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Republican senators engage in the fight against surrogacy
Concerned about the dispositions taken by the ECHR on gestational surrogacy, several senators[1], under the lead of the republican Jean-Pierre Leleux, tabled a draft law on October 20th 2016 “to fight against the actions engaged abroad by French people concerning...
A maternal blood test could predict problems at birth
A protein circulating in the blood of pregnant women could be used to develop antenatal tests to determine the health of babies and predict the need for emergency care at birth, based on a study conducted by Queen Mary University London (QMUL). The test...
The turn of Cambodia to consider banning surrogacy for foreigners
Cambodia is considering banning "commercial surrogacy", hot on the heels of Thailand, Nepal and India. Last week, the Justice Minister met with MPs, members of non-governmental organisations and legal experts to implement this project. She fears that vulnerable...
Euthanasia: what is Belgium doing?
Carine Brochier from the European Institute of Bioethics has delivered her analysis to coincide with the publication of the 2016 Report by the Commission for the Evaluation and Control of Euthanasia in Belgium (see En Belgique, la commission de contrôle de...
In-utero surgery saves the life of a mother and her child
In Texas, in-utero surgery saved the life of a child. A large tumour was detected on the spine of the foetus during a 16-week ultrasound scan. Refusing to terminate her pregnancy, Margaret Boemer decided to attempt surgery."It became a real battle. The tumour was...
The WHO proposes a universal “right to reproduce”
L'organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) souhaite que les personnes qui n’arrivent pas à trouver un « partenaire sexuel » puissent être considérées comme « handicapées ». L’OMS veut ainsi proposer un « droit à se reproduire », pour tous,...
Russia: anti-abortion demonstration in Moscow
Abortion is very common in Russia - the first country to have legalised it in 1920. However, yesterday, in Moscow, over 1,000 people demonstrated for it to be banned. The demonstrators collected signatures for an anti-abortion petition, which was signed last September...
The European Parliament asks for a “mechanism for democracy, rule of law and fundemental rights”
The draft resolution for the creation of a “European Union mechanism for democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights” was adopted on October 25th by the European Parliament. It was the Dutch MEP Sophia In't Veld who started this controversial report, asking...
After the tragedy in Italy, a few elements to understand conscientious objection
The announcement of a women dying while trying to give birth to extremely premature twins (cf. Italie : un médecin refuse de « pratiquer un avortement » et relance la question de l’objection de conscience) came up during the peculiar context of a European campaign....
Zika: how is the virus transmitted between mother and child?
In a press release, the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) has just announced that scientists at the Centre de Physiopathologie de Toulouse Purpan (Physiopathology Centre, Toulouse Purpan)(CNRS/Inserm/University of Toulouse III – Paul...
California: the law on assisted suicide benefits insurance companies
In California, Stephanie Packer, mother of four children and suffering from terminal phase scleroderma, explained that her insurance company initially agreed to pay for the chemotherapy recommended by her treating physicians. However, one week after assisted suicide...
Italy: a doctor refuses to carry out an abortion, refuelling the debate surrounding conscientious objection
In Italy, a woman has died as she tried to deliver extremely premature twins. Following a difficult pregnancy, the twins were delivered at 19 weeks. According to the family lawyer, when the mother and one of the twins were in distress, the doctor in question...