LIFEalerts 19 December 2016 – Doctors for Life

USA – Targeting the Brain’s Cannabinoid System USA – Effects Of Smoking Marijuana On The Human Brain USA – Recreational marijuana use on the rise among adults over 50

Abortion

USA – Abortions are continuing to drop The U.S. Centres for Disease Control released its abortion figures for 47 states that exclude, New Hampshire and California (most populous state). The CDC’s “Abortion Surveillance Report” lists 664,435 abortions reported from those states. Not all states report on abortion because they depend on abortion businesses’ claims as an all-cash industry. Prolife organisations are nevertheless encouraged because their efforts such as Right to life legislative, educational and outreach efforts to increase awareness of the unborn child’s humanity make an impact because reports evidently reveal a decline in abortions as mentioned in a press release by National Right to Life (NRTL) Director of education and research, Dr. RK O’Bannon. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cdc-u.s.-abortions-are-continuing-to-drop USA – Texas will require aborted babies to be cremated or buried Aborted baby body parts will now be buried or cremated instead of being dumped in sanitary landfills. Health officials finalized the new rules prohibiting hospitals, abortion clinics and other health care facilities from disposing of aborted babies’ bodies – regardless of the period of gestation. Rules will take effect 19th of December according to Health Officials. These requirements do not apply to miscarriages or abortions done at home and there are no birth or death certificates required to be filed. Other states have passed restrictions on the use of foetal remains. South Dakota made it illegal to use aborted foetal tissue in research. In Idaho and Alabama it is illegal to buy, sell, donate or experiment on such remains. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/29/despite-months-of-outcry-texas-will-require-aborted-fetustes-to-be-cremated-or-buried/?utm_term=.d96372706b98 USA – Ohio to Deny Access to Abortion as Early as 6 Weeks Both the Ohio State Senate and Ohio State House of Representatives passed a bill that would prevent abortions if a fetal heart beat is detected, often around six weeks into a pregnancy. The “heartbeat” bill now stands with Ohio Gov. John Kasich. If signed into law, it would become one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. Republican State Senate President Keith Faber said that the “heartbeat” bill, which had been defeated twice before by state lawmakers, was put forward again in part because of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory and that he could appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court. “I think it has a better chance [of becoming law] than it did before,” he said. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ohio-lawmakers-pass-bill-deny-access-abortion-early/story?id=44059782 Malawi – People in March against Legislation of Abortion Thousands of people in Malawi marched for the rights of unborn babies. The Episcopal Conference of Malawi and the Evangelical Association of Malawi organized the marches. The theme was “Lighting the Candle.” A large banner at one location proclaimed that “Life is sacred” and “Life must be protected from conception. “We cannot install a culture of death in our country,” said one Catholic Christian who joined people donning all white t-shirts in the ‘march for life’. For years the Malawi government, as with many African governments, has been told by Western allies to reduce their population. Though Malawi restricts abortion, there is a strong campaign to legalize abortion as a medically viable treatment with strong funding by pro-abortion lobbies. http://www.lifenews.com/2016/12/07/thousands-of-pro-life-people-in-malawi-march-against-legislation-to-legalize-abortion/

Alternative Medicine

No news today

Euthanasia

Netherlands – Euthanasia for alcoholics, the last one for the road Journalist Marcel Langedijk describes the grim life and death of his brother Mark, a hopeless alcoholic. After eight years and 21 stints in hospital or rehab, Mark decided that he had enough. His parents cared for him and he had plenty of family support, but he was unable to dry out. Finally he asked for euthanasia. He met the minimum criteria for euthanasia in the Netherlands. A woman doctor in a black dress and sneakers arrived to give him his lethal injection. She confirmed his decision and then gave him three doses. He died quickly. Will Dutch drug addicts be encouraged to take the cheapest drug rehabilitation program ever? Just one needle and you are “cured” forever? https://www.mercatornet.com/careful/view/netherlands-offers-euthanasia-for-alcoholics/19066 Netherlands – Suicide doctor advances ‘militant pro-euthanasia position’ Nitschke, who now lives in the Netherlands, where he operates Exit International, announced Sunday the formation of Exit Action with the goal of promoting a “militant pro-euthanasia position” to bring about legislative change. Nitschke’s position of “ration suicide” flies directly in the face of the social and medical view that suicidal people should automatically receive psychological counselling on the presumption that they are irrational because of depression or some other mental illness. Typically, Nitschke has promised Exit Action will be organizing an online “buyer’s club” to sell fatal drugs and gear. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/suicide-doctor-out-to-advance-militant-pro-euthanasia-position-with-new-org Switzerland – 26{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} increase in assisted suicide deaths The Federal Statistical Office reports that in 2014 Switzerland saw 742 cases of assisted suicide, more than 2.5 times as many as five years previously. In the latest statistics, assisted suicide accounted for 1.2{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of all deaths in Switzerland that year. In April 2013, Pietro D’Amico, a 62-year-old magistrate from Calabria Italy, died by assisted suicide at a suicide clinic in Basel Switzerland. His autopsy showed that he had a wrong diagnosis. The Swiss assisted suicide stats prove that when assisted suicide is accepted, deaths by assisted suicide continually increase and the reasons for assisted suicide multiply. http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2016/12/switzerland-26-increase-in-assisted-suicide-deaths/#.WElE2H0ppNU South Africa – Bloemfontein Supreme Court of Appeal rejects euthanasia Doctors for Life International is delighted with the outcome of this court case which was the culmination of decades of conferences, educating health professionals and the public, taking part in debates, and finally this legal battle to prevent legislation that would use the SA public as guinea pigs in a tragic social experiment. Legalizing physician assisted suicide would have created a legal precedent that would have led to floods of euthanasia contagion. The judgment will serve to protect the sick, the aged and the vulnerable in SA who are the ones who would be most harmed through such a law. http://www.rootshosting.co.za/docforlife/bloemfontein-supreme-court-appeal-upholds-appeal-rejects-active-euthanasia/

