USA – Texas drops all charges against Center for Medical Progress
USA – Planned Parenthood Closing Six Clinics
Mexico – State Votes to Ban Abortions and “Protect Life from Conception”
Ireland – High Court Rules an Unborn Baby Has a Right to Life
No news today
USA – Doctors are healers, not killers
USA – Doctors Sue Vermont for Forcing Promoting Killing Their Patients
USA – Stem Cell Therapies Still Mostly Theory, Yet Clinics Are Flourishing
USA – Normalizing Gender Dysphoria is Dangerous and Unethical
USA – X-Men is fine in the movies but not in real life
No news today
USA – The anti-porn movement is growing
UK – One in six ‘revenge porn’ victims are children
India – Shops sell real life rape videos under the counter
USA – Teen live video stream sexual assault instead of helping
Brazil – Nine year old girls selling their bodies
Ireland – Minister’s comments on prostitution receive mixed response
USA – Significant pain increases the risk of opioid addiction
USA – Edible Pot Sends Toddlers to Colorado ER’s
USA – Endless prescription: Suboxone, Subutex plaguing region
UK – Number of opiate-related deaths in UK rises to five-year peak
Abortion
USA – Texas drops all charges against Center for Medical Progress
Harris County District Attorney dropped felony charges against David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, the Center for Medical Progress’ investigators who uncovered the abortion industry’s harvesting of aborted baby parts. “David Daleiden used standard undercover journalism techniques and followed all applicable laws in doing so,” Peter Breen of the Thomas More Society said. “This meritless and retaliatory prosecution should never have been brought.” Abortion advocates tried to use these charges to discredit the Center for Medical Progress, but the facts remain clear. Planned Parenthood has perpetuated abuse against women and children, which sparked congressional investigations and multiple state investigations. Their crimes have prompted numerous states to defund the abortion giant and trying to point the finger at Daleiden and Merritt failed.
USA – Planned Parenthood Closing Six Clinics
Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky closed their Scott County location and their Vigo County location in Terre Haute due to profit. Undoubtedly, Planned Parenthood’s allies will try to claim the abortion giant’s closure is the fault of pro-life policymakers, as they have done with previous closures. Planned Parenthood’s clients are learning they are better off without the abortion giant. Indiana has 3,667 Federally Qualified Health Centre’s, Rural Health Clinics, Medicaid providers and Title V clinics, including 81 in Vigo County compared to only 23 Planned Parenthood facilities. Women get better preventative care and more comprehensive care at non-Planned Parenthood facilities.
Mexico – State Votes to Ban Abortions and “Protect Life from Conception”
The Mexican state of Veracruz approved a constitutional amendment that effectively bans abortions by recognizing that unborn babies deserve protection. “I congratulate legislators of the Veracruz legislature for saying yes to life,” Javier Duarte outgoing Veracruz governer tweeted after the vote. The Mexico Supreme Court of Justice ruled three to one against a proposal to legalize abortion across the country. A woman procuring an abortion can face criminal charges in 18 of the 31 states. There is wide opposition to abortion in Mexico. Last year, more than 120,000 people signed a petition asking the nation’s Supreme Court to reaffirm that “abortion is not a right.”
Ireland – High Court Rules an Unborn Baby Has a Right to Life
High Court judge, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys, has ruled that the word ‘unborn’ in the Irish Constitution means an “unborn child” with rights beyond the right to life which “must be taken seriously” by the State. Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute said, “This is an important ruling which provides useful clarity at a time when the media and abortion campaigners are arguing that preborn children should be denied even the most fundamental right – the right to life,”. “Mr Justice Humphreys has ruled that preborn children not only have a right to life, but that the State is obliged to ensure that all the rights accruing to every child are upheld for children before birth.”
http://www.lifenews.com/2016/08/05/high-court-in-ireland-rules-an-unborn-baby-has-a-right-to-life/
Alternative Medicine
No news today
Euthanasia
USA – Doctors are healers, not killers
The American Medical Association (AMA) has reaffirmed its opposition to physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia. According to the AMA’s Code of Ethics, allowing a doctor to engage in assisted suicide can do more harm than good. “You are violating the AMA Code of Ethics when you are in the business of prescribing a deadly drug to your patients. Physicians are healers, not killers,” said CMDA member Dr. Tom Eppes, chair of the Integrated Physician Practice Section of the AMA who was in attendance at the Code of Ethics Decision Reference Committee.
