LIFEAlerts

Croatia – Anti-abortion march draws twenty thousand

No news today

Canada – Ontario passes assisted dying law

USA – Existential distress’, not pain, drives euthanasia

USA – Cheap, effective alternative to IVF is possible

UK – IVF vs natural conception: babies have same cognitive ability

USA – Unexpected mutations after CRISPR gene-editing

No news today

UK – Theresa May to create new internet controlled by government USA – Florida Authorities Demolish Child Porn Devices USA – State lawmakers want to crack down on child porn requests USA – Views differ on making child pornography an act of violence

USA – Is the media encouraging hate

USA – Children are too young to consent to transgenderism

USA – Homosexual Teens with HIV make up 92{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}

USA – Disturbing Link between Sex Trafficking and Abortion

USA – New legislation to prevent sex trafficking USA – Activist to combat sex trafficking with billboard campaign

http://www.news24.com/World/News/croatia-anti-abortion-march-draws-20-000-20170521

UK – Cannabis is reaffirmed as gateway drug

Abortion

Croatia – Anti-abortion march draws twenty thousand

According to organizers this march was to “draw attention to respect of every human life – from conception to natural death”. Under a law dating back to 1978, when Croatia was still part of the communist Yugoslavia, abortion is legal until the 10th week of pregnancy. The constitutional court also ordered parliament to adopt a new law on abortion regulations within the next two years, ruling that the current legislation was outdated. Nearly 90{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of Croatia’s population of 4.2 million is Roman Catholics.

Alternative Medicine

No news today

Euthanasia

Canada – Ontario passes assisted dying law

Lawmakers have voted in favour of what is known as “Bill 84” – a bill that amends several Ontario laws that potentially impede the implementation of federal law on euthanasia. A group of Ontario-based healthcare professionals held a press conference at the Ontario Legislative Building early this week, telling reporters that this law could force practitioners to leave the profession because of their conscientious objection to euthanasia.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/ontario-passes-assisted-dying-law/12312#disqus_thread

USA – Existential distress’, not pain, drives euthanasia

According to Madeline Li principal author of a study, and other researchers, in the New England Journal of Medicine, the primary reason why patients requested assisted dying was to relieve “existential distress”. But in an article in the Medical Journal of Australia, American bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel argued that the presence of existential distress in assisted dying cases counts as a reason not to legalise euthanasia: “What is then the great impetus to legalise interventions to end lives for a small minority of patients who are depressed, worried about losing autonomy and being tired of life? We should end the focus on the media frenzy about euthanasia and Physician Assisted suicide as if it were the panacea to improving end-of-life care.”

https://www.mercatornet.com/careful/view/existential-distress-not-pain-drives-euthanasia/19881 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMms1700606

https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2017/206/8/euthanasia-and-physician-assisted-suicide-focus-data

IVF&Surrogacy

USA – Cheap, effective alternative to IVF is possible

A 100-year-old medical technique of flushing a woman’s fallopian tubes with iodized poppy seed oil has proven to have significant benefits for fertility, according to research in the New England Journal of Medicine. Hysterosalpingography (HSG) is a dye test of the fallopian tubes conducted under X-ray first carried out in 1917. “In our study, 40{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of women undergoing HSG with an oil-based contrast achieved a successful pregnancy within six months said Professor Mol.” “Our results have been even more exciting than we could have predicted, helping to confirm that an age-old medical technique still has an important place in modern medicine,” he said. The oil-based product used in the study was Lipiodol® Ultra-Fluid, an iodized solution of fatty acids from poppy seeds. This product is currently available in 47 countries around the world.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/cheap-effective-alternative-to-ivf-may-be-possible/12305

UK – IVF vs natural conception: babies have same cognitive ability

A new study by researchers from Oxford University suggests that IVF babies have the same cognitive ability as naturally-conceived children. Sociology Professor Melinda Mills studied data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative group of 18,552 families. Over 12,000 children were part of the study (150-180 through IVF), with cognitive ability tests performed at 3, 5, 7 and 11 years. The researchers found that, in early years, the IVF-conceived children actually scored higher on the tests, with the disparity narrowing in later years of development. “The findings suggest that the positive effect of the family background of children conceived through artificial reproduction techniques “overrides” the risks of related poor health impairing their cognitive ability,” said professor Mills.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/ivf-v-natural-conception-babies-have-same-cognitive-ability-says-new-study/12331

Medical Ethics

USA – Unexpected mutations after CRISPR gene-editing

A study by investigators at Columbia University Medical Center suggests that CRISPR gene-editing technology can introduce hundreds of unintended mutations into the human genome. According to Kellie Schaefer, a Stanford co-author of the study, the genomes of two independent gene therapy recipients had sustained more than 1,500 single-nucleotide mutations and 100 larger deletions and insertions. Dr. Stephen Tsang, geneticist and co-author of the study said “Researchers who aren’t using whole genome sequencing to find off-target effects may be missing potentially important mutations”. “Even a single nucleotide change can have a huge impact.” The researchers remained positive about CRISPR technology but suggest that whole-genome sequencing should be used to determine the safety and accuracy of their CRISPR gene-editing methods.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/unexpected-mutations-after-crispr-gene-editing-experiments/12330

Pedophilia

No news today

Pornography

UK – Theresa May to create new internet controlled by government

Prime Minister Theresa May, is planning to introduce regulations allowing the government to decide what is said and watched online. The plans will allow Britain to become the global leader in the regulation of the use of personal data and the internet. It comes just soon after the Investigatory Powers Act came into law. That legislation allowed the government to force internet companies to keep records on their customers’ browsing histories, as well as giving ministers the power to break apps like WhatsApp so that messages can be read. This is to ensure that there is no “safe space for terrorists to be able to communicate online”. The new rules will make it harder than ever to access pornographic websites.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/theresa-may-internet-conservatives-government-a7744176.html

USA – Florida Authorities Demolish Child Porn Devices

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement demolished dozens of confiscated electronics that once produced or shared child porn. “Operation Crush Cyber Crime” smashed all evidence that has been used in the successful prosecution of child predators in the region. According to a Florida statute, all evidence that once held child pornography must be destroyed after prosecution. Some seized evidence without explicit images can be donated. Officials say the agency investigated 53 cases in central Florida and about 117 cases are pending.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/florida/articles/2017-05-18/florida-authorities-demolish-child-porn-devices

USA – State lawmakers want to crack down on child porn requests

It’s not against Wisconsin law to ask for nude photos from children, but two Republican state lawmakers say it should be. Rep. Andre Jacque and Sen. Van Wanggaard are circulating a bill that would make it a crime for adults to solicit nude or sexually explicit photos. Jacque says current law allows sexual predators to groom children over an extended period of time, often without getting in trouble until they actually gain possession of child pornography. Under the bill, an adult who solicits an “intimate or private representation” from someone under age 18 could face a maximum fine of $10,000 and up to nine months in jail. Individuals who attempts to obtain child pornography can also be charged under federal laws.

http://www.hngnews.com/sun_prairie_star/news/article_04c78ee4-3b06-11e7-b101-73d46d38acd6.html

USA – Views differ on making child pornography an act of violence

The highest court in West Virginia ruled to make the distribution and exhibition of child pornography an act of violence because the person exploited in child pornography is hurt every time that image is shown, according to Maryland Del. Brett Wilson who has prosecuted many of the county’s sexual abuse cases. Child pornography can cause real damage to the subject. The ruling means that a child pornography defendant who is deemed incompetent to stand trial can remain under the trial court’s jurisdiction for more than 50 years for appropriate treatment and supervision. District Attorney Matt Fogal said that victims of child pornography also suffer from knowing that their images can be traded and viewed worldwide is irretrievable and can continue to circulate forever.

http://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/local/views-differ-on-making-child-pornography-an-act-of-violence/article_2ba90316-3d91-11e7-ba8d-ab1831a59b47.html

Same Sex Attraction

USA – Is the media encouraging hate

Ben Shapiro is a political commentator, nationally syndicated columnist, author, radio talk show host, and attorney who argues why we shouldn’t see it as being courageous when someone comes out about being homosexual and that the media should stop making it a big deal. This interview with Ben was based on Michael Sam an American Football player for the NFL whose story the media used to create a milestone. Ben said the media is portraying homosexuality and “coming out” as an act of heroism and using it to create the impression that there are all these people that hate homosexuals when in reality this is not true. Even the football player himself said it’s no big deal. The media makes it seem that the vast majority of the population is against homosexuals and therefore creating fear. The FBI statistics show that they’re about the same number of attacks on Jews in the country as there are on homosexuals and this is not a country that discriminates against Jews or homosexuals. The more casually people treat homosexuals as opposed to a nation-wide celebration, they won’t have to feel like there’s this mythical challenge they have to face from conservative establishments or this phantom discrimination they have to overcome.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=812VJQvBBPY

USA – Children are too young to consent to transgenderism

Does it make any sense to believe that children fourteen and younger can consent to puberty blockers, toxic sex hormones, and mutilating sex reassignment surgery when they can’t even cross the street safely? A report from the National Center for Statistics and Analysis finds more than 200 children under the age of fourteen, died in the US in 2014 after being struck by a car. Another 8,000 suffered injuries. Michelle Cretella, president of the American College of Paediatricians pointed out that cognitive immaturity during adolescence has always been obvious, that’s why society has age restrictions for consenting to medical procedures, driving, voting and joining the military. It becomes clear that Pro-LGBT medical institutions like the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) ignore these scientific facts and are not concerned for the well being of these children.

https://world.wng.org/2017/05/too_young_to_cross_a_street_but_old_enough_for_a_sex_change

USA – Homosexual Teens with HIV make up 92{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}

A new report called “HIV Among Gay and Bisexual Men” by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows more than 9 in 10 new HIV cases among men and boys ages 13 to 24 in the U.S. occur among homosexuals and bisexuals. This report offers clear evidence of how extreme the health risks are for homosexual sex. Dr. Michelle Cretella, president of the American College of Paediatricians (ACPeds) said these facts need to reach the youth taking sex-ed classes across the country. But too often politically correct teachers and sex-ed curricula downplay the risks linked to homosexuality. “These statistics are proof that ‘comprehensive sex education’ aimed at promoting condoms among youth has not worked,” she said. “Even when used perfectly correctly, condoms and lubricants cannot make anal sex, an inherently traumatic act, safe. Our children deserve to know the truth. Their health and very lives depend upon it.” Texas pro-family education activist Donna Garner agreed and said “Students need to be told of the huge risks that follow their choice to participate in LGBT sexual activities; and if schools offer sex education courses, they need to state clearly the medical, psychological, and emotional dangers of choosing the LGBT lifestyle.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/gay-teens-make-up-92-percent-of-hiv-cases-in-their-age-group

Sexual Exploitation

USA – Disturbing Link between Sex Trafficking and Abortion

The prevalence of forced abortions is an especially disturbing trend in sex trafficking said Laura J. Lederer, the Senior Adviser on Trafficking for the US State Department. What has often been ignored by the media is the link between forced prostitution and forced abortion. In their groundbreaking study ‘The Health Consequences of Sex Trafficking and Their Implications for Identifying Victims in Healthcare Facilities’, Laura J. Lederer and Christopher A. Wetzel examined the stories of sixty-six victims of sex trafficking. They found that fifty-five percent of these women had undergone at least one abortion while being trafficked and more than thirty percent underwent multiple abortions.

https://www.care-net.org/abundant-life-blog/researchers-uncover-disturbing-link-between-sex-trafficking-and- abortion?utm_campaign=Weekend{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}20Update&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=52682885&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-

USA – New legislation to prevent sex trafficking

Anti-trafficking leaders and organizations from around the world namely; the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Exodus Cry, the National Centre for Sexual Exploitation and Shared Hope International are calling on legislators to include an important sex trafficking demand reduction provision. Bill HR466 amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and states that if a government has the authority to prohibit the purchase of commercial sex acts, but fails to do so, it shall be deemed a failure to make serious and sustained efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, irrespective of other efforts the government may have made. This important change will make a country’s efforts to combat demand for prostitution a meaningful part of the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Annual Report in which countries around the world are assessed and ranked. Linda Smith, Shared Hope International President and Founder stated that demand is at the heart of sex trafficking – without a buyer there would be no seller, no victim and the Act affirms this link and would expose those nations taking a backseat in combating this force that drives sex trafficking markets.

http://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/new-legislation-seeks-prevent-sex-trafficking/

USA – Activist to combat sex trafficking with billboard campaign

A new billboard has appeared in Wisconsin directly opposite a “sex store” and it proclaims: “Sex Trafficking: Porn Creates Demand.” The billboard is part of NCOSE’s City Blitz campaign, which raises awareness in cities across the country about the harms of pornography, including links to other forms of sexual exploitation and the disintegration of the family. This billboard is sponsored by 5-Stones, a non-profit organization that combats sex trafficking through their “five stones” of awareness, education, prevention, networking and collaboration. It has caused a stir from the store and its patrons who took offense to the message and complained about the “church people” who were doing them. Despite the negative feedback, the campaign hopes to get people to do some self analyzing regarding behaviours at home and private lives as well.

http://endsexualexploitation.org/cityblitz/

Substance Abuse

UK – Cannabis is reaffirmed as gateway drug

Teenagers who regularly smoke cannabis are 26 times more likely to turn to other drugs by the age of 21. The study of the lives of more than 5,000 teenagers produced resounding evidence that cannabis is a gateway to cocaine, amphetamines, hallucinogens and heroin. It also discovered that teenage cannabis smokers are 37 times more likely to be hooked on nicotine and three times more likely to be problem drinkers than non-users of the drug. The findings from Bristol University, led by Dr Michelle Taylor, provide authoritative support for those warning against the liberalization of drugs laws. Medical researchers have argued for years that cannabis is far from harmless and instead carries serious mental health risks. The Bristol evidence was gathered from a long-term survey and large UK cohort followed from birth, the’ Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children’. The survey was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4582548/Proof-cannabis-DOES-lead-teenagers-harder-drugs.html