IVF&Surrogacy

UK – Staggering discarded embryo figures released New official figures indicate that close to 2.5 million embryos have been discarded in the UK since IVF was brought under a comprehensive regulatory framework in 1991.The records of the UK’s fertility watchdog, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority show that 1,687,260 embryos have been transferred to uteri since 1991, and 2,315,262 destroyed. In 1991, 6,146 women received 6,609 IVF treatments, resulting in 1,226 live births. By 2013 this had risen to 52,288 women receiving 67,708 cycles of IVF, from which 15,283 babies were born. Just because fertilization takes place in a lab and not a womb doesn’t make them any less human, to just be discarded or killed. http://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/staggering-discarded-embryo-figures-released-in-uk/12107#sthash.1bDAGvze.dpuf USA – More Homosexual couples using surrogates An informal study by a fertility data service suggests an increasing number of homosexual couples in the US are turning to surrogacy. The study conducted by Fertility IQ involved data from fertility clinics in more than 10 cities. The results as reported indicate that 10 to 20{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of donor eggs are going to homosexual men having babies via surrogacy, and in a lot of places the numbers are up 50{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} from 5 years ago. Surrogacy for homosexual men in the US was “unheard of” five years ago, says Eve Feinberg, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at North-Western University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. http://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/more-gay-couples-using-surrogates-in-us/12106#sthash.IuzlKLAw.dpuf Australia – Pressure mounts for commercial surrogacy In an article in the Australia and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, an IVF doctor and a surrogacy broker argue that most Australians support commercial surrogacy and that the laws should be changed to permit it if it is carefully regulated. Co-author Professor Kelton Tremellen said that if legalisation were in place Australians could find a local surrogate “instead of being desperate and going to developing countries”. Professional guidelines could include age restrictions on surrogates, mental health checks, mandatory cooling-off periods and adequate counselling. https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/pressure-mounts-for-commercial-surrogacy-in-australia/12116

Medical Ethics

UK – Staggering discarded embryo figures released in UK New official figures indicate that close to 2.5 million embryos have been discarded in the UK since IVF was brought under a comprehensive regulatory framework in 1991. The figures were released by Lord Prior of Brampton, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, in response to a written question from Lord Alton of Liverpool. http://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/staggering-discarded-embryo-figures-released-in-uk/12107 Netherlands – Team of anatomists create 3D atlas of human embryo Dutch anatomists have published a 3D atlas of the human embryo. Their website offers 14 interactive three-dimensional models of human embryology and a database of 34 embryos spanning the first two months of human development. About 15,000 histological sections were analyzed by students under expert supervision, and about 150 organs and structures were identified and digitally labeled in each section. The labeled structures were then spatially reconstructed in such a way that the relation between the reconstruction and the original images was preserved. http://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/dutch-team-creates-3d-atlas-of-human-embryo/12101 Download 3D images from: http://www.3dembryoatlas.com/ UK – Last minute hitch with 3-parent embryo trials In the technique nuclear DNA is removed from an egg cell, leaving the diseased mitochondria behind; then the DNA is inserted into another woman’s denucleated egg to make use of her mitochondria; then the egg is fertilized. The resulting embryo will grow, hopefully, into a disease-free infant with three genetic parents. However, a paper published in Nature by mitochondrial geneticist Shoukhrat Mitalipov, at Oregon Health & Science University says the DNA carrying the disease sometimes “out-competes” the healthy mitochondrial DNA and could cause the disease. “It’s not perfect. There’s this chance of something going wrong,” Robin Lovell-Badge, a leading UK stem cell scientist, told Nature. Patients “must understand it’s impossible to ensure total safety until clinical trials have taken place”. https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/is-there-a-last-minute-hitch-with-3-parent-embryo-trials/12114