USA – Doctors Sue Vermont for Forcing Them to Promote Killing Their Patients
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys filed suit in federal court against the Vermont Board of Medical Practice and the Office of Professional Regulation. “The government shouldn’t be telling health care professionals that they must violate their medical ethics in order to practice medicine,” said ADF Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden. “These doctors and other health care workers deeply believe that suffering patients need understanding and sound medical treatment, not encouragement to kill themselves. The state has no authority to order them to act contrary to that sincere and time-honored conviction.”
IVF&Surrogacy
USA – IVF doctors issue new ethical guidelines for errors Cases of mix-ups, losses and genetic defects have given IVF clinics and sperm banks a black eye in the past year in the United States. Now the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the peak IVF body in the US, has issued non-binding ethical guidelines for its members. It states that clinics are ethically obliged to inform people of mistakes “out of respect for patient autonomy and in fairness to patients”. Clinics should inform patients as soon as a mistake is discovered. And clinics should also foster “a culture of truth-telling”. http://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/ivf-doctors-issue-new-ethical-guidelines-for-errors/11944#sthash.J5udCqw8.dpufMedical Ethics
USA – Stem Cell Therapies Still Mostly Theory, Yet Clinics Are Flourishing
US Health regulators are talked about as the best in the world, but a study on the spread of stem cell clinics by Paul Knoepfler of the Department of Cell biology and human Anatomy at the University of California shows what can happen when regulations fall behind. Over the past two to three years, 570 clinics have sprung up in the United States, offering untested stem cell treatments for just about every medical use imaginable. Outraged, Dr. Knoepfler has confronted some of the clinics. “I have spoken to the clinics and they say, ‘O.K., you have lectured me about F.D.A. regulations, but I have been doing this for years and never heard a peep from the F.D.A.’ They see it as a tacit green light,” Dr. Knoepfler said.
USA – Normalizing Gender Dysphoria is Dangerous and Unethical
The American College of Pediatricians’ has called for an end to the normalization of gender dysphoria (GD) in children. Mandates by public institutions to force GD as a normal variant of child development requiring toxic hormone therapy and surgical removal of healthy body parts are misguided and dangerous. A review of current medical literature finds this approach violates the principle of “First do no harm.” The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Christian Medical Association, and Catholic Medical Association representing over 20,000 health professionals share the College’s concern. President Dr. Michelle Cretella, “Young children are being permanently sterilized and surgically maimed under the guise of treating a condition that would otherwise resolve in over 80{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of them. This is criminal.”
https://www.acpeds.org/normalizing-gender-dysphoria-is-dangerous-and-unethical
USA – X-Men is fine in the movies but not in real life
Despite the popularity of superhumans in the X-Men series and a growing interest in transhumanism, the American public is wary of even mild forms of human enhancement. A Pew Research Center Survey asked about three scenarios: gene editing to protect babies from disease, chips in the brain to improve thinking ability and synthetic blood to increase speed, strength and endurance. Even though none are currently possible people were “cautious and often resistant”. 68{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} would be “very” or “somewhat” worried about gene editing, 69{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} about brain chips and (63{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}) about synthetic blood. 2 to 1 people would not want to be enhanced themselves and only half would want it for their children.
http://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/x-men-fine-in-the-movies-but-not-in-real-life/11943
Pedophilia
No news today
Pornography
USA – The anti-porn movement is growing
Utah has passed a resolution declaring pornography a “public health crisis,” a step that shocked the public conscience. However, the movement to address the harms of pornography has been steadily growing and gaining momentum for years. Since 2011, there have been at least 24 studies that have revealed porn negatively impacts the brain. As people become aware of the harms to public health and to society, pornography is poised to follow the trend of tobacco in public consciousness. While public opinion about pornography is currently in flux, the volume of research and personal testimonies about its destructive forces continues to grow, and the movement to address the public health crisis of pornography has only just begun.