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of Doctors for Life International

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LIFEalerts Special Edition

November 26, 2020June 21, 2017

21 June 2017

Psychiatrist says transgendered men and women do not become the opposite sex

The homosexual-transgender pressure group Human Rights Campaign and other LGBTQ organisations are trying to discredit Dr. Paul R. McHugh, who was a distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University from 1975 -2001, and also one of the most respected medical and psychiatric authorities’ that debunks transgender ideology. It is an odd accusation to make against one of the most celebrated mental health professionals and researchers alive today. Dr. McHugh, who has studied transgender people for 40 years, said in an article for The Witherspoon Institute, that all such people “become feminized men or masculinized women, counterfeits or impersonators of the sex with which they ‘identify”. He also said that it is a scientific fact that “transgendered men do not become women, nor do transgendered women become men”. Dr. McHugh, who was psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the medical institute that had initially pioneered sex-change surgery – and later abandoned the practice – stressed that the cultural meme, or idea that “one’s sex is fluid and a matter of choice” is extremely damaging, especially to young people. The idea that one’s sexuality is a feeling and not a biological fact “is doing much damage to families, adolescents, and children and should be confronted as an opinion without biological foundation wherever it emerges,” said Dr. McHugh in his article, Transgenderism: A Pathogenic Meme. “Think, for example, of the parents whom no one, not doctors, schools, nor even churches, will help to rescue their children from these strange notions of being transgendered and the problematic lives these notions herald.” They rarely find therapists who are willing to help them “work out their conflicts and correct their assumptions,” said McHugh. “Rather, they and their families find only ‘gender counsellors’ who encourage them in their sexual misassumptions.” There is plenty of evidence showing that “transgendering” is a “psychological rather than a biological matter,” said Dr. McHugh. “In fact, gender dysphoria – the official psychiatric term for feeling oneself to be of the opposite sex, belongs in the family of similarly disordered assumptions about the body, such as anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphic disorder. Its treatment should not be directed at the body as with surgery and hormones any more than one treats obesity-fearing anorexic patients with liposuction,” he said. In fact, at Johns Hopkins, where they pioneered sex-change-surgery, “we demonstrated that the practice brought no important benefits,” said Dr. McHugh. “As a result, we stopped offering that form of treatment in the 1970s.” In recent years, though, the notion that one’s sex is fluid has flooded the culture. It is “reflected everywhere in the media, the theatre, the classroom, and in many medical clinics,” said McHugh. It is biologically false that one can exchange one’s sex, explained McHugh. “The most thorough follow-up of sex-reassigned people – extending over 30 years and conducted in Sweden, where the culture is strongly supportive of transgendered people – documents their lifelong mental unrest.” “Ten to 15 years after surgical reassignment, the suicide rate of those who had undergone sex-reassignment surgery rose to 20 times that of comparable peers,” said McHugh. We need a public uproar for coherent science! http://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/johns-hopkins-psychiatrist-transgendered-men-dont-become-women-they-become#.WLfZs29RK3N.facebook https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/lgbt-activists-slam-the-most-important-psychiatrist-of-the-last-half-centur

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Doctors for Life International

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LIFEalerts 26 May 2017

May 26, 2017

Abortion	USA – Kentucky on its way to become first abortion free state Australia – Massive pro-life petition stuns in NSW parliament
Alternative Medicine	UK – Charities may have to prove complementary therapies work
Euthanasia	No news today
IVF& Surrogacy	UK – IVF providers trading “free treatment” for egg donation
Medical Ethics	USA – Two doctors charged with FGM in US-first USA – National Academies respond to conflict of interest claims USA – Conscience wars intensify in the US
Pedophilia	No news today
Pornography	UK – New law wants you to register at the Post Office before watching porn USA – Porn star wants to block porn websites to children
Same Sex Attraction	Israel – Science destroys transgender Arguments USA – Why are so many lesbians falling pregnant? Australia – Transgenderism is a dangerous fashion
Sexual Exploitation	South Africa – Prostitutes HIV rate 12 times higher than general norm
Substance Abuse	USA – Legalizing weed is a dangerous idea USA – Addiction Meds Are “Substituting One Opioid for Another”

Abortion

USA – Kentucky on its way to become first abortion free state

There is only one abortion clinic left in the Kentucky and Gov. Matt Bevin is working to end access to abortion in the state. EMW Women’s Clinic is in violation of regulations that mandate the clinic obtain ambulance and hospital admittance privileges from a local hospital. “The Bevin administration is working diligently to protect the health, welfare and lives of women in Kentucky,” state spokesman Doug Hogan said, adding that the regulations are not new and have been in place since 1998.

http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/kentucky-on-its-way-to-becoming-first-abortion-free-state.html

Australia – Massive pro-life petition stuns in NSW parliament

The Legislative Council of the New South Wales parliament was brought to a shocked silence as one of the largest official parliamentary petitions in its history was tabled by the Hon. Greg Donnelly. The petition with 56,559 signatures opposed the Abortion Law Reform (Miscellaneous Acts Amendment) Bill 2016. The Bill aims to “repeal offenses relating to abortion, to specify a ground of unsatisfactory professional conduct by a medical practitioner with respect to abortion, and to establish exclusion zones in order to prohibit certain behaviour near premises at which abortions are provided.” “It was much bigger than expected. I never thought we would get that many. We were really hoping to get 10,000” said petition coordinator Rebecca Gosper from Youth For Life.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/massive-pro-life-petition-stuns-parliament-in-new-south-wales

Alternative Medicine

UK – Charities may have to prove complementary therapies work

UK charities that provide complementary and alternative medicines fear losing their charitable status over possible measures that will raise the bar for proving their therapies work. “We think it’s great the charity commission is looking at this issue,” says Tracey Brown, director of the campaigning group Sense about Science.” So we’re very interested in a peer-review system using existing medical standards bodies such as the royal colleges to help the commission to evaluate.” Complementary providers argue that it’s unfair to be judged purely on evidence in mainstream medical journals, as demanded by the Good Thinking Society.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2131216-uk-may-force-charities-to-prove-complementary-therapies-work/

Euthanasia

No news today

IVF&Surrogacy

UK – IVF providers trading “free treatment” for egg donation

The Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has announced an investigation into UK IVF clinics as women are being pressuring into donating eggs in exchange for free IVF treatment. In one case, a doctor said a Daily Mail reporter could trade her healthy eggs for cash and use the money to fund her own IVF treatment. In other instances reporters were told by nurses that an egg “isn’t a baby” and that donating gametes was “just like giving blood”. IVF pioneer Lord Robert Winston said that the women in question were “under duress” and that they “cannot appreciate the consequences of what they’re agreeing to”. “These patients are vulnerable and anxious and likely to be worried about money”, he said.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/uk-ivf-providers-trading-free-treatment-for-egg-donation/12288

Medical Ethics

USA – Two doctors charged with FGM in US first

In a US first, two Detroit-based Muslim doctors have been charged with carrying out female genital mutilation – a crime under federal law that carries a sentence of up life imprisonment. The doctors allegedly carried out FGM on two young girls at a small private medical clinic in Michigan in February. Both doctors are members of an Indian-Muslim community known as Dawoodi Bohra, a group known to practice FGM. The girls said that they were told they were receiving treatment for “tummy aches”. Acting US attorney Daniel Lemisch said in a statement. “The practice has no place in modern society and those who perform FGM on minors will be held accountable under federal law.”

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/two-doctors-charged-with-fgm-in-us-first/12287

USA – National Academies respond to conflict of interest claims

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine are strengthening their conflict of interest policy after authors of two major reports failed to disclose industry links. A 2016 review published in Plos One found that 6 out of 20 panel members of a report had one or more undisclosed reportable financial conflicts of interest. This followed a 2014 analysis by MedPage Today of a 2011 study by the Institute of Medicine on managing chronic, pain where 9 of a 19-expert panel had connections to companies manufacturing narcotic painkillers. In response to the damning reviews, The National Academies said it will now publish disclosures of conflicts of interest of the scientists who author academy reports in the documents themselves.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/national-academies-respond-to-conflict-of-interest-claims/12289

USA – Conscience wars intensify in the US

An article on conscientious objection in the New England Journal of Medicine has sparked outcry among conservative bioethicists. University of Pennsylvania bioethicists Ronit Stahl and Ezekiel Emanuel argue that medical societies should “declare conscientious objection unethical” and remove conscience clauses from their codes of ethics, “Objection to providing patients interventions …that the profession deems to be effective, ethical, and standard treatments…are unjustifiable”. Bioethicist Wesley Smith slammed the article, suggesting that opponents of conscientious objection want to “weaponize medicine to impose secular individualistic and utilitarian values on all of society”. Smith suggested that the article is indicative of a concerted campaign to “cleanse health care of all those who would dare to practice medicine in accord with sanctity-of-life moral viewpoints”.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/conscience-wars-intensify-in-the-us/12294

Pedophilia

No news today

Pornography

UK – New law wants you to register at the Post Office before watching porn

New regulations could make mandatory age verification a reality, forcing UK internet users to prove they are older than 18 before they’re allowed to access any adult only content, and not by just marking a tick box. Instead, those looking to access pornographic content will need to prove their age by entering their credit card details or sharing their mobile phone contract information. To make it more difficult and help to fight porn, people will also have to approve their device for porn access in person by making a trip to the Post Office. The move comes as The Digital Economy Act has finally received royal assent. This means that the controversial Act has now been ratified and will be enforced in the UK.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/tech/news/611386/Online-porn-laws-digital-economy-act-proof-of-age

USA – Porn star wants to block porn websites to children

The most famous male pornography star of the year admits not only that children view his “crazy stuff,” but that the porn industry would go out of business if it were truly “adults only.” James Deen commented that “there is an ethical dilemma in porn.” One click” accessibility online is hurting children and youth. He advocates for a mandatory paywall like putting in a credit card for legal age verification to keep kids away from online pornography. You can’t just say, ‘Yes, I’m 18’, you actually have to put in something, the best you can, to create an 18 and older environment.”

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/porn-star-wants-to-block-kids-from-adult-websites-…-but-knows-it-will-des

Same Sex Attraction

Israel – Science destroys transgender Arguments

A study, titled ‘The landscape of sex-differential transcriptome and its consequent selection in human adults”, was published in BMC Biology earlier this year. Science disproves the transgender claims of “gender does not match what was assigned at birth”, by uncovering 1,500 genetic differences between males & females which relate to sex organs and surprisingly to the brain, skin and heart as well. The way in which these thousands of genes replicate to make proteins in both sexes is significantly different. Stephen Stathis, a psychiatrist in Australia, is concerned that even children are over diagnosed and should undergo intensive mental screening. Walter Heyer, the author and speaker of several books and an extensive researcher went through sex-change twice and testified it changed nothing. He explains the history of gender reassignment and why we shouldn’t be so quick to push people with gender dysphoria into it. He says that Over 60{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of people who desire a sex-change are suffering from co-morbid psychological/psychiatric disorders which are often separation anxiety, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, associative disorder, personality disorders or narcissism.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/researchers-find-over-1500-genes-that-make-men-and-women-different

https://heatst.com/culture-wars/gender-expert-teens-are-trying-to-be-transgender-because-its-trendy/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9jC34sk_3I

USA – Why are so many lesbians falling pregnant?

The Witherspoon Institute is a research centre located in Princeton, New Jersey. Research from multiple studies and different nations find that pregnancies and abortions are doubled among homosexual men whom have impregnated a women and lesbians, than that of heterosexual peers. If one’s sexual orientation is unchangeable and supposedly “Born that way” like sex, race or ethnicity, then the high pregnancy rates among homosexuals confuse that narrative. These identities called “gay” and “lesbian” seem less clear whether they actually exist in functional reality even though they exist as political or social identities.

http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2017/04/19022/

Australia – Transgenderism is a dangerous fashion

2GB Australian radio talk show interview recording:

John Whitehall, a professor of paediatrics at Western Sydney University has been working with children for over 50 years; he makes a few strong points backed up by scientific research. The first point he raises is that courts are consistently saying that hormone blockers are safe and reversible when in fact, the effects have been analysed and reveal a significant reduction in executive brain function. The reason so many young people are wanting to transition is because the media is giving it so much attention and Safe Schools have programs make it seem like it is something brave, courageous and fashionable to go through – and then the children get sucked into that idea which is a difficult state of mind to reverse. Dr. John’s statement is proved by a poll he did on 28 paediatricians with an accumulative experience of 931 years, who remembered only twelve such cases of which two were grossly abused sexually, for a long period. The other ten cases were suffering from co-morbid mental conditions. Today about 250 cases a year are reported. All these ideas of pushing children into transgenderism are conducted and promoted by idea logs – that is, without scientific substance or commons sense. There is, however, evidence that the vast majority of children who are a bit confused about their sexuality will orientate to the sex that they were to determined to have from 6 weeks post-conceptual age, by the time they reach puberty. Dr. Whitehall closes by exposing the dangers of the media and the courts that just go along with these idea logs without questioning them. He reviewed the court cases and mentions a case where one mother there said “I knew my child was transgender because at nine months of age he preferred the company of the opposite sex” these are the statements that are not being challenged by common sense because every nine month old child sits in a nappy and doesn’t know what’s going on.

