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In Quebec – palliative care centres threatened by “medically assisted dying” legislation
In Quebec, palliative care centres have come under threat since the enactment of the law on “medically assisted dying”, MAD, dated June 2014 (Cf. Gènéthique du 10 juin 2014). Although law 52 allows palliative care centres to refuse to carry out any form...
Heading towards a new technique to combat masculine infertility?
The Fukuoka Institute for Assisted Reproduction Technology in Japan has successfully concluded a clinical trial under the supervision of Dr. Atsushi Tanaka, using a technique aimed at combating masculine infertility. The Round spermatid injection (ROSI),...
Return of Obamacare before the United States Supreme Court
On 6 November, the American Supreme Court agreed to “focus during its annual session on the rights of religious institutions who refuse to finance contraception for their employees, as provided for in the health insurance legislation proposed by President Obama”[1]....
The surrogacy business switches to Cambodia
Ever since Thailand followed by Nepal and, more recently, India banned surrogacy in their country, clients and entrepreneurs have turned to Cambodia which appears to be the new Eldorado. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, no fewer than fourteen...
Is gene therapy helping to cure a young girl with leukaemia?
A little girl aged one and a half, Layla Richards, has been given genetically modified immune cells in an attempt to treat her leukaemia. These cells are white cells taken from a donor. They were genetically modified in advance to target the leukaemia and to...
Transhumanism: Symptom of a decadence or remedy?
In a world in which technique projects the future of a connected, repaired or augmented man, Emmanuel Brochier, conference master in Philosophy at the “Institut de Philosophie Comprarée” (Paris), was led to decipher the question of transhumanism. He has been working...
Pre-implantation screening – a “lucrative business” in Pakistan
A report by Liberation in Pakistan has highlighted pre-implantation screening spin-offs in the gender selection market, “designer babies have become a lucrative business for several clinics”. These private clinics operate openly, using slogans such as “do...
25 end-of-life institutions refuse to accept medically assisted dying
In Quebec, end of life and medically assisted dying are two hotly debated topics that constitute “the last resort for patients making the request and satisfying the criteria listed in a medically assisted dying protocol”. Amongst the 31 establishments for the...
A British doctor is suspended for having carried out a selective abortion
In Great Britain, a British doctor has been suspended by the General Medical Council (GMC) for having authorised a gender selection abortion. Doctor Palaniappan Rajmohan admitted that he carried out an abortion tantamount to “female infanticide”. In fact, one of...
Quebec: The first palliative care centre to authorise medically assisted dying
This is a first in Quebec since the adoption of law 52 authorising medically assisted dying: a palliative care centre, namely Maison Aube Lumière de Sherbrooke, will authorise “medically assisted dying with effect from 1 February 2016”. “Medically...
“It was a mistake to share my eggs”
In The Telegraph, Emma Aguado, a 34 year-old British woman outlined the difficulties she encountered after donating her eggs. She underwent in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) therapy free of charge in return for this donation. Emma did not become pregnant, unlike the woman...
In the United States, egg donors claim compensation
Egg donors are suing the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) by joining forces in an attempt to “set a price” for gamete donation. They wish to highlight the recommendations of the...