws need to be changed. Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said it was “every parent’s worst nightmare” and he expected people deported to Australia to be checked in future. https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/04/11/15/34/wa-pedophile-reoffending-sparks-law-review [back to top]

Pornography

[No news today]

Same Sex Attraction

Indonesia – Government blocks 80,000 websites

Indonesia has taken major steps to crack down on human trafficking and pornography. The Ministry of Communications and Informatics have shut down and blocked many LGBT dating apps because they discovered that under-aged boys were being sold for sex. The Ministry also blocks other websites that host pornographic material and fake news sites. Homosexuality is not illegal in the country but legislation is moving to restrict the communities’ rights and activities and also to ban propaganda. http://asiamedia.lmu.edu/2018/03/26/indonesia-government-blockage-to-end-all-lgbt-and-pornography-on-internet-tumbles-into-irrationality-and-overkill/ [back to top]

USA – Military transgender ban

Defence Secretary Jim Mattis reported on the study and findings of the Defense Department which found transgender persons to be a risk to military effectiveness and could undermine readiness, disrupt unit cohesion and impose an unreasonable burden on the military. The new policy issued by President Trump will enable the military to apply a well-established mental and physical health standard and would disqualify transgender persons from serving in the military except if they are already in ranks or if they show for a period of 36 months that they no longer suffer from the psychological condition. Those that do not seek to transition with surgery can serve but as the sex they were assigned at birth. https://www.lc.org/newsroom/details/032618-military-transgender-ban [back to top]

Sexual Exploitation

Thailand – Tourism body says it opposes ‘sex tourism’

Thailand’s tourism body has said in a statement that it “strongly opposes any form of sex tourism” as it hopes to welcome a record number of vacationers this year. “The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) ensures that it’s marketing strategy and policy to move Thailand forward as the ‘Quality Destination’ has stepped in the right direction … and strongly opposes any form of sex tourism,” the TAT said in a statement. Signs offering “soapy massages”, bubble baths given to brothel clients that usually end with sex and go-go bars have helped to bolster Thailand’s reputation as a sex destination. There are around 123,530 prostitutes in Thailand according to a 2014 UNAIDS report. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/03/01/asia-pacific/thailands-tourism-body-says-opposes-sex-tourism/#.WsZgL-NuLct [back to top]

Substance Abuse

USA – Quantifying population-level health harms of e-cigarette use

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) may help cigarette smokers quit smoking but more than likely will facilitate cigarette smoking for never-smokers. Using the Monte Carlo stochastic simulation model parameters were drawn from census counts, national health and published literature. The model estimated that 168,000 additional never-cigarette smoking adolescents aged 12–17 and young adults aged 18–29, would initiate cigarette smoking in 2018 and eventually become daily cigarette smokers at age 35–39 through the use of e-cigarettes from 2017. Overall, the model estimated that e-cigarette use in 2017 would lead to 1,510,000 years of life lost. Based on the existing scientific evidence related to e-cigarettes, use currently represents more population level harm. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0193328 [back to top]

Canada – Energy drinks cause many sudden cardiac deaths in young people

High amounts of caffeine can aggravate underlying heart issues, causing fatal arrhythmias in many adolescents and young adults. A new study by an international research team, led by Dr. Fabian Sanchis-Gomar of Madrid, Spain, has concluded that energy drinks are the cause of many sudden cardiac deaths in young, healthy individuals. The problem is that there are many additional sources of caffeine that are “masked” by the labeling. Ingredients such as guarana, ginseng and taurine have very high caffeine concentrations that are higher than found in coffee. Roughly 31{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of adolescents from ages 12 to 19 consume energy drinks on a regular basis. Of 5,448 caffeine overdoses in 2017, 46{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of them occurred in people under the age of 19. https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/energy-drinks-the-cause-of-many-sudden-cardiac-deaths-in-young-people-researchers-find-040315.html [back to top]

USA – Binge drinking rates among students are worrying

Researchers from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) say that binge drinking is becoming more prevalent among young people. Study author Ralph Hingson, Sc.D., M.P.H., says the problem may stem from young adults who aren’t in college; there aren’t the same organizational supports to implement interventions he said. The group found that binge drinking and related problems increased among people aged 18-24, 45{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of students reported drinking more than 5 drinks at an occasion at least once in the last 30 days and 28{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol. There is an urgent need to stop extreme binge drinking which has become a serious public health concern. The full study has been published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/binge-drinking-is-trending-down-among-college-students-study-finds-073117.html [back to top] Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of Doctors for Life International Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of Doctors for Life International]]>