http://www.2gb.com/podcast/gender-transitioning-a-dangerous-fad/

Sexual Exploitation

South Africa – Prostitutes HIV rate 12 times higher than general norm

More than one in three Cape Town sex workers carry on with sex after a condom breaks or slips. The same number stop and replace the condom and only 13{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} stop the sex altogether according to a research by Ferdinand Mukumbang, PhD student in HIV/AIDS Management at the University of the Western Cape. Writing in the Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine, he asked 100 prostitutes what they did within 24hours of a condom failing with more than half responding they did nothing, 25{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} going to a clinic and 3{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} taking alcohol or drugs to forget the incident. HIV prevalence among prostitutes is estimated to be 12 times greater than among general population and 40{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of Cape Town’s 7500 prostitutes were thought to be HIV positive. Prostitutes, sex partners and clients account for about 20{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of all new HIV infections.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2017/05/15/Sex-worker-HIV-rate-12-times-higher-than-general-

Substance Abuse

USA – Legalizing weed is a dangerous idea

“Those pushing for legalization of marijuana constantly push the notion that it is no different than alcohol”, wrote Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation. He said that “extensive medical studies and the experience of nearly every human culture show that isn’t true – legalizing marijuana is a dangerous idea.” In an op-ed to the Washington Examiner he cited studies including from the National Institutes of Health that have shown that long-term marijuana use impairs the immune system, causes short-term memory loss, and has toxic properties that can result in birth defects, pain, respiratory systems damage, brain damage, and stroke. It may cause cognitive degradation, and is associated with lower test scores and lower educational attainment. It is particularly damaging to the brain development of young people. When it comes to comparing alcohol to marijuana, which pro-pot advocates often do, he said “unlike alcohol, which is broken down relatively quickly in the human body, THC, the main active chemical in marijuana, stays in the body for days and even weeks after its consumption. Equating marijuana use with alcohol consumption is uninformed and misleading. They differ in every way that counts: addictiveness, toxicity, health effects, and the risk of intoxication. All that legalization does is increase demand for the drug and cause a wide variety of unintended but predictable consequences, including more crime, not less” Spakovsky said.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sorry-420-smokers-legalizing-weed-is-a-dangerous-idea/article/2620824

USA – Addiction Meds Are “Substituting One Opioid for Another”

USA’s Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said that medications to treat opioid addiction are “just substituting one opioid for another.” His comments about run counter to years of using medications such as buprenorphine or methadone in substitution therapy, called Medicine Assisted Treatment (MAT). When he was asked about drug treatment options, Price recommended faith-based programs while showing less support for substitution therapy programs. “If we’re just substituting one opioid for another, we’re not moving the dial much,” he said. “Folks need to be cured so they can be productive members of society and realize their dreams.”

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/05/tom-price-opioid-addiction-treament

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of Doctors for Life International

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LIFEalerts 10 May 2017

May 10, 2017

USA – Trump Signs Bill to Overturn Obama Rule

USA – “Lumberjacks for Life” empower pregnant and parenting students

Canada – $300 Abortion drug for free

USA – University puts abortion pills in vending machine

Nigeria – Benefits of traditional medicine bill

Canada – Nearly eight in ten Canadians have used alternative medicines

Belgium – Catholic psychiatric hospitals ‘adjust’ view of euthanasia

Singapore – Court says parents deserve children with their own genes

UK – The IVF side effect that clinics hush up

USA – FDA green-lights more 23andMe genetic tests

USA – Transplant ethics for the 21st Century

Belgium – Euthanized organ donors can shorten waitlists say doctors

No news today

Spain – Police break up international child porn chat network Philippines – Porn’s disastrous effect on our youth

USA – Nebraska Rejects pro-LGBT bill

Australia – Becoming transgender for attention

USA – Arguments that defeated the Pro-LGBT Bill

South Africa – How many men visit sex workers?

New Zealand – Tensions between street-based prostitutes and communities

http://www.lifenews.com/2017/04/13/president-donald-trump-to-sign-bill-to-overturn-obama-rule-forcing-states-to-fund-planned-parenthood/

USA – Protecting our children: Born addicted

Abortion

USA – Trump Signs Bill to Overturn Obama Rule

The rule of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) prevented states from blocking Title X funding to abortion companies like Planned Parenthood. After the House first passed the measure, the Senate voted 50-50 for the bill. The tie vote made it so pro-life Vice-President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote to approve the measure. Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said: “The resolution signed simply ensures that states are not forced to fund an abortion business with taxpayer dollars. Rather, states have the option to spend Title X money on comprehensive health care clinics that better serve women and girls.”

USA – “Lumberjacks for Life” empower pregnant and parenting students

The Pro-Life student group, Lumberjacks for Life, works to bring the culture of life to their community. In 2009, Lumberjacks for Life embarked on an exciting initiative when they became the first Pro-Life group in Texas to establish a scholarship for pregnant and parenting students. Jessica Michalowski explained, “The recipient of the scholarship can be female or male. We distribute this scholarship to someone whom we feel needs it. They choose to keep going to college while being parents. To us that is so important because it is hard to do and to balance.” Knowing that their peers recognize their struggles and support them can make a tremendous difference in a pregnant or parenting students’ decision to finish their education.

http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2017/04/lumberjacks-for-life-work-to-empower-pregnant-and-parenting-students-on-campus/#.WPdKK9R961s

Canada – $300 Abortion drug for free

The New Brunswick government has announced it will provide the controversial abortion pill combination Mifegymiso free of charge. “By making Mifegymiso available free of charge for all New Brunswick women, our government is ensuring that financial barriers do not stand in the way of a woman’s right to choose,” said Health Minister Victor Boudreau. Surgical abortions are covered by the provincial health plan, but usually drugs are not. “This is very sad news that the region of Canada that has shown the greatest respect for life is now showing the greatest hostility to it,” said Jack Fonseca of the Campaign Life Coalition.

http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=21077

USA – University puts abortion pills in vending machine

A California university’s decision to make abortifacient drugs available to students via a “Wellness to Go” vending machine, has prompted criticism from pro-life and family groups. It dispenses the Plan B drug, also known as the “morning after pill” along with Advil, tampons, pregnancy tests and condoms. “Colleges and universities should be offering pregnant and parenting students options of housing, financial aid, diaper decks, and childcare instead of handing over abortion drugs,” Students for Life Executive Director Kristan Hawkins said. The “Wellness to Go” machine was the product of two years’ efforts by former student Parteek Singh. The vending machine makes the California university one of about four campuses nationally to offer similar emergency contraception.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/wellness-to-go-california-university-puts-abortion-pills-in-vending-machine

Alternative Medicine

Nigeria – Benefits of traditional medicine bill

The President of the Nigerian Council of Physicians of Natural Medicine, Prof Magnus Adeyemihas has said that traditional medicine practitioners have been waiting for regulatory laws for over two decades. A new Bill, when passed, will address regulation, quackery, advertising and qualifications and will also open a new vista for traditional/complementary medicine, including foreign exchange. A significant subject that the bill will address is the issue of the intellectual property rights. The systemic failure of not properly acknowledging persons, traditions and practices of communities where they originated will be addressed by the bill.

http://thenationonlineng.net/benefits-traditional-medicine-bill/

Canada – Nearly eight in ten Canadians have used alternative medicines

More and more Canadians are using complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) and therapies such as massage, yoga, acupuncture and chiropractic care, and they’re using them more frequently, finds a new survey by Nadeem Esmail, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The updated survey of 2,000 Canadians finds more than three-quarters of Canadians, 79 per cent, have used at least one CAM or therapy sometime in their lives. That’s an increase from 74 per cent in 2006 and 73 per cent in 1997, when two previous similar surveys were conducted.

http://canadafreepress.com/article/nearly-eight-in-ten-canadians-have-used-alternative-medicines-survey

Euthanasia

Belgium – Catholic psychiatric hospitals ‘adjust’ view of euthanasia

One of the last substantial barriers of euthanasia cases for non-terminally-ill psychiatric patients in Belgium seems to have crumbled. In a statement posted on their website the Brothers of Charity explain, “We take seriously unbearable and hopeless suffering and patients’ requests for euthanasia. On the other hand, we do want to protect lives and ensure that euthanasia is performed only if there is no more possibility to provide a reasonable perspective to treat the patient”. Euthanasia for psychiatric patients has already happened dozens of times in Belgium. But from now on it will probably be easier for people suffering from schizophrenia, personality disorders, depression, autism, or loneliness to access it.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/belgian-catholic-psychiatric-hospitals-adjust-their-view-of-euthanasia/12276

IVF&Surrogacy

Singapore – Court says parents deserve children with their own genes

A court ruled that parents have a strong interest in genetic affinity with their children in a decision regarding a couple who had their gametes mixed up with a donor sperm when undergoing IVF with Singaporean company Thompson Medical. While the court was careful not base the decision on the controversial notion of “wrongful birth”, it did acknowledge the parents had a strong interest in being genetically related to their children, and Thomson Medical had violated this interest. Thomson was ordered to pay damages – including 30{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of the child’s upkeep costs till 21. Ethicist G. Owen Schaefer from the National University of Singapore said the decision may have far-reaching implications for future cases involving negligence and assisted reproduction.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/parents-deserve-kids-with-their-own-genes-singapore-court/12262

UK – The IVF side effect that clinics hush up

Doctors are legally obliged to report “severe” cases of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), when IVF drugs cause women’s ovaries to expand dangerously. In one year, clinics reported just 16 cases but there had been almost 700 emergency hospital admissions for the condition and at least four women died. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) Chairman Sally Cheshire said they are “very concerned” fertility doctors might be under-reporting and MPs called for a legislation overhaul to protect women. IVF expert Dr John Parsons, retired consultant at King’s College Hospital, said: “The definition of ‘severe’ is so vague. If the HFEA wants a true picture of OHSS it should insist that clinics report all cases when the patient has to be hospitalized.”

http://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/family/pregnancy/the-ivf-side-effect-that-uk-clinics-hush-up-8949376

Medical Ethics

USA – FDA green-lights more 23andMe genetic tests

The US Food and Drug Administration will allow genetic testing company 23andMe to market tests for 10 serious disease and conditions, in a move that marks an about-face on the 2013 moratorium. The screening services are the first direct-to-consumer tests authorized by the FDA that provide information on an individual’s genetic predisposition to medical diseases or conditions. While some have welcomed the FDA approval, others are wary of direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Speaking with the New York Times, James Beck, chief scientific officer of the Parkinson’s Foundation, said the decision set a dangerous precedent for the disclosure of information without prior genetic counseling. “Once you get the test and read the results, there is no going back,” Dr. Beck said.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/fda-green-lights-more-23andme-genetic-tests/12259

USA – Transplant ethics for the 21st Century

Bioethicists Arthur Caplan and Duncan Purves explore the novel ethical questions arising from the “quiet revolution” in human organ transplantation in the Journal of Medical Ethics. New techniques include uterus, penis and larynx transplantations, and soon, attempts to transplant testicle, ovary and fallopian tubes. “Novel forms of transplantation carry with them all of the risks of reconstructive surgery like death from anesthesia and post-surgery complications like infection, but also increase the risk of infection because they rely on immunosuppressives, with long-term cancer risk and organ failure. Because the threat to quantity of life is so great in the transplant context, special attention must be paid to ensure that the expected improvements in quality of life are sufficient to outweigh it.”

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/transplant-ethics-for-the-21st-century/12272

Belgium – Euthanized organ donors can shorten waitlists say doctors

Belgian physicians argue in JAMA that encouraging organ donation after euthanasia will reduce organ waitlists. An estimated 10.1{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of all patients undergoing euthanasia could potentially donate at least 1 organ. However, they acknowledge that this novel method has its limitations. Patients need to agree to donate their organs and have to die in hospital settings, while people prefer to die at home. Organ donation after euthanasia, they say, is only allowed in Belgium and the Netherlands, and is uncommon, but it may be happening in Canada as well. The article does not take into account the type of patient who undergoes euthanasia. But if euthanasia becomes common for psychiatric conditions younger patients might expand the pool of organs.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/euthanised-organ-donors-could-dramatically-shorten-waitlists-in-belgium-say/12268

Pedophilia

No news today

Pornography

Spain – Police break up international child porn chat network

An international law enforcement crackdown on a network that allegedly distributed child pornography via popular online chat application WhatsApp resulted in the arrests of over three dozen people in 10 countries. The network operated some 100 chat groups with 135 identified users in Europe, Central and South America, a statement issued by Spanish police said. Files retrieved during an investigation conducted in coordination with Interpol and Europol depicted images of children up to 8 years old being brutally abused. Steven Wilson, head of Europol’s European Cybercrime Center, told the Associated Press that Spanish police discovered a group of individuals using closed groups in the chat application to distribute the pornographic material. Police had intercepted 360,000 files so far.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/spain-police-break-international-child-porn-chat-network-46859081

Philippines – Porn’s disastrous effect on our youth

The Philippine Commission on Population discovered from respondent’s data that pornography is driving the youth toward earlier sexual activity. With the country experiencing rising rates of teenage pregnancy plus an alarming increase in HIV infections, policymakers would do well to incorporate a serious, intensified crackdown on pornography in their programs. Studies across the world have shown the numerous negative consequences of porn use – addiction, sexual dysfunction, destruction of marital relations, escalation to more violent and degrading forms of pornography, and contribution to worldwide human trafficking. Pornography is a $97-billion industry, $3 billion of which is revenue from child pornography. The Philippines still has cinemas that specialize in porn films while the most popular magazine is a soft-porn publication.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/opinion/letter_to_editor/30312504

Same Sex Attraction

USA – Nebraska Rejects pro-LGBT bill

Nebraska joined 14 other states and 70 cities that rejected the LB 173 bill that would add ‘’sexual orientation’’ and ‘’gender identity’’ to the state’s employment non-discrimination laws. According to the Liberty Counsel that rejected the bill, it has only been used to demand lawsuits and actions that target and criminalise anyone who is against homosexuality. While it is wrong to force homosexuals into intimate situations with the opposite sex, it is also wrong to force people to deny their moral convictions on human sexuality. Despite pressure from the LGBT lobby, a group called Mass Resistance went from town to town across the state, educating citizens and business owners about the bill. The legislative leadership got the message and stopped it.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/nebraska-rejects-pro-lgbtq-bill-enacts-first-pro-life-law-since-2011

Australia – Becoming transgender for attention

One of Australia’s top gender experts, psychiatrist Stephen Stathis, said that he had concerns that teens are over diagnosed as transgender. Adolescents are ‘’trying it out to be transgender’’ to stand out or gain attention from their peers. Dr. Stephen said one child said ‘’Dr. Steve … I want to be transgender, it’s the new black’’ Before he prescribes hormone-blockers, Stathis requires children and adolescents to undergo intensive mental-health screenings with multiple psychiatrists. They also must show that they have “socially transitioned” to their preferred gender for at least six months.

https://heatst.com/culture-wars/gender-expert-teens-are-trying-to-be-transgender-because-its-trendy/

USA – Arguments that defeated Pro-LGBT Bill

This article link has an audio attached of a US Senate Committee hearing where Mass Resistance Colorado and other Pro-family groups expressed very strong arguments that got Colorado bill, H17-1156, rejected. The bill is part of a big push by the radical LGBT lobby in state legislatures across the country. It would deny needed therapy for children who were sexually molested or had unwanted homosexual or transgender psychological issues. Doctor Robyn Patterson representing Colorado Mass Resistance testified to schools having asked 11 year old children to self identify their sexual orientation and gender perception for posters that would hang outside the classroom in the passage. Another classroom had links to graphic porn including bestiality and orgies embedded in social study lessons. A 12 year old child was exposed to an art lesson with stick figures depicting men in sexual poses to show children about homosexual practises and promote the concept of promiscuity as ‘’an act of friendship and love’’. Who will teach these children the truth about promiscuity and that it’s a one way trip to contracting a variety of sexually transmitted diseases? All this was done without informing the parents and blocking any attempt to give therapy to children who might need it after being exposed to such graphic material.