Pedophilia

No news today

Pornography

Canada – Hundreds of children rescued in child pornography investigation Nearly 400 children have been rescued and 348 adults arrested following an “extraordinary” international child pornography investigation in Canada. The three-year undercover project, named Project Spade, began in 2010 and eventually discovered a child porn production company in Toronto, run by 42-year old Brian Way. Investigators catalogued hundreds of thousands of images and videos of horrific sexual acts against very young children. Most alarming was that many of the arrests were of people who worked or interacted with children. Among those arrested were 40 school teachers, nine doctors and nurses, six law enforcement personnel, nine pastors and priests and three foster parents. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/nearly-400-children-rescued-348-adults-arrested-canadian-child-pornography-f2D11599561

Same Sex Attraction

No news today

Sexual Exploitation

South Africa – Inn Town Lodge human traffickers jailed for 85 years Three men convicted of human trafficking and running a brothel with girls as young as 12 years old have been sentenced to an effective 85 years in jail. Durban Regional Court Magistrate Simphiwe Hlophe sentenced three men, who were in March this year found guilty of a host of charges related to the prostitution ring operated from a Durban Hotel. “Human trafficking is one of the world’s most shameful crimes,” said Magistrate Hlophe. “What these girls endured was difficult and painful.” He said that it became apparent that the only way the girls could deal with the prostitution was to take drugs. Doctors For Life International reached out to the women at Inn Town lodge several times in the past. http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/inn-town-lodge-human-traffickers-jailed-for-85-years-2091958 USA – What will protect sex workers? Trading sex for survival, that’s what millions of teens in “food insecure” households may be facing according to a new study by the Urban Institute and Feeding America. In discussions held in 10 communities across the U.S. to find out more about the conditions facing the 6.8 million 10 to 17 year olds who regularly don’t get enough to eat, researchers say teens at all 10 of the study locations talked about girls having sex for money. Many teens have relationships with older men who provided food, housing, or money in return for sex. 68 percent meet the standard for suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. Nearly 90 percent said they wanted out of prostitution, but had no other means of survival. https://socialistworker.org/2016/11/21/what-will-protect-sex-workers USA – San Diego University Event Raises Awareness of Human Trafficking The University of San Diego hosted an event, “Walk in Their Shoes: Standing with Survivors of Sex Trafficking,” in December to raise awareness. They spoke through art, music, testimonies and other organizations. The event presented visual elements that stirred emotions and offered ways to be united with victims suffering emotionally and physically and suffering from PTSD, said Rachel Robitz MD and co-chief of the combined psychiatry and family medicine resident at UCSD. Survivors spoke of being forced into prostitution by an abusive boyfriend, some were molested by family relatives at a young age, while others who grew up in a broken home were led into a deeper abyss. http://www.sandiego.edu/news/detail.php?_focus=58103

Substance Abuse

USA – Targeting the Brain’s Cannabinoid System Indiana University (IU) neuroscientist Andrea Hohmann took the stage in San Diego to discuss research that has found evidence that the brain’s cannabis receptors may be used to treat chronic pain, without the side effects associated with opioid-based pain relievers or medical marijuana. The study was discussed during the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health. The IU study found that a compound that modulates the activity of the brain’s receptors for THC and endocannabinoids reduced chronic pain. These modulating compounds, called positive allosteric modulators or PAMs, work by binding to a recently discovered site on a cannabinoid receptor in the brain. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161115085503.htm USA – Effects of Smoking Marijuana on The Human Brain Numerous studies tout marijuana for its brain protective benefits, from helping brain cells grow to shielding the brain from chronic stress. However, a new study in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease suggests long-term marijuana use may reduce blood flow to the brain, specifically the hippocampus, and increase the susceptibility for Alzheimer’s disease.”As a physician who routinely sees marijuana users, what struck me was not only the global reduction in blood flow in the marijuana users’ brains, but that the hippocampus was the most affected region due to its role in memory and Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Elisabeth Jorandby, co-author of the study. The study was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 2016. http://www.medicaldaily.com/effects-smoking-marijuana-human-brain-drug-reduces-blood-flow-hippocampus-405131?rel=most_shared1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27886010 USA – Recreational marijuana use on the rise among adults over 50 Dr. Han and his team led a study called, “Demographic Trends among Older Cannabis Users in the United States, 2006-2013”, published in the journal, Addiction. The study sought to determine the trends in the prevalence and patterns of cannabis use, attitudes towards cannabis use, and determine correlates of use among adults over the age of 50. The authors found a 71{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} increase in marijuana use among adults aged 50 and older between 2006 and 2013. Adults ages 65 and older had a significantly lower prevalence of marijuana use compared to those ages 50-64, but prevalence of use increased two and a half times over eight years. Overall, prevalence was higher among men than women through all years. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161205091216.htm

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

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