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The citizen’s initiative, “One of Us” attacked by “the abortion industry”
The European citizen’s initiative (ECI), ONE OF US, was launched in Europe in 2012. Over 1.7 million signatures were collected across Europe demanding greater respect for the human embryo. The European Union was essentially asked to stop financing research...
Ireland: Amnesty International launches a pro-abortion campaign
On Tuesday, 9 June, Amnesty international launched an international campaign “to force the Irish government to take action regarding the ban on abortion”. In Ireland, abortion is “considered a crime”, stresses Geneviève Garrigos, President of Amnesty France....
The European Parliament votes against the children’s right to know their parents
The NOICHL resolution proposal was adopted by the European Parliament with a majority of 60 votes, which is rather low compared to the crushing majority that led to the adoption of the Tarabella report on 10 March 2015. This report by the German MP of the...
Heading towards routine NIPS (non-invasive prenatal screening)?
Last Saturday, during the annual conference of the European Human Genetics Society, Dr. Erik Sistermans (Amsterdam) presented the results of the TRIDENT study focusing on NIPS with regard to Down Syndrome in a population of high risk women. “The Netherlands is...
The European Commission rejects the citizens’ initiative “stop vivisection”
The citizens’ initiative, “stop vivisection”, calling for a stop to animal experiments and which collected approximately 1.2 million signatures in Europe was rejected by the European Commission after the latter listened to experts on this subject. On the...
The ECHR takes surrogacy “seriously”
The panel of five ECHR judges, who met on Monday 1 June “has decided to authorise the appeal of the Paradiso and Campanelli case before the Grand Chamber at the request of the Italian government”. The Paradiso and Campanelli case concerns a nine month old baby...
Palliative care in Belgium: an increasing demand
On Thursday 4 June, “the palliative care sector sounded the alarm” to coincide with a meeting of the French-speaking Parliament in Brussels. “Hemicycle Thursdays” were introduced by Julie de Groote, President of the French-speaking Parliament in Brussels, to “directly...
Downpride begs the united nations to oppose the routine screening of down syndrome
“Down Syndrome is not this terrible and frightening thing that people would have us believe”, explained Renate Lindeman, spokeswoman for the Dutch parents’ group, Downpride, and the mother of two children with Down Syndrome. “When I heard the words, ‘Down...
Artificial intelligence: Facebook sets up its European research facility in Paris
Yesterday, the Californian group, Facebook, unveiled its Paris-based research centre dedicated to artificial intelligence. This European unit is managed by Florent Perronnin, a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (ENST Paris), who worked...
PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis): a new, “faster” and “more reliable” test
Scientists at UZ Leuven have developed a test to detect congenital genetic diseases in embryos produced by in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), the results of which are obtained faster than with conventional PGD. This new test “quickly detects genetic anomalies...
The White House in favour of an in-depth investigation into genome handling
Following the announcement made by Chinese scientists on changes in the genome of human embryos and the initial reactions from the international scientific community, the White House is now voicing its scepticism. John P. Holdren, Barack Obama’s scientific...
Pope Francis denounces “attacks on life”
On Saturday, 30 May, before members of the Italian Science and Life Association, the Pope urged for "science to serve life", stating that "the degree of progress of a civilisation is measured precisely by its capacity to protect life, especially in its most fragile...