The Colorado schools were found to knowingly distribute obscene content that welcomed BDSM play to children, instructions for DIY sex toys and links to hardcore porn through online information services such as Elton B. Stephens Co (EBSCO). The National Centre on Sexual Exploitation recently named EBSCO to its Dirty Dozen list as a major contributor to the sexual exploitation of women and children. Megan Molaneric a sexual abuse survivor said everyone would agree that children struggling with anger, loneliness, depression, suicidal thoughts, PTSD or any kind of mental disturbance or unwanted desires should be able to seek help. Most children who seek help for unwanted same-sex attractions are victims of sexual abuse, rape or over-exposure to pornography. She said that when she was raped at 7 years old by her 9 year old cousin (whom she believes was also molested) she struggled with unwanted and all types of sexual desires and PTSD symptoms.

The United States Department of Justice stated that more than 62,000 children were sexually abused in 2012 alone and has estimated that these numbers have gone up every year since. Drew Patterson testifying as a concerned father pointed out that the LGBT community has demanded that society and the government stay out of their relationships, homes and bedrooms. Society has largely done so, now it seems that the LGBT lobby is doing the very thing it asked society not to do. He said the LGBT community is interfering with the most important relationship, that between a parent and their child. Parents alone have the right in consultation with their child’s physician to determine the right method and course of any suggested therapy. It’s not for the LGBT movement or the government to attempt to deny any form of treatment recommended by a licensed professional. It was pointed out that the Bill only supports therapy in favour of LGBT transition and not for a child that wishes to go in the opposite direction.

Click link for audio:

http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen3/17b/MR-CO-vs-anti-therapy-032217/index.html

Sexual Exploitation

South Africa – How many men visit sex workers?

The Citizen reports that a Johannesburg sex worker makes between R3 000 and R4 000 a month, charging R100 for straight sex. An Advocacy group estimates that there are between 31 000 and 94 000 sex workers in Gauteng, with the majority being black South African women and a significant percentage from Zimbabwe. The Cheating website found that 80{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of men will book a sex worker for one hour to “get it over and done with as quickly as possible”. And 50.1{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of men find the experience unsatisfying because the prostitute “lacked enthusiasm”, while 26.3{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} said the escort was less attractive than her picture suggested.

http://www.w24.co.za/Love/Sex/how-many-sa-men-visit-sex-workers-and-what-is-the-impact-on-sa-women-20170420

New Zealand – Tensions between street-based prostitutes and communities

Better understanding tensions between street-based prostitutes and communities are part of a new study by Associate Professor Gillian Abe of the University of Otago, Christchurch, into the impact of decriminalization on the country. Research carried out before decriminalization found 57 per cent of street-based prostitutes surveyed said they started before age 18. Fewer than 10 per cent of this group reported being forced into prostitution, compared to 2 per cent of those over 18 years. Many young prostitutes pay minders, boyfriends or pimps a portion of their money. The Lottery Commission funded research will look at the relationship between prostitutes and their pimps and whether coercion to work happens.

http://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/otago645234.html

Substance Abuse

USA – Protecting our children: Born addicted

Treating an infant born addicted to the drugs its mother was using was a rare occurrence 20 years ago. Dr. John Chan, head of Conemaugh Medical Centre’s neonatal/prenatal medicine unit, has watched the number of drug-addicted babies grow from a few a year to several each week. “Every year we’re going up,” he said. A statewide analysis by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council found that hospital stays for newborns diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) rose 870 percent between 2000 and 2015, increasing from 1.6 to 16.0 per 1,000 neonatal stays. A lot of these babies are born to mothers addicted to methadone, a drug often given to them as a substitute to heroin. Methadone substitution therapy has become ever more controversial, especially in countries like Scotland where studies have indicated millions of taxpayer pounds are spent “parking” heroin addicts on free methadone treatment with little positive results. This comes at a time when celebrities and pro-drug lobbying groups are pushing to decriminalize/legalise drugs across the world with much being said about ‘the drug addicts rights’ while touting that using drugs is a private matter. Babies being dumped into addiction while still in the mothers’ womb clearly show it is not a private matter. What about the rights of these children? The question that should be asked is whether government should stand back while reckless parents force their own children into the hell of drug abuse right from the outset. Moreover, should governments encourage this behavior by providing free methadone to mothers?

http://www.mynbc5.com/article/methadone-babies-treatment-methods-explained/9247927

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of Doctors for Life International

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LIFEalerts 13 April 2017

April 13, 2017

USA – National Right to Life Academy empowers pro-life students

USA – Abortionist: Was baby born alive? It depends ‘who’s in the room’

USA – Trump cuts funding to UN agency over forced abortion support

No news today

No news today

India – Will government ban commercial surrogacy?

UK – Three-parent babies green-lighted in UK

USA – When stem cell treatments go wrong, they really go wrong

USA – Should a human-pig chimera be treated as a person

Cambodia – Country bans exports of breast milk to US

UK – Pedophiles use online techniques to hide child pornography

Canada – Child sex doll trial raises issue of what constitutes child porn

USA – Iowa House passes bill criminalizing ‘revenge porn’ USA – Bill to allow parents to sue pornographers

USA – Anti-porn group wants obscenity laws vigorously enforced

USA – The Homosexual Kingdom is falling apart

USA – Ratings flop as people keep rejecting homosexual programs

USA – Homosexual attorney parts with LGBT community

USA – Consequences of a ‘’third gender’’ called nonbinary

USA – New Michigan legislation aims to help victims of human trafficking

South Africa: 15 Child Trafficking Cases Detected At OR Tambo Airport

USA – New Legislation to Decrease Online Sex Trafficking

South Africa – The Human Trafficking Act: Is it doing the job?

http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2017/03/national-right-to-life-academy-empowers-pro-life-college-students-to-make-a-difference-2/#.WNJ1Z4F961s

USA – Attorney General Jeff Sessions says marijuana not the answer USA – Preferred Drug List Policies May Affect Methadone Overdose Rates

Abortion

USA – National Right to Life Academy empowers pro-life students

Over a five week program, pro-life students learn from the foremost leaders in the pro-life movement about abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, Planned Parenthood, legislative strategy, lobbying, politics, communication, grassroots organizing, social media and more. Graduates of the program are currently working for state pro-life groups, starting local right-to-life chapters, aiding in the efforts of crisis pregnancy centers and bringing a pro-life perspective to their workplaces in the medical, legal, and social work fields. Notable graduates include John Seago, the legislative director for Texas Right to Life. John was instrumental in the passage of the Texas pro-life omnibus bill HB-2.

USA – Abortionist: Was baby born alive? It depends ‘who’s in the room’

A new undercover video comes the day after Centre for Medical Progress head David Daleiden and co-investigator Sandra Merritt were charged with 15 felonies in California. Dr. DeShawn Taylor, previous Medical Director of Planned Parenthood of Arizona and long-time abortion provider at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, speaks candidly to undercover investigators at a networking conference. One investigator asked if there’s “any standard procedure for verifying signs of life” after an abortion. Taylor replied, “Well, the thing is, I mean the key is, you need to pay attention to who’s in the room, right?”

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-undercover-video-shows-planned-parenthood-abortionist-discussing-b

USA – Trump cuts funding to UN agency over forced abortion support

The Trump administration has withdrawn U.S. funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) because of its participation in China’s forced abortion regime. “This determination was made based on the fact that China’s family planning policies still involve the use of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization,” according to the state department. “We want to thank the Trump administration,” said Stephen Phelan, Director of Mission Communications for Human Life International. “This is wonderful news both for the people in China who are most vulnerable – the women and babies.” Now, $32.5 million, instead of going to the UNFPA, will go to a US Agency for International Development (USAID) account for “family planning and reproductive health.”

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-trump-pulls-us-money-from-un-population-fund-over-forced-abortion

Alternative Medicine

No news today

Euthanasia

No news today

IVF&Surrogacy

India – Will government ban commercial surrogacy?

The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released a draft bill regulating the controversial surrogacy industry. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 proposes a complete ban on commercial surrogacy, a huge blow to the rapidly growing industry. It also restricts the clients of surrogate mothers to Indian citizens residing in India who are married but infertile; unmarried couples, single parents, and homosexuals would not be eligible. Only altruistic surrogacy will be allowed and clients would only be able to compensate women for their expenses. The surrogate must also be a close relative of the commissioning couple. The government would become more involved with the creation of a National Surrogacy Board and surrogacy boards in the states as well.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/will-india-ban-commercial-surrogacy/12256

Medical Ethics

UK – Three-parent babies green-lighted in UK

The government has given a license to Newcastle University to create three-parent embryos to combat mitochondrial diseases. Sally Cheshire, chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said the decision represented a culmination of years of hard work by researchers, clinical experts, and regulators. But Mark Bhagwandin, of the charity ‘Life’ said they had hoped the HFEA would have listened to the thousands of people who expressed concern about three parent embryos but it approved a procedure which will alter the human genome. It is at least reckless and irresponsible given that we have absolutely no idea what the long term consequences will be of us interfering with the human genome.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/three-parent-babies-green-lighted-in-the-uk/12237

USA – When stem cell treatments go wrong, they really go wrong

Three elderly women in Florida have been blinded by an unproven treatment, as a reminder of how dangerous stem cell therapies can be. The New England Journal of Medicine reports the women signed up for a purported clinical trial in 2015, for which they paid US$5,000. Within a week, they experienced vision loss, detached retinas and hemorrhage. Before the surgery, their vision ranged from 20/30 to 20/200. They are now blind. The article is a “call to awareness for patients, physicians and regulatory agencies of the risks of this kind of minimally regulated, patient-funded research,” said co-author Jeffrey Goldberg, of Stanford University School of Medicine. “There’s no excuse for not designing a trial properly and basing it on preclinical research.”

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/when-stem-cell-treatments-go-wrong-they-really-go-wrong/12234

USA – Should a human-pig chimera be treated as a person

In an article in Quartz, Oxford ethicist Julian Savulescu says human-pig chimeras may be capable of feeling pain and potentially engage in higher cognitive functions and should be assessed against the criteria of personhood. Case Western Reserve University bioethicist Insoo Hyun is critical of assumptions underpinning the idea of “chimera personhood” and wrote in Plos Biology that it is entirely unclear what types of new psychological characteristics could count to elevate the moral status of a research animal above where it currently is, so that its scientific use would no longer be morally acceptable. And Executive director of the Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy Neuroscientist Lori Matthews says we should place these ethical questions within the context of ongoing animal rights “abuses”.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/should-a-human-pig-chimera-be-treated-as-a-person/12241

Cambodia – Country bans exports of breast milk to US

A Utah company has been shipping breast milk to American mothers (and possibly some body builders) but Cambodian authorities say that the business endangers the health of babies. UNICEF is adamantly opposed to the sale of breastmilk by poor women in developing countries. “Breast milk banks should never be operated by exploiting vulnerable and poor women for profit and commercial purposes,” Iman Morooka, of UNICEF in Cambodia said. “Breast milk could be considered as human tissue, the same as blood, and as such its commercialization should be banned. Malnutrition remains a threat to children’s wellbeing in Cambodia, and proper breastfeeding is one of the key factors contributing to a child’s good health and nutrition.”