UK – One in six ‘revenge porn’ victims are children
One in six ‘revenge porn’ victims are children with the youngest aged just eight years old. An eight-year-old child has become the youngest victim of revenge porn. An investigation by Good Morning Britain also found that one in six victims of revenge porn are children. MP Maria Miller stated that the damage that it is doing to young people is difficult to comprehend. Also no action is being taken by these organisations such Instagram who are hosting these images.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/one-six-revenge-porn-victims-8346359
India – Shops sell real life rape videos under the counter
The Times of India reports that shops are selling thousands of real life rape videos every day right under the noses of the police. Dealers will download videos directly into your smart phone. A senior policeman told The Times that rapists almost always record the crime on their phones, which they then use as a blackmailing tool to either bully the victims, which stops them from going to the police, or to further pressure them into sexual submission. While it’s impossible to say exactly why these things are happening, it could be that the rising popularity of hardcore porn is skewing people’s perception of what’s acceptable. The popularity of internet porn has created a massive porn culture in society.
http://fightthenewdrug.org/these-shops-in-india-sell-real-life-rape-videos-under-the-counter/
USA – Teen live video stream sexual assault instead of helping
This is a testimony of a girl named Emma who, when she was younger and was sexually assaulted, the sexual assault was recorded, and that video, sadly, may still be out there. When an Ohio teenager witnessed her 17-year-old friend being raped, she not only neglected to help the victim, she pointed her phone at the assault and streamed a live video of it. And in London, a group rape was live-streamed in late March while thousands watched. This is all very disturbing. Studies show that the more someone watches porn, over time and frequent use, the more they’re likely to gravitate towards hard-core genres to achieve the same levels of chemical rush of excitement.
http://fightthenewdrug.org/teens-live-video-stream-rapesexual-assault-instead-of-helping/
Same Sex Attraction
Germany – High court rejects third gender category Germany’s High court said it rejected the creation of a third gender category of “inter” to describe people born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not fit the typical definitions of female or male. A panel of the Federal Court of Justice ruled against a lawsuit filed by a German citizen who was born as a female in 1989. The person now identifies as “intersex” and submitted a genetic analysis showing they were neither man nor woman. The panel ruled that German law would not allow entry of a third option of “inter” or “diverse” in the birth registry, and saw no reason to refer the matter to the German constitutional court. http://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/germany-transgender-lgbt-homosexual-high-court-federal-court-berlin-2954470/ Australia – The first Australian national Trans mental health study In multivariate regression analyses done by Zoë Hyde, MPH PhD et al., from Curtin University , the factors associated with poor mental health were: sex identity (trans men, and especially trans women were more likely to have clinically relevant depressive symptoms, while experiencing non-binary anxiety syndrome); lower educational attainment; being unemployed; low income; poor self-rated health; wanting to take hormone therapy; wanting to undergo surgery; difficulty changing identifying documents and not feeling comfortable telling doctors about being trans gender. The findings of this study demonstrate that a substantial proportion of trans people experience alarmingly high rates of mental health problem and a high risk of suicide in this population. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/docs/default-source/research-project-files/bw0288_the-first-australian-national-trans-mental-health-study—summary-of-results.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Sweden – Study says high LGBT suicide rates not due to homophobia A study from Sweden has found that suicide risk among active homosexuals is three times higher even in a region highly tolerant of same-sex behaviour. This was published in the European Journal of Epidemiology. The behaviour of homosexuals often involves high levels of promiscuity and instability in interpersonal relationships, results in rates of 10-20{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} HIV infection of homosexuals living in urban areas, as well as elevated incidence of herpes and the cancer-causing Epstein-Barr virus, syphilis, anal cancer, and other diseases. https://www.lifesitenews.com/pulse/study-debunks-claim-that-high-lgbt-suicide-rates-are-due-to-homophobiaSexual Exploitation
Brazil – Nine year old girls selling their bodies
Near Rio de Janeiro’s Olympic village, girls as young as nine are selling their bodies to truck drivers. Some of these children are sold for sex by their own families and local activists are drawing attention to the reality of the young girls drawn into a life of prostitution and drug addiction. Sex trafficking gangs target the town and poor families are vulnerable. People are surprised to hear from town council psychologist, Gleyce Farias, that raffles were held regularly with the winning ticket holder’s prize being the right to abuse a particular girl being sold. A mother sold her 12-year-old daughter to marry a 60-year-old man for money and a 13-year-old girl ended up in hospital because of the abuses she suffered.
