Search
Organ donation in the United Kingdom: towards instrumentalizing the death of minors?
On Sunday evening, the UK’s health secretary Matt Hancock appealed for organ donations from young children. Although adult donations have increased by one-fifth since 2004, donations from children "have remained static". Organs from 57 children resulted in 200...
Ireland: towards paid abortion leave?
An Irish MP is calling for full pay for women off work to have an abortion. Most of these women go on sick leave to have their abortions, which is not always paid and "could be a major deterrent to staying on leave, especially for women on the lowest salaries,"...
The United Kingdom: a national survey on the ethical and practical implications of commercial genetic tests
At the request of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, the UK's Science and Technology Committee is launching a national survey to poll British people about commercial genetic tests for the general public. Among the future consumers "some have expressed concerns about...
UNESCO promotes reflection on a “humanistic approach” to artificial intelligence
Last Monday, UNESCO's director-general Audrey Azoulay opened the first world conference to promote a "humanistic approach" to artificial intelligence (AI). OECD secretary-general Angel Gurria stressed that all stakeholders, whether "academic, state or...
A network of illegal human-organ transplants uncovered in Pakistan
The anti-corruption branch of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Peshawar, Pakistan, has uncovered an inter-provincial network of illegal human-organ transplants, involving hospital officials, doctors and illegal donors. This discovery followed a...
The human body subject to market laws?
Asked about feminism, the philosopher Sylviane Agacinski believes that "the most frightening thing today is the grip that the economy is exerting over all individuals — not just women — in the name of growth, competitiveness and the endless race for profit. Every...
An expert group at The Hague wants to provide an international framework for surrogacy
The Hague Conference on Private International Law’s Council on General Affairs and Policy met on 6–8 March. The agenda included making decisions on the parentage/surrogacy project launched in March 2015. Last February, the expert group responsible for studying the...
Is abortion necessary when the mother’s life is in danger?
The argument put forward to defend the proposal to extend the law on abortion in New York State and to authorize it during the nine months of pregnancy is that abortion is sometimes medically necessary. But OB-GYNs know that there is no situation where abortion is...
Belgium: 2,537 cases of euthanasia in 2018
In 2018, 2,357 cases of euthanasia were reported in Belgium, representing 2% of annual deaths and an increase of 1.8% compared to 2017. The majority involved patients 60 to 89 years of age, more often women than men, and most took place at home (61.1%). The main...
Saviour sibling: should a bio-compatible baby be created to treat an older sibling with thalassemia?
Indian parents have conceived 18 babies by IVF in order to find a compatible donor and treat their first-born with thalassemia. They already had two children, a seven-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy. The boy, who suffers from severe thalassemia, first had to...
Fatal risk for surrogates: the clause of too many surrogacy contracts
“The surrogate declares and guarantees that she has consulted a doctor and is aware of the physical, medical, and injurious risks, including death, that may result from taking medications ..., embryo transfers, and the complications related to pregnancy and childbirth...
USA: Utah votes to ban abortions of foetuses with genetic anomalies
Lawmakers in Utah have just passed a law that will ban any foetal abortion in cases where a genetic abnormality such as Down syndrome has been detected. The law still has to be approved by the Governor, Gary Herbert, who “declined to say whether he would sign the...