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/cambodia-bans-exports-of-breast-milk-to-us/12245

Pedophilia

UK – Pedophiles use online techniques to hide child pornography

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) says that pedophiles of higher technical knowledge are using techniques that make detecting and removing child pornography more difficult. ‘’Masking’’ and ‘’breadcrumbing’’ allows pedophiles to follow a series of secret clues that hide behind what looks like legitimate blog sites, news sites and even fake 404 error pages which takes them to the site that holds the abusive material. In 2016, 1,572 websites were found using these methods, a 112{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} increase since 2015 when only 743 sites were identified. In 2013, only 353 websites were using this method. The IWF wants internet companies and large business to work with them to address this. Suspected child pornography can anonymously be reported through the IWF website.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/paedophilia-child-sexual-abuse-images-video-codes-keywords-clues-cookies-iwf-masking-breadcrumbing-a7661051.html

Pornography

Canada – Child sex doll trial raises issue of what constitutes child porn

The sex doll at the heart of a trial in Newfoundland that has made global headlines meets the definition of child pornography, according to a forensic psychiatrist. Dr. Peter Collins testified in provincial court in St. John’s that the doll is the size of a prepubescent child without sexually mature characteristics. Collins explained that the doll was advertised for sexual use and that such items appeal to the “pedophiliac subculture” and is meant “to be fantasized as a prepubescent child.” Key issues include whether the case constitutes child pornography if no actual child was involved. It also raises the limits of free expression and whether laws have become outmoded by technology such as animated sex acts.

http://www.news1130.com/2017/03/21/pornography-child-sex-doll-trial-raises-issue-of-what-constitutes-child-porn/

USA – Iowa House passes bill criminalizing ‘revenge porn’ Iowa would become one of a growing number of states seeking to criminalize “revenge pornography” which includes dissemination, distribution, publishing or posting of sexually graphic images of individuals without the persons consent, under a bill advanced by the House. “Disseminating someone’s nude image is a destructive invasion of their privacy that can cause irreversible harm to a person’s physical and emotional well-being, reputation and security,” according to the bill’s floor manager, Rep. Greg Heartsill. If approved, Iowa would become the 35th state with legislation aimed at preventing the spread of non-consensual pornography. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/27/iowa-house-passes-bill-criminalizing-revenge-porn/99714656/ USA – Bill to allow parents to sue pornographers A new law in Utah will soon open the door to lawsuits against pornographers. Utah will be the first state in the country to allow parents to file a lawsuit according to State Senator, Todd Weiler. This comes one year after the state declared pornography a public health crisis. The bill gives parents a chance to prove porn damaged their children emotionally or psychologically. The bill also provides a way for the porn industry to avoid liability. They must be able to prove that they warned their customers that porn can be harmful and that they made a good effort to verify the age of the child/person watching porn, Weiler continued. http://www.good4utah.com/news/local-news/new-law-will-soon-allow-utah-parents-to-sue-pornographers/686972501

USA – Anti-porn group wants obscenity laws vigorously enforced

The National Centre on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), a leading anti-pornography organization is recommending that Attorney General Jeff Sessions “vigorously enforce” anti-obscenity laws. NCOSE, which recently published its annual “Dirty Dozen” list of corporations like Comcast which profit from pornography states that child sexual abuse, pornography, sex trafficking, sexual violence, and prostitution overlap and reinforce one another. The placement of social conservatives in key positions throughout the Republican administration has given hope to NCOSE and other pro-family activists that the federal government will more aggressively prosecute sex traffickers and major hard-core pornographers.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/stop-sexploitation-anti-porn-group-asks-sessions-to-vigorously-enforce-obsc

Same Sex Attraction

USA – The Homosexual Kingdom is falling apart

In both Maine and Canada incidents occurred where a school and university celebrated diversity by raising the LGBT flag. However, transgender students burned the flag and tore it down saying it would embarrass other transgender students. A homosexual-activist wrote in a much criticised column that LGBs and Ts must go their separate ways. He said that they no longer work towards the same goals because members of the transgender community are working against their biology by changing who they are physically, whereas homosexual women and men are not trying to be anybody but themselves that prefer same sex relationships. Feminists also feel that they are being eclipsed by transgender issues with one saying that changing sex does not turn men into ‘’real women’’.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/a-distant-sound-of-breaking-alliances

USA – Ratings flop as people keep rejecting homosexual programs Even though Disney experimented with homosexual scenes in a remake of ‘Beauty & the Beast’, recent ratings flopped for a miniseries called ‘When We Rise’ which is all about the homosexual rights revolution. This confirms that people are shunning pro-homosexual programming. Despite the miniseries receiving full ad coverage, having star-studded actors and opening to positive reviews, the ratings were among the lowest of the big four networks (CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC). The Advocate magazine expressed their sorrow for the lack of interest in LGBTQ programming and urged everyone to watch. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/lgbtq-ratings-flop-americans-keep-rejecting-gay-programming

USA – Homosexual attorney parts with LGBT community

Joseph Murray is an attorney and administrator for LGBTrump, a pro-Trump homosexual group. As a member of the LGBT community he disagrees with homosexual scenes in ‘Beauty & the Beast’. He wrote: “Why do we have to expose our kids to such mature themes? Do they not have plenty of time to grow up? Or maybe the point is to make them grow up too soon and that is where I part ways with my community.” Disney’s vision to entertain children was to give them hope and optimism, and allow them to enjoy their innocence for as long as the world would permit. Murray writes that providing “affirmation” is a poor argument for subjecting kids to adult “gay” themes.

http://www.charismanews.com/culture/63615-gay-lawyer-warns-parents-beauty-and-the-beast-will-rob-kids-innocence

USA – Consequences of a ‘’third gender’’ called nonbinary

California licenses and birth certificates could have a ‘’third gender’’ check-box called ‘nonbinary’ added to documents. Senate Bill 179 would remove the requirement for making the status known of transgender people, and whether or not they have undergone body-changing surgeries or hormone therapy. Pro-family group savecalifornia.com warned if this bill becomes law, children would be lied to about nature, health and led to believe its fine to cut off their healthy body parts. It would also make it harder for police to identify criminals and easier for criminals to commit identity fraud. Imagine the arrest of a biological male whose license says ‘nonbinary’ and how it will confuse the courts and police.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/male-female-or-nonbinary-california-may-add-third-gender-option-to-licenses

Sexual Exploitation

USA – New Michigan legislation aims to help victims of human trafficking Human trafficking victims will get help rebuilding their lives after house members unanimously approved a bill that could forgive prostitution related offenses victims were forced to commit, even if they have a prior conviction. Republican Bronna Kahle says the bill would make them eligible for parole and deferral instead of jailing them so that they have a chance to become productive members of society. Victims now are only eligible for one-time deferred sentences for certain charges the victim was forced to commit if all conditions of probation have been met. It also only applies to victims who have had no previous convictions. http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/03/22/new-michigan-legislation-aims-help-victims-human-trafficking/99510468/

South Africa – 15 Child Trafficking Cases Detected At OR Tambo Airport

According to Malusi Gigaba, the previous Minister of Home Affairs, a total of 15 cases of human trafficking have so far been reported and stopped at OR Tambo International Airport.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201703300740.html

USA – New Legislation to Decrease Online Sex Trafficking

Congresswomen Ann Wagner proposes a bill that lifts barriers preventing efforts to seek justice against online facilitators of sex trafficking. In 2011 the state Attorney General said many cases of sex trafficking of children are directly related to the posting of ads on Backpage.com. In October 2016 after a three-year investigation Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer was arrested for pimping and conspiracy to commit pimping related to its website, though he was not convicted. This website is being protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The National Centre on Sexual Exploitation calls on Congress to swiftly pass the Wagner bill which removes immunities from sex trafficking websites. It’s time for Congress to stand with the victims of sex trafficking, not the tech companies that want immunity for sex trafficking or prostitution that happens on their platforms.

http://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/wagner-bill-stop-online-sex-trafficking-just-introduced/

South Africa – The Human Trafficking Act: Is it doing the job?

Here’s the good news following the implementation of new legislation according to Major Carin Holmes of the Salvation Army’s Anti-Trafficking Unit – “we’re getting there….It’s taking a while to get momentum going…. But it’s better than it was.” The Salvation Army doesn’t have capacity to set up safe houses for victims of human trafficking, so most often they function as a liaison – offering advice, contacting authorities and referring victims to relevant NGOs. “We’ve got a helpline 24/7. People phone, tell us their story, and what we do depends on what’s on the other side,” explains Holmes. There are 30,000 children in slavery in South Africa annually and 45,000 children in prostitution.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-03-16-the-human-trafficking-act-is-it-doing-the-job/#.WMvXFYGGPcs

Substance Abuse

USA – Attorney General Jeff Sessions says marijuana not the answer

In a statement Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the only way to end the heroin crisis was through tactical criminal enforcement, better treatment options and stronger prevention efforts, not by offering addicts something that’s “only slightly less awful,” like legal marijuana. He said that medical use of marijuana has “been hyped, maybe too much.” “I realize this may be an unfashionable belief in a time of growing tolerance of drug use. But too many lives are at stake to worry about being fashionable. I reject the idea that America will be a better place if marijuana is sold in every corner store. Our nation needs to say clearly once again that using drugs will destroy your life.”

http://www.newsweek.com/jeff-sessions-marijuana-legalization-states-heroin-opioids-568499

USA – Preferred Drug List Policies May Affect Methadone Overdose Rates

In a study published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researcher M. Faul and colleagues analyzed state mortality data and the state preferred drug list (PDL) and reimbursement, to compare the number of overdose deaths involving methadone with the rate of prescribing methadone. They noted that methadone overdose fatalities increased by 600{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} between 2007 and 2014 before declining by 39{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} in 2014. In states like Florida and North Carolina that include methadone on the PDL overdose rates were high. But in South Carolina where methadone is not on the PDL overdose rates were lower. The researchers concluded that drug utilization management policies such as PDL placement may help reduce methadone-related injuries and deaths.

http://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/cdc-medicaid-preferred-drug-list-policies-may-affect-methadone-overdose-rates

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of Doctors for Life International

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LIFEalerts 16 March 2017

March 16, 2017

Abortion	USA – Norma McCorvey of Roe v. Wade Passes Away USA – House Votes to Overturn States Funding Planned Parenthood USA – Congressional Bill to Protect Doctors and Nurses against Abortions Africa – Women slam global ‘safe abortion’ fund as ‘new colonialism’
Alternative Medicine	Ghana – Safety issues in Herbal Medicine Nigeria – Bill to regulate traditional medicine passes 2nd reading
Euthanasia	Germany – court rules patients can access life-ending drugs
IVF& Surrogacy	Australia – Victoria’s controversial donor anonymity laws
Medical Ethics	UK – High Court rules that child must be vaccinated Australia – Women complain of ‘gender disappointment’ USA – Report gives cautious green light to gene editing USA – Anorexic woman dies after court orders end to force-feeding
Pedophilia	No news today
Pornography	USA – Is pornography a public health threat? Canada – Government to Conduct Countrywide Study on Porn’s Effects USA – Leading corporations promoting pornography USA – Porn resolution passes Tennessee Senate
Same Sex Attraction	USA – Students can’t visit ‘’anti-homosexual’’ states Canada – Regretting the vote for transgender rights bill USA – Comparing Body Dysmorphic Disorder and transgenderism USA – Pushing kids into transgenderism is medical malpractice
Sexual Exploitation	USA – The system of prostitution is a violation of human rights USA – Abolitionists legislation passes in Ireland France – New prostitution law South Africa – Lesotho boys trafficked to Cape Town
Substance Abuse	No news today

Abortion

USA – Norma McCorvey of Roe v. Wade Passes Away

Norma McCorvey, who was the Jane Roe of the infamous Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court case legalizing virtually unlimited abortion, has passed away. McCorvey never had an abortion and eventually became pro-life and dedicated her life to overturning the Supreme Court decision that bared her pseudonym.

http://www.lifenews.com/2017/02/18/norma-mccorvey-jane-roe-of-roe-v-wade-passes-away-she-never-had-an-abortion-and-became-pro-life/

USA – House Votes to Overturn States Funding Planned Parenthood

The House of Representatives voted 230-188 to overturn Obama’s anti-defunding rule with Republicans voting 227-2 for it and Democrats voting 186-2 against it. Several states receiving family planning Federal grants have opted to direct those funds to county health departments, community health centers or other types of providers. Senator Joni Ernst and Rep. Diane Black filed bills to overturn the rule and the House passed the measure. “State legislatures around the country have spoken out about their preference for prioritizing more comprehensive primary and preventative care providers for the receipt of Title X funding and their voice should be respected by bureaucrats in the federal government.”

http://www.lifenews.com/2017/02/16/house-votes-to-overturn-obama-rule-forcing-states-to-fund-planned-parenthood/

USA – Congressional Bill to Protect Doctors and Nurses against Abortions

The Conscience Protection Act of 2017 was introduced in Congress last year and it passed the U.S. House but was not voted on in the U.S. Senate. The measure also protects health insurance companies that oppose abortion and would rather not cover the procedure. The Department of Health and Human Services civil rights office declared that faith based organizations in California were mandated to provide abortion coverage. Because of that, key pro-life groups want Congress to take action. “This bill is needed to give health care providers the right to provide medical care without violating their deeply held beliefs,” says Oklahoma U.S. Senator James Lankford, who co-sponsored the bill.

http://www.lifenews.com/2017/02/15/congressional-bill-would-protect-doctors-and-nurses-who-refuse-to-assist-abortions/

Africa – Women slam global ‘safe abortion’ fund as ‘new colonialism’ A majority of Africans see abortion as morally unacceptable yet it is being foisted upon them as part of a “new colonialism” and “dictatorship of the wealthy donor” in a massive Dutch-initiated global funding effort. After President Trump reinstated the Mexico City Policy which denies U.S. funding to any organization that promotes or provides abortions in their international work, “many countries in the West, including Canada and the Netherlands, have decided to come together to raise funds,” says Obianuju Ekeocha, of UK-based Culture of Life Africa. Thirteen countries, including Canada, Finland, Luxembourg, Belgium and Sweden have signed to support the Dutch abortion initiative. The fund aims to donate €600 million to abortion services to people in Africa and the developing world. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/global-campaign-to-provide-abortions-for-african-women-not-fun

Alternative Medicine

Ghana – Safety issues in Herbal Medicine

The World Health Organization recognizes two criteria for assessing the safety of herbal medicines. First is a long period of traditional use of the herbal medicine without documented or reported adverse effect or harm, and second is scientific-based evidence. However, in the absence of documentation of long historical use or where there is uncertainty about the safety of herbal medicine, additional toxicity studies should be performed. The Point of Difference from the research and marketing perspective is that the safety and efficacy as well as the performance of a well-researched herbal medicine can be empirically and scientifically attested to, as opposed to that which has not been properly researched, tried and tested.

http://www.myjoyonline.com/lifestyle/2017/march-8th/safety-issues-in-herbal-medicine.php

Nigeria – Bill to regulate traditional medicine passes 2nd reading

A Bill for an Act to provide for the establishment of complementary and alternative medicine commission passed for a third reading in the House of Representatives. The consolidated bills sponsored by Rep. Nasiru Garo and two other lawmakers, seek to encourage, promote and regulate traditional medicine practice in Nigeria. He said the World Health Organisation (WHO), which Nigeria belongs to, made recommendations to all member countries at a congress of traditional medicine held in Beijing China. The recommendations were that each nation should have national policy on complementary and alternative medicine as well as national regulation of traditional and herbal medicine.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/03/bill-regulate-promote-traditional-medicine-nigeria-passes-2nd-reading/

Euthanasia

Germany – Court rules patients can access life-ending drugs

For more than a decade a 74-year-old man fought for legal access to fatal drugs for his paralyzed, now-deceased, wife. The federal administrative court in Leipzig ruled in favour of “the right for a patient who is suffering and incurably ill to decide how and when their life should end”, provided the patient “can freely express their will and act accordingly”. The German Foundation for the Protection of Patients said the judgment was “a blow to the cause of suicide prevention in Germany”. Board member Eugen Brysch said the definition of “what an intolerable condition of suffering is remains open”. Suffering is “neither objectively measurable nor legally universally defined”.