Ireland – Minister’s comments on prostitution receive mixed response
Minister of State for Training and Skills John Halligan’s declaration that clients of sex workers should not be criminalised could lead to increased numbers of women being trafficked into Ireland, a lobby group has warned. Chief executive Sarah Benson said legalised, regulated prostitution such as in Germany and the Netherlands “has increased trafficking including in the regulated sector”. She added that the only policy measure which recognizes that sex work is “inherently harmful” and “inextricably linked to organised crime” is one which targets pimps, traffickers and buyers. Research published by Queen’s University Belfast in 2014 in which 170 sex workers were surveyed found that just 2 per cent of respondents supported the criminalisation of clients.
Substance Abuse
USA – Significant pain increases the risk of opioid addiction
Results from a recent study, the first to directly address this question, show that people with moderate or more severe pain had a 41{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} higher risk of developing prescription opioid use disorders than those without, independent of other demographic and clinical factors. These results, from researchers at Columbia University Medical Centre, were published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. The researchers analysed data from a national survey of alcohol and substance use in more than 34,000 adults in two waves, three years apart. “These findings indicate that adults who report pain are at increased risk of becoming addicted to prescription opioids,” said Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical centre, and senior author of the report.
10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.15091179
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160722092937.htm
USA – Edible Pot Sends Toddlers to Colorado ER’s
Young children in Colorado are winding up in the emergency room after ingesting pot-laced goodies left out by adults, doctor’s report. Children have needed to be put on a ventilator and admitted to the ICU. It sedates them so much that it interferes with their ability to breathe. Serving sizes are also misleading, both for adults and children. Full-size cookies and candy bars are sold loaded with THC, the intoxicating chemical in marijuana. Customers are advised to break them up into a number of smaller servings to prevent overdose. People have become more careless in how they store their marijuana following legalization of recreational use. The findings were published online in Journal of the American medical Association Paediatrics.
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20160725/edible-pot-sends-toddlers-to-colorado-ers
USA – Endless prescription: Suboxone, Subutex plaguing region
“We routinely arrest people for drug offenses and find them in possession of buprenorphine (Suboxone or Subutex) and some other powerful narcotic.” said Officer Tom Patton from Kingsport Police Department. The intended use of buprenorphine is to help people addicted to opioids achieve sobriety, by gradually reducing the prescription until the patient is completely drug free. Counseling and therapy are supposed to be provided too. That is not happening. “Greed is taking over,” said Dr. Randy Jesse, from Frontier Health. “We are hearing stories about doctors quitting their ER work, quitting their practice and going into the Suboxone business.” Frazier, a drug addict said, “We’re giving doctors the money instead of drug lords”. Another addict said “It just turns into maintenance”.
http://www.thenownewspaper.com/news/386704991.html
UK – Number of opiate-related deaths in UK rises to five-year peak
There were a total of 1,507 deaths involving opiates such as heroin in 2014, according to figures released by the UK’s Office for National Statistics, the highest number since 2010, with a rise of 20{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} in a year. Between 2010 and 2014 there were 5,928 deaths involving opiates. The deaths cover all those that mention an opiate, except those that only mention methadone or buprenorphine, which are often prescribed to treat opiate addictions. There were 1,345 deaths involving methadone or buprenorphine alone. This casts much doubt on the UK’s drug policy, that implemented one of the first harm reduction strategies in the world back in the 1960’s i.e. needles exchange programs and methadone substitution therapy.
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/number-opiate-related-deaths-teesside-11510771
Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of Doctors for Life International
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