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/euthanasia-german-court-rules-patients-can-access-life-ending-drugs

IVF & Surrogacy

Australia – Victoria’s controversial donor anonymity laws

New Victorian legislation allows donor conceived children to access information about their biological father, even where the donor requested anonymity. Donor children can apply to the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority, to access the name, birth date and donor code of their male blood-parent. The laws have been heavily criticized, with Vice-President of the Australian Medical Association Tony Bartone saying that we risk undermining the integrity of consent procedures: “All patients must feel confident that when they see a doctor and undergo a medical procedure their privacy will be upheld, both now and in the future.” Yet some say provisions in the law preventing donor children from contacting their male blood-parent are sufficient to protect the rights of donors.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/victorias-controversial-donor-anonymity-laws-come-into-effect/12210

Medical Ethics

UK – High Court rules that child must be vaccinated

A British High Court Judge has ordered that a 7-month-old boy be given a meningitis vaccine despite his mother’s objections. The London mother’s three older children had all experienced significant side-effects from the injection (including swollen leg, ear infection and rash). Yet Mr Justice McDonald of the Family Division of the High Court said “I am satisfied that the balance of risk as between administering the outstanding Hib vaccine and the PCV vaccine and not doing so plainly favors immunization”. Barrister Rosalind English said “The current non-coercive vaccination regime under the UK Immunization Schedule is probably a good compromise, but a consistent approach by the courts such as illustrated by the growing case law favoring immunization is to be welcomed.”

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/british-child-must-be-vaccinated-court-rules/12184

Australia – Women complain of ‘gender disappointment’

“Gender disappointment” is not a recognized medical condition. But many Australia women – where gender selection is illegal attribute their depression to it. A woman described it as “a guilt-ridden, debilitating depression”. She has two boys and she desperately wants a daughter. An ethics committee of Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council is currently reviewing guidelines for assisted reproductive technology and may recommend the legalization of sex selection. Critics say that sex selection is the first step on a slippery slope to designer babies.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/australian-women-complain-of-gender-disappointment/12177

USA – Report gives cautious green light to gene editing

A controversial report released by the US National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine outlines criteria for germline genome editing including: “strict clinical oversight, credible pre-clinical data on risk and health benefits, and the assurance of “long-term multigenerational follow-up”. Trials should only be conducted for “treating or preventing serious disease or disabilities”. Unlike human genome editing, which takes place in children or adults and cannot be inherited, germline genome editing takes place in gametes or embryos and the altered genes can be inherited. Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society said: “Although [the recommendations] are couched in apparently cautionary language, they actually constitute a green light for proceeding with efforts to modify the human germline, that is, to engineer the genes and traits that are passed on to future children and generations.”

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/us-academy-gives-cautious-green-light-to-gene-editing/12190

USA – Anorexic woman dies after court orders end to force-feeding

A 30-year-old anorexic woman has died in hospital just three months after a court denied a request that she be force-fed. The women had suffered from anorexia nervosa and depression for over a decade and had been in hospital since 2014. In 2016 the state Department of Human Health Services took her to court requesting she be force-fed, yet Superior Court Judge Paul Armstrong ruled she be moved to palliative care. “Whether grounded in common law or constitutional law, our courts have uniformly recognized a patient’s right to refuse medical treatment as a fundamental tenet of respect for patient autonomy, dignity and self-determination.” The woman told the judge she would resist force-feedings through the nose.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/anorexic-and-bulimic-woman-dies-after-court-orders-end-to-force-feeding/12196

Pedophilia

No news today

Pornography

USA – Is pornography a public health threat?

According to the website Paint Bottle, 30 percent of all data transferred online is porn. In a 2015 info-graphic the porn site detailed that 70 percent of men consume the content compared to 30 percent of women and that the number of people consuming porn is rapidly increasing every week. According to Dr. William Struthers, a psychology professor at Wheaton College, any kind of pornography research is incredibly muddy water. “The unfortunate truth is that we can’t keep up with the pornography that is being produced.” Ian Kerner, a licensed psychotherapist, argued that excessive porn viewing often presents as co-morbidity with another health issue such as anxiety, depression or bipolar disorder.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/02/16/is-pornography-public-health-threat.html

Canada – Government to Conduct Countrywide Study on Porn’s Effects

The Canadian government has given the green light to Motion M-47 introduced by MP Arnold Viersen. This will lead to examining the harmful effects of pornography on Canadian citizens and explore options to protect children from sexually explicit online material. The motion was unanimously adopted by the House of Commons. An important fact that helped pass the motion was that parliament has not studied the impact of sexually explicit material since 1985 – before the internet was invented.

http://fightthenewdrug.org/breaking-news-canada-passes-motion-to-conduct-countrywide-study-on-porns-effects/

USA – Leading corporations promoting pornography

Amazon, HBO, Comcast, Snapchat, Twitter, and the American Library Association are among the nation’s leading corporations promoting pornography and sexual exploitation, according to the annual “Dirty Dozen” list released by National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), a leading organization fighting porn. No corporation or organization should profit from or facilitate sexual exploitation according to NCOSE executive director, Dawn Hawkins. She continued that the disturbing truth is that many well-established brands, companies, and organizations in America are major perpetrators of sexual harm.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/dirty-dozen-porn-profiteers-amazon-comcast-twitter-american-library-associa

USA – Porn resolution passes Tennessee Senate

A joint resolution in the Tennessee General Assembly condemning pornography as a “public health crisis” that is making men less interested in marrying passed unanimously in the Senate. The nonbinding resolution was sponsored by Sen. Mae Beavers, and was passed without any discussion on the Senate floor. It calls for education, policy change, prevention and research on the negative effects of pornography. Specifically, the resolution says that more millennials are exposed to porn at a younger age, causing eating disorders, and that “children and youth are exposed to pornography that many times serves as their sex education and shapes their sexual templates.” The resolution now needs to pass the House before it’s sent to Gov. Bill Haslam’s desk.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/06/porn-resolution-passes-tennessee-senate/98830004/

Same Sex Attraction

USA – Students can’t visit ‘’anti-homosexual’’ states

A new law forces California university students who planned on attending an undergraduate research conference in Tennessee from visiting four states marked by attorney general Xavier Becerra, including Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee. With effect from 01 January 2017, the state prohibits state-funded travels to states that do not promote the homosexual agenda.

http://dailycaller.com/2017/02/22/california-bans-students-from-traveling-to-anti-lgbt-states/

Canada – Regretting the vote for transgender rights bill

Conservative leader Maxime Bernier has stopped supporting the liberal transgender anti-discrimination bill C-16. Psychology Professor Peterson of the University of Toronto got entangled with university authorities for opposing the push on staff members to use Tran’s pronouns when referring to transgender people. LGBT activists want everybody to use pronouns like ‘’ze’’ or ‘’xyr’’ when talking to transgender people identifying as something other than male or female. It forces Canadians to speak as if there were 30-50 different genders. Bernier who agrees with Peterson points out that these bills violate everyone’s fundamental right to believe in or criticize whatever they want to.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/tory-leadership-hopeful-bernier-regrets-decision-to-vote-for-canadian-trans

USA – Comparing Body Dysmorphic Disorder and transgenderism

Mark Narankevicius Jr. An author for The Federalist argues a very interesting point on Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Gender Dysmorphic Disorder. He debates the incident of Rodrigo Alves aka ‘The Human Ken Doll’ who had over 50 surgeries to transform himself into Barbie’s boyfriend, Ken. These surgeries have caused Alves to end up in hospital due to breathing difficulties and Necrosis. Narankevicius asks the question; how is this different from transgender people who inject foreign hormones and swap genitals? Transgender people suffer terrible side-effects from these surgeries like heart disease, damaged organs, high risk of depression and suicide that don’t disappear after sex reassignment surgery.

http://thefederalist.com/2017/03/01/transgender-people-need-much-help-human-ken-doll/

USA – Pushing children into transgenderism is medical malpractice

Endocrinologist Dr. Charles Ihlenfeld warns society of the unhappiness and suicides among transgender people undergoing surgeries. Washington State public schools want to teach gender expression to children in kindergarten already. The children are encouraged by educators and medical practitioners to experiment with transgenderism and as a result, many children are questioning their gender identity at an alarmingly increasing rate. Dr. Ihlenfeld said based on his experience of treating over 500 transgender patients, “There is too much unhappiness among people who have had the surgery. Too many of them end as suicides.”

http://thefederalist.com/2016/09/21/pushing-kids-transgenderism-medical-malpractice/

Sexual Exploitation

USA – The system of prostitution is a violation of human rights

The UN 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) asks state parties to “take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women”. Prostitution is indeed incompatible with articles 3 and 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which state that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person” and “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.

http://www.cap-international.org/prostitution.html

USA – Abolitionists legislation passes in Ireland

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) commends the Republic of Ireland for the historic passage of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill which decriminalizes prostituted people and penalizes the purchase of sex. The new Irish law will help efforts to end demand by holding sex buyers accountable and will also ensure that prostituted individuals and survivors can access comprehensive support services. In addition, it strengthens national laws against sexual grooming, child pornography and sexual harassment in the Republic of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland follows the example of Sweden, the first country to legally recognize prostitution as a form of violence and discrimination against women in 1999.

http://catwinternational.org/Home/Article/687-abolitionist-legislation-passes-in-irelan

France – New prostitution law

The new prostitution law ends the repression of victims of prostitution by abolishing the offense of solicitation. It ensures protection and support to all victims, including non-citizens. It also creates access to exit pathways out of prostitution nationwide and prohibits the purchase of sex.

http://www.cap-international.org/uploads/4/0/6/7/40678459/fr_law__short_en__pdf.pdf

South Africa – Lesotho boys trafficked to Cape Town

Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, former deputy minister in the defense and health ministry’s whose NGO helps prostitutes and sex trafficking victims leave prostitution, says her organisation has reliably learnt from the UN that young boys are being trafficked from Lesotho to Cape Town for sex work. Furthermore, she said more than 250 women had visited Embrace Dignity’s offices in Woodstock Cape town over the past year, seeking support to leave prostitution.

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/lesotho-boys-trafficked-to-cape-town-says-ngo-8051082

Substance Abuse

No news today

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of Doctors for Life International

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LIFEalerts 16 February 2017

February 16, 2017

Sweden – Nurse fired for refusing abortions sues for discrimination

Ireland – Europe Using Abortion to Create a “Down Syndrome Free” World

UK – Dangerous British Abortion Clinics Turning Away Women from Ireland

No news today

Canada – Euthanasia could save Canada millions

Netherlands – Woman euthanized while fighting for her life

No news today

USA – Using patents to restrict harmful applications of CRISPR

USA – Scientists closer to growing human organs in pigs

USA – Trump SCOTUS Nominee is ‘bioethicist’

Australia – Leading Adult Stem Cell Researcher named Australian of Year

UK – Conference says sex with children ‘natural’

USA – Pornography declared health crisis by South Dakota

USA – An industry that fears the next four years

UK – What the future of pornography will look like

UK – Porn laws a year on

Canada – Curiosity killed your true sexuality

Australia – Father fights for children not to be exposed to naked men

India – Actress Ashley Judd advocates for abolition of prostitution

USA – Global Community Rejects Normalized Violence in 50 Shades

Germany – Mother jailed for selling sex with daughter online

USA – Tackle demand at the Super Bowl

http://www.lifenews.com/2017/01/30/nurse-fired-three-times-because-she-wouldnt-help-kill-babies-in-abortions-files-lawsuit/

USA – Hardly any proof of Dagga’s medical benefits

Abortion

Sweden – Nurse fired for refusing abortions sues for discrimination

A Swedish midwife, Ellinor Grimmark, is suing healthcare officials for discrimination. Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers, which represents Grimmark, argue that European Union law protects healthcare professionals’ “freedom of conscience” on issues like abortion. In 2016, a Swedish court ruled against her, saying that women’s access to abortion was more important than healthcare professionals’ conscience rights. Grimmark has been denied a job ever since she first began refusing to participate in abortions, even though there was a shortage of midwives. Sweden is the only country in the European Union that does not have legal conscience protections.

Ireland – Europe Using Abortion to Create a “Down Syndrome Free” World

Dr. Peter McParland, an obstetrician from the National Maternity Hospital, explained how prenatal testing is leading to a near extinction of children with Down syndrome and other disabilities. According to McParland’s research, not one baby with Down syndrome has been born in Iceland in the past five years. Statistics from England indicate as many as 90 percent of babies with the condition are aborted. Abortion has become a modern method of eugenics, a way to discriminate against the most vulnerable in society. Irish mother Anne Trainer whose son Kevin who has Down syndrome said, “The Eighth Amendment protected my son, and he was deserving of that protection.”

http://www.lifenews.com/2017/02/07/european-nations-are-using-abortion-to-create-a-down-syndrome-free-world/

UK – Dangerous British Abortion Clinics Turning Away Women from Ireland

The Life Institute, spokeswoman Niamh Uí Bhriain has said a decision by Marie Stopes to begin turning Irish women away from its abortion clinics had the potential to save both mothers and babies. “Most women go for an abortion in fear and panic because they have not been given other life-affirming options,” she said. British abortion clinics know this, and that’s why they are openly campaigning to have abortion legalised in Ireland and bring their disturbing industry here.” “We’ve seen an almost 50{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} fall in the number of women from Ireland travelling for abortions in the past decade, and that’s a good thing. This industry is aggressively seeking to expand to Ireland, and attacking the 8^th amendment to do so.

http://www.lifenews.com/2017/02/08/pro-life-victory-dangerous-british-abortion-clinics-turning-away-women-from-ireland/

Alternative Medicine

No news today

Euthanasia

Canada – Euthanasia could save Canada millions

It only became legal in June and already about 800 people have received a lethal injection at the hands of a doctor. In December two Quebec bioethicists argued in the Journal of Medical Ethics that combining euthanasia with organ donation would be an excellent idea. And last week researchers from the University of Calgary calculated that when euthanasia reaches the level of Belgium and the Netherlands, the health system could save up to up to C$139 million every year. “Exceeding the $1.5–$14.8 million in direct costs associated with its implementation of Euthanasia,” they wrote in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

https://www.mercatornet.com/careful/view/euthanasia-could-save-canada-millions-in-healthcare-costs/19285 http://www.cmaj.ca/content/189/3/E101.abstract

Netherlands – Woman euthanized while fighting for her life

A Dutch euthanasia doctor has been rebuked by a Regional Review Committee after she gave a lethal injection to a demented patient who appeared to be struggling to stop the procedure. An 80-year-old woman with dementia entered a nursing home because her husband could no longer care for her. Based on her previous statements, the doctor decided that euthanasia was appropriate. With members of her family in attendance, the doctor approached to give her a lethal injection. The woman was agitated, so the doctor slipped a sedative into her coffee. This did not work, so she gave her an injection. With all these drugs, the woman dosed off. But when the needle for the lethal injection appeared, she started to struggle. The doctor had to ask the family members to hold her down so that she could continue with the injection. The woman died soon afterwards.

The review committee said the doctor acted in good faith, but had erred in several respects.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/struggling-woman-with-dementia-euthanised-in-netherlands/12173

https://www.euthanasiecommissie.nl/uitspraken-en-uitleg/d/dementie/documenten/publicaties/oordelen/2016/niet-gehandeld-overeenkomstig-de-zorgvuldigheidseisen/oordeel-2016-85

IVF&Surrogacy

No news today

Medical Ethics

USA – Using patents to restrict harmful applications of CRISPR

Writing in Nature Biotechnology, academics from Baylor College of Medicine and New York Law School, suggest that ethical licensing by CRISPR gene-editing technology patent holders is necessary. “We do not mean to suggest that licensing bans are preferable, or should be used to the exclusion of policymaking or professional standards setting. Rather, we believe that the promotion of private efforts as a complement to public efforts is worthy of serious consideration,” says Baylor ethicist Christi Guerrini. When the Broad Institute licensed CRISPR technology to Editas Medicine it was provided they did not use it to modify human germ cells or embryos or modify animal cells for the creation or commercialization of organs suitable for transplantation into humans.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/using-patents-to-restrict-harmful-applications-of-crispr/12152

USA – Scientists closer to growing human organs in pigs

The journal Cell reports that Salk Institute geneticists injected pig embryos with human induced pluripotent stem cells then returned them to a sow for gestation. After 28 days some of the cells developed into precursors of tissue types, including heart, liver and neurons. Dr David King, of Human Genetics Alert said: “I find these experiments disturbing… mixing species touches something deep in the human psyche and our culture that is hard to put into words.” But Insoo Hyun, ethicist at Case Western Reserve University said “There isn’t a need to get into a debate about moral humanization if scientists target the organs where the human cells will go”. “Scientists are not making chimeras just for fun; it’s to relieve the dire shortage of transplantable organs”.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/scientists-closer-to-growing-human-organs-in-pigs/12156

USA – Trump SCOTUS Nominee is ‘bioethicist’

Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, made his name at the elite law firm Kellogg, Huber and Hansen but also has a doctorate in legal philosophy from Oxford University writing extensively on end of life issues. Gorsuch says that judges should use “text, structure and history” to understand what the law is, “not to decide cases based on their own moral convictions or policy consequences they believe might serve society best”. While Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards tweeted, “Neil Gorsuch has an alarming history of interfering with reproductive health and rights”, Princeton philosopher and conservative commentator Robert George described Gorsuch as an ‘intellectual giant’: “[his] combination of outstanding intellectual and personal qualities places him in the top rank of American jurists.”

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/trump-scotus-nominee-is-a-bioethicist/12172

Australia – Leading Adult Stem Cell Researcher named Australian of Year

Alan Makay-Sim is the first scientist in the world to use olfactory ensheathing cells to bring about spinal regeneration in humans, a procedure used by researchers in 2012 to help a man paralyzed from the chest down walk again. In the early 2000s, IVF pioneer Alan Trounson led a campaign for a massive government funded embryonic stem cell research initiative but Mackay-Sim’s work was often used as evidence against funding the Trounson project. Columnist Angela Shanahan remarked: “By concentrating on the use of adult stem cells rather than embryonic stem cells, Mackay-Sim’s research bypassed the most contentious ethical debates, and, what is more, he did this with very limited funds. He and his team deserve full credit for that.”

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/leading-adult-stem-cell-researcher-named-australian-of-the-year/12169

Pedophilia

UK – Conference says sex with children ‘natural’ An academic conference held at the University of Cambridge said that having sex with children is normal and natural. These views were expressed to discuss the classification of sexuality in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). This is a standard international psychiatric manual used by the legal system. A number of speakers at the conference spoke in favour of child-sex. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) responsible for the DSM has been in a battle over whether Hebephilia, the attraction to children in early puberty, typically 11-14, should be included as a disorder. http://thestarsandstripes.info/liberals-trying-to-legalize-pedophilia-this-time-university-academics-say-pedophilia-is-natural#

Pornography

USA – Pornography declared health crisis by South Dakota

Senators in South Dakota have passed a resolution declaring pornography a public health crisis, joining Virginia and Utah among that states stepping up efforts to highlight the dangers of x-rated adult material. According to resolution SCR4, passed in South Dakota, porn leads to risky sexual activity, low self-esteem and sometimes eating disorders. Advances in technology are exposing young children to pornography “at an alarming rate,” and pornography is “linked to a lessening desire in young person’s to marry,” the resolution states.

https://www.rt.com/usa/375054-porn-south-dakota-crisis/

USA – An industry that fears the next four years

Anxiety abounded in the days and weeks following the US election. One group, the porn industry, is fighting for its survival. It’s an industry that does not discriminate as to who consumes and has no target audience. Adult actor Jesse Jackman says there is concern in the porn industry that future laws may become aggressive, and possibly even draconic. Adult actors’ fears did not start the day after the election, but rather in July 11 in Cleveland when the Republican Party amended its platform to say that pornography is a public health crisis. The pervasiveness of porn has saturated our society. In fact, most teens and young adults believe that porn is not all that bad.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/an-industry-that-fears-the-next-four-years

UK – What the future of pornography will look like

According to Dr Chauntelle Tibballs a sociologist and the author of ‘Exposure: A Sociologist Explores Sex, Society, and adult Entertainment’, robots might replace sexual partners. The internet made pornography easier to access and some people may definitely be using virtual reality headsets to add further depth and dimension to sexual fantasy. Sex is always changing and evolving, and it always has.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/porn-future-how-to-prepare-sex-videos-pronography-expert-dr-chauntelle-tibbals-virtual-reality-a7546331.html

UK – New porn laws a year later

A year after laws restricting online pornography in the UK were introduced, two women reveal how the regulations have affected their lives and the industry. Pandora Blake, 31, who describes herself as a “one-woman business” and a London-based feminist pornographer said that because her fantasy was banned she had to take her online business down. But Megara Furie, a 32-year-old dominatrix based in Glasgow, holds the view that laws should only be aimed at protecting children. Not causing people to lose money.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/uk-porn-laws-a-year-on-a-porn-actress-and-dominatrix-on-destroyed-businesses-and-censorship-a6755171.html

Same Sex Attraction

Canada – Curiosity killed your true sexuality

An excerpt from LM Diamond, PhD, a professor of developmental psychology and health psychology at the University of Utah points out in her study that following the modern ideas and style culture provides a different set of gender-specific contexts that potentially trigger same-sex sexuality. Specifically, the past decade revealed evidence of an undeniable increase in television and movie portrayals of heterosexual women that experiment with homosexual behaviour, with few negative social consequences.

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.352.3974&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Australia – Father fights for children not to be exposed to naked men

Bernard Gaynor, a father, former military man and outspoken free-speech campaigner won a court battle over charges brought against him for publicly objecting to naked homosexual men exposing themselves to children at a homosexual parade in Toronto, Canada. Bernard also pointed out remarks made by a judge that legitimized incest because of the cultural embrace of homosexuality. A homosexual, anti free-speech activist lodged 32 complaints against Bernard but despite this, Bernard continues to stand for family values; while challenging in court, the anti-discrimination body that is acting outside the law.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/father-of-sevens-three-year-court-battle-results-in-smashing-victory-for-fr

Sexual Exploitation

India – Actress Ashley Judd advocates for abolition of prostitution

Prostitutes in India have slammed a global conference on the abolition of prostitution. Hollywood actress Ashley Judd, attending the conference as a strong advocate for prostitution to be abolished, said women and girls were being bought and sold like commodities and that action had to be taken to end the global sex trade. “We need to put on the onus and shame where it belongs – which is on the perpetrator, the aggressor and the person who thinks that women and girl’s bodies are purchasable.” “We are not commodities, we are human beings and we are entitled to bodily integrity, sexual dignity and the right to be free from all forms of body invasion.”

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/BigStory10/idUSKBN15F1WF

USA – Global Community Rejects Normalized Violence in 50 Shades

The London Abused Women’s Centre, Canada; Collective Shout, Australia; Culture Reframed, USA; and The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), USA are collaborating for the second time to reject the normalization of violence and abuse against women portrayed in the movie Fifty Shades Darker. Dozens of groups from around the world are speaking out against the Fifty Shades trilogy ahead of the release of Fifty Shades Darker in February. The campaign Facebook page highlights how the movie normalizes and even romanticizes sexual and domestic violence. The partnering organizations urge the public to support survivors of men’s violence and help educate the public on the realities of Fifty Shades relationships.

http://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/global-community-rejects-normalized-violence-movie-fifty-shades-darker/

Germany – Mother jailed for selling sex with daughter online

A German court sentenced a woman to four years in jail after she admitted to charges including selling sex with her teenage daughter online. The 37-year-old was jailed on charges of serious sexual abuse of children and procuration. The state court in Hildesheim, Saxony found that the woman had offered her teenage daughter, then 16, for sex online over a period of six months. Court proceedings only began in January this year, although the older daughter had gone to the police in July 2013. “The sentences are an important signal and compensation for the girls,” the lawyer for the two daughters said after the hearing.

http://news.iafrica.com/afp/1044584.html

USA – Tackling demand at the Super Bowl

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), in collaboration with more than twenty-five supporting organizations, conducted a nation-wide social media awareness campaign to #Tackle Demand for sex trafficking at the Super Bowl and beyond. Executive Director Dawn Hawkins stated that many people believe that sex trafficking is perpetuated by traffickers but in reality it’s the demand, the sex buyer, that keeps the market going and that typically sex buyers are unable or unwilling to recognize if a person is trafficked for sex. Payment for sex in itself constitutes an act of sexual coercion, whether it takes place in connection with the Super Bowl or for no special occasion at all.

http://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/tackle-demand_sex-trafficking_super-bowl/

Substance Abuse

USA – Hardly any proof of Dagga’s medical benefits More than 10,700 scientific studies have been conducted by the National Academics of Science, Engineering, and Medicine that found benefits for only two disorders that can be verified, such as chronic pain, nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy. Although many people support the legalization of Dagga the studies found many serious health and social consequences for the use of Dagga. Researchers found Dagga use to be associated with the development of schizophrenia and other psychoses, existing disorders of mania and bi-polar increase and the risk of committing suicide increases. Social anxiety disorder can develop and negatively affect learning, memory and attention span. https://world.wng.org/2017/01/national_study_finds_little_proof_of_pot_s_medical_benefits#.WIoU9iNbtZo.facebook

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of Doctors for Life International

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LIFEalerts 25 January 2017

January 25, 2017

USA – Iowa Bill to Allow Women to Sue for Emotional Grief Northern Ireland – 100,000 People Alive Today Because Abortion illegal USA – Abortions Decline in the USA

USA – Massachusetts Governor Signs Naturopathic Medicine Bill

Canada – More than 744 physician assisted deaths in Canada since new law USA – American psychiatrists speak out on euthanasia at last Canada – Bioethicists call for organ donor euthanasia

Netherlands – IVF clinics should do better Czechoslovakia – Women implanted with wrong embryos

UK – All boxes ticked, UK rolls out 3-parent embryo treatment

India – Sex offenders should be on national register

No news today

South Africa – Activists launch organization to protect family values USA – Survey reveals the struggle of transgender lifestyle USA – The homosexual lifestyle is way more violent

Germany – Politicians Want To Fund Sex Workers For Elderly and Disabled USA – Website blocks prostitution ads in the USA USA – Detroit Program Helps Women Exit Sex Work

http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2017-01-17/new-report-abortions-in-us-drop-to-lowest-level-since-1974

No news today

Abortion

USA – Iowa Bill to Allow Women to Sue for Emotional Grief Iowa Senate File 26, sponsored by state Sen. Mark Chelgren, would expand medical malpractice provisions in the state to include mental distress caused by an abortion practitioner’s “negligence or failure to obtain informed consent prior to performance of the abortion.” A group of Iowa Democrats criticized the bill, saying the measure could make it more difficult for abortion practitioners to get medical malpractice insurance because of the increased liability. State Sen. Nate Boulton, said the bill would “run providers out of our state.” Whether such a law would withstand a legal challenge is difficult to say. http://www.lifenews.com/2017/01/18/iowa-bill-would-allow-women-to-sue-the-abortionist-for-emotional-grief-after-an-abortion/ Northern Ireland – 100,000 People Alive Today Because Abortion illegal

Spokeswoman Dawn McAvoy of Both Lives Matter, a new collaborative movement of individuals and organisations seeking to reframe the abortion debate in Northern Ireland said: “There are people alive in Northern Ireland today who would not have been born if the 1967 Abortion Act had been introduced here.” The figure was calculated using termination rates across the rest of the UK. “Using a statistically cautious approach, we estimate there are 100,000 people alive today who would not be had we introduced the 1967 Abortion Act.” http://www.lifenews.com/2017/01/18/100000-people-are-alive-today-because-northern-ireland-didnt-legalize-abortion/

USA – Abortions Decline in the USA

Even as the election outcome intensifies America’s abortion debate, a comprehensive new survey finds the annual number of abortions in the U.S has dropped to well under 1 million, the lowest level since 1974. According to the Guttmacher Institute report, the abortion rate was 14.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44, the lowest rate since abortion was legalized nationally in 1973 by the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. The decline was likely the result of two main factors: the increased availability of affordable, long-lasting contraceptives that have reduced unintended pregnancies, and the surge of abortion restrictions in many states that have forced some clinics to close and hindered many women’s access to the procedure.

Alternative Medicine

USA – Massachusetts Governor Signs Naturopathic Medicine Bill

Governor Baker added Massachusetts to the list of states that acknowledge the value of alternative healthcare from a qualified professional. The new law ensures patients can trust that their wellness professional holds a graduate degree from an accredited naturopathic medical school. Amy Rothenberg, N.D., and president of the Massachusetts Society of Naturopathic Doctors (MSND), says, “This law allows the people of Massachusetts access to well-educated and trained naturopathic doctors and their expertise in both preventative medicine and natural integrative care.” Under the new law, the terms Naturopathic Doctor and N.D. would be reserved exclusively for those who have attended four-year, post-graduate level programs at institutions recognized by the United States Department of Education.

https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/01/12/905464/0/en/Massachusetts-Governor-Signs-Naturopathic-Medicine-Bill.html

Euthanasia

Canada – More than 744 physician assisted deaths in Canada since law

More than 744 terminally ill people chose to end their lives with the doctor’s help across Canada in 2016 and more are expected to follow as the procedure became legal. It seems, on average, that two Canadians per day had chosen to be euthanized between June 17 and December 16. “I know that it will increase. I expect that we’ll get to the point of the Netherlands and Belgium because their laws are similar to ours, and that would mean about 5 percent of all deaths,” stated Dr. Ellen Wiebe, a Vancouver doctor who has assisted 40 patients this year.

http://stocknewsusa.com/2016/12/29/744-doctor-assisted-deaths-canada-since-law-passed/

USA – American psychiatrists speak out on euthanasia at last

Euthanasia is allowed in Belgium and the Netherlands since early in the 21st century, and has expanded rapidly beyond cases of terminal physical illness, such as cancer, to encompass non-terminal illnesses including psychiatric conditions such as depression or bipolar disorder. The American Psychiatric Association (APA), in concert with the American Medical Association’s position on medical euthanasia, holds that a psychiatrist should not prescribe or administer any intervention to a non-terminally ill person for the purpose of causing death. Obviously, this is of little immediate practical effect in the United States, because non-terminal cases are not eligible for assisted death but given the potential slippery slope in this area, the APA statement lays down an important marker for the future.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/12/15/at-last-american-psychiatrists-speak-out-on-euthanasia/?utm_term=.80effe60f5ef

Canada – Bioethicists call for organ donor euthanasia

Well, that didn’t take long, did it? Quebec bioethicists had already published an article in the Journal of Medical Ethics calling for organ donation after euthanasia. The author, Julie Allard and Marie-Chantal Fortin, at the University of Montreal, say, “MAID (medical aid in dying) has the potential to provide additional organs available for transplantation. Accepting to procure organ donation after MAID is a way to respect the autonomy of patients for whom organ donation is an important value. Organ donation after MAID would be ethically acceptable if the patient who has offered to donate is competent and not under any external pressure to choose MAID or organ donation”.

https://www.mercatornet.com/careful/view/canadian-bioethicists-call-for-organ-donor-euthanasia/19205 http://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2016/12/28/medethics-2016-103460.abstract

IVF&Surrogacy

Netherlands – IVF clinics should do better

University Medical Centre (UMC) in Utrecht has warned 26 women their eggs may have been fertilized with the wrong sperm. Nine have already given birth and four are pregnant. The embryos were created with ICSI, a popular method in Europe, although with a slightly elevated risk, where single sperm is injected into the egg with a very fine pipette. Jesper Smeenk, spokesman for the Dutch Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said that the mistake was rare. “I’m a little bit worried that the general population will have the idea that IVF is something that isn’t safe or hasn’t been safe or will not be safe anymore.” “In this case, a human error occurred because one person didn’t follow the protocols.”

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/dutch-ivf-clinic-tries-hard-could-do-better/12144

Czechoslovakia – Women implanted with wrong embryos

A procedure at an IVF clinic has resulted in two children in the wrong wombs. At Reprofit, a clinic which is popular with British couples, it was discovered that two foreign women had been implanted with an embryo meant for another couple. Under Czech law, the birth mother is the legal mother. “It was a human error, not a system failure,” said a clinic official. “The people who manipulated the embryos are suspended.”

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/dutch-ivf-clinic-tries-hard-could-do-better/12144

Medical Ethics

UK – All boxes ticked, UK rolls out 3-parent embryo treatment

The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority have given a green light to the creation of three-parent embryos to combat mitochondrial disease. The media was jubilant, with The Independent commenting it was “the best possible news for many families this Christmas.” However, Marcy Darnovsky, of the Center for Genetics and Society, in California, criticized the decision, describing it as a first step toward genetic engineering. “The HFEA decision is part of a disturbing trend toward the normalization of an experimental technology that is still widely considered unsafe, and whose implications for future generations are unknown. Allowing mitochondrial manipulation in humans could open the door to other forms of human inheritable genetic modification, banned in more than 40 countries worldwide.”

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/all-boxes-ticked-uk-rolls-out-3-parent-embryo-treatment/12136

Pedophilia

India – Sex offenders should be on national register

Many countries, such as the United States, Britain and South Africa keep a record of people who have been convicted of paedophilia and rape. In India, Maneka Gandhi, the minister for women and child development said it’s been two years since she has suggested that the country make use of a register that keeps record of sex offenders as the above mentioned countries do. Currently Gandhi’s proposal is with Home Affairs which is planning a national register for all criminals including sex offenders to be kept. Latest data from India’s National crime records show 34,651 rapes were reported in 2015, a 36{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} increase from 22,172 reports in 2010.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/after-convicted-paedophile-arrested-indian-minister-calls-for-s/3445652.html

Pornography

No news today

Same Sex Attraction

South Africa – Activists launch organization to protect family values

The International Organization for the Family led and taken over by Brian Brown of the US’s National Organisation of Marriage along with international conservatives, signed a declaration in Cape Town on 10 December 2016, pledging to defend the institution of marriage from homosexual couples, uniting groups and leaders from over 20 countries which vow to resist pornography, adultery, divorce and every push to redefine marriage: including same-sex or group bonds, or sexually open or temporary ones. Names on the declaration include Russian politician Victor Zubarev, a member of Putin’s party that brought in an anti-gay propaganda law in 2014, and Errol Naidoo, a prominent opponent to homosexual behaviour in SA.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/lanesainty/anti-lgbt-activists-launch-new-international-organization?utm_term=.nc5axdLBQ#.walpqPeQk

USA – Survey reveals the struggle of transgender lifestyle

The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) surveyed 27,715 transgender people in 2015 and analyzed their experiences. 47{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} had been sexually abused but no questions were asked to probe whether being sexually abused caused the lifestyle. 39{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} has serious psychological stress (8x the 5{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} rate of the average person). 40{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} attempted suicide, 9x more common than the average person (4.6{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}). The survey confirmed the very high rates of HIV infection: 5x the general population (1.4{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} vs. 0.3{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}). 12{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} prostituted themselves, 77{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} experienced partner violence and 30{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} experienced homelessness. Foundation for Moral Law Senior Counsel Col. John A. Eidsmoe said; “Whatever the cause and effect may be, we should think twice about adopting policies that could encourage people to enter into the transgender lifestyle.”

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/transgender-survey-reveals-high-rates-of-sexual-assault-suicide-hiv-prostit

USA – The homosexual lifestyle is way more violent

The Centres for Disease Control (CDC) report; The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey concluded that those in the homosexual lifestyle experience far greater violence among one another than heterosexual relationships, and homosexual women more than the men, of whom 44{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of women were raped, physically abused and stalked by their intimate partners. 37 percent of bisexual women indicated they were stalked, more than double the rate that heterosexual women from their male partners. 26 percent of homosexual men experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking by their intimate partner’s bisexual men experience these types of assaults at a rate of 37 percent. Even though the government agency would not make an official determination that such early exposure to sexual violence was the cause of men and women ultimately choosing to engage in homosexual behaviour, the statistics themselves appear to point to such a connection. Even LGBT leaders have conceded that those in the homosexual community tend to ignore the prevalence of sexual violence between its members. National Center for Lesbian Rights Reproductive Justice Fellow Lauren Paulk admitted. “A particularly disturbing dynamic arises when the assaults are by other LGBT community members.” Paulk says that the LGBT community has rationalized or ignored such violence. “Denial, misrecognition and the dismissal of outside-the-community concern as hidden homophobia are examples of responses to sexual assault that occurs between members of the LGBT community.”

https://www.onenewsnow.com/culture/2015/12/13/cdc-report-homosexual-lifestyle-extremely-violent

Sexual Exploitation

Germany – Politicians Want to Fund Sex Workers For Elderly and Disabled

Germany’s Green Party wants its government to fund the services of sex workers for the elderly and the disabled, under the idea that the prescribed sexual relief would improve their quality of life. Elisabeth Scharfenber said she “could imagine” authorities funding “sexual assistance” for patients requiring nursing care with a medical condition that might benefit from sex. Karl Lauterbach of the governing Social Democrats said that Germany does not “need paid prostitution in homes for the elderly, and certainly not on prescription,” and the New York Times quotes the German Patient Protection Foundation as saying, “People who have to fight for help on basic matters such as washing and eating have other concerns.

http://www.glamour.com/story/german-sex-workers-funded-elderly-disabled

USA – Website blocks prostitution ads in the USA

Backpage.com, a large classified ad website notorious for facilitating prostitution and sex trafficking, blocked its prostitution ads in the U.S under mounting pressure for its role as a facilitator of sex trafficking. Backpage.com is one of the largest websites that hosts ads for the prostitution and sex trafficking of adults and children alike and has blocked its prostitution advertising in America. Its prostitution pages now greet visitors with the message: “The government has unconstitutionally censored this content.” This change occurred the night before the CEO and founders were scheduled to testify to the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in their investigation into sex trafficking occurring on the website.

http://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/backpage-com-blocks-prostitution-ads-u-s-pressure-sex-trafficking

USA – Detroit Program Helps Women Exit Sex Work

The Detroit based Alternatives for Girls’ New Choices Project helps women exit prostitution but getting out of prostitution can be a challenge for career prostitutes, many of whom have criminal pasts and little professional work history..Celia Williamson, an assistant professor at the University of Toledo’s social work department, has researched street prostitution in various cities. The longer women are in prostitution, the harder it is to leave, especially since many women have cut ties with their families, she said. New Choices provides services such as life skills training, recreational and cultural activities, educational workshops, mentoring and counseling.

http://www.thebody.com/content/art27960.html

Substance Abuse

No news today

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of Doctors for Life International

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LIFEalerts 19 December 2016

December 19, 2016

USA – Abortions are continuing to drop

USA – Texas will require aborted babies to be cremated or buried

USA – Ohio to Deny Access to Abortion as Early as 6 Weeks

Malawi – People in March against Legislation of Abortion

No news today

Netherlands – Euthanasia for alcoholics, the last one for the road

Netherlands – Suicide doctor advances ‘militant pro-euthanasia position’

Switzerland – 26{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} increase in assisted suicide deaths

South Africa – Bloemfontein Supreme Court of Appeal rejects euthanasia

UK – Staggering discarded embryo figures released USA – More Homosexual couples using surrogates Australia – Pressure mounts for commercial surrogacy

UK – Staggering discarded embryo figures released in UK

The Netherlands – Team of anatomists create 3D atlas of human embryo

UK – Last minute hitch with 3-parent embryo trials

No news today

Canada – Hundreds of children rescued in child pornography investigation

No news today

South Africa – Inn Town Lodge human traffickers jailed for 85

USA – What will protect sex workers?

USA – San Diego University Event Raises Awareness of Human Trafficking