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Omnigender, neutrois, intersex… Australian birth certificates with 33 possible genders?
This would allow Australian parents to choose from 33 gender options instead of the traditional 'male' or 'female' when registering the birth of their children. According to the Australian Labour party, the conventional option would be a form of "discrimination" for...
In California, assisted suicide law will be applied
The California Court of Appeal has overturned a lower court's ruling from May 2018 which held that the state's assisted suicide law was unconstitutional. The law was passed during a special legislative session to improve the health and medical system in California....
In Ireland, amendment intended to ban abortion on disability grounds is rejected
Irish Minister for Health Simon Harris has rejected calls to ban abortion on the grounds of disability. In fact, as technology advances, it will become much cheaper and easier to test for disabilities and Down syndrome could be in the firing line. The Minister...
Sorting embryos according to their IQ?
The companies Genomic Prediction and MyOme have come up with two new pre-implantation diagnosis "options". Pre-implantation diagnosis or PID is a technique that was developed thirty years ago. It provides an option to carry out a genetic test on embryos fertilised in...
In England, baby’s ventilator is turned off without parental consent. NHS pays compensation
A British couple have just won a legal battle against the NHS in relation to their new-born baby who died in 2012. According to staff at Darlington Memorial Hospital , the child's ventilator was turned off without parental knowledge or consent. The facts only came to...
Ohio: draft bill to ban abortion of foetuses with detectable heartbeats
The Ohio House of Representatives has adopted a bill banning abortions as soon as a foetal heartbeat is detected. The decision was passed by 65 votes to 30. The Senate should vote with the same margin. The outgoing governor is opposed to this bill but his successor,...
Disappearance of anonymity in biological parentage – and anonymous delivery?
A review of the bioethics law challenges sperm donor anonymity "which could be removed" for two reasons: the international commitments signed by France in relation to "access to origin" and the progress made in genomics which allow donors to be traced (see Gamete...
Genetic tests readily available – woman left devastated following removal of uterus and breasts in error
"There's no solution to this. I can't have my organs back", explains a 36-year-old American woman in desperation. She "no longer has a uterus, ovaries or breasts—all have been removed". She was "mutilated and massacred" following a genetic test that showed that she...
Mississippi: the ban on abortion after 15 weeks is unconstitutional according to federal judge
Abortion will no longer be banned after 15 weeks in Mississippi. The law was revoked on Tuesday by a federal judge. He held that such a law "unequivocally" violated the constitutional rights of women. This law was adopted in March 2018 (see Mississippi governor...
Will the ban on aborting babies with Down syndrome in Indiana be upheld?
Nineteen US states are calling for the US Supreme Court to uphold the abortion ban for Down syndrome in Indiana. This 2016 law has been challenged over the past month by Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill who wants to lift the ban. It prohibits "the...
Vincent Lambert is not in a situation of unreasonable obstinacy. Will he be transferred?
Experts appointed by the courts have drawn their conclusions. They initially deemed that the 42-year-old male nurse was in an "irreversible chronic vegetative state": "From a clinical perspective, Vincent Lambert is totally incapacitated in terms of psychological and...
Contraceptive pill: European Medicines Agency demands warnings about the risk of depression and suicide
The European Medicines Agency is calling for a change in the package leaflet of hormonal contraceptive pills to "warn of the risks of depression and suicide". The decision is based on a 2017 Danish study. Of the 500,000 women enrolled in the study, 69,999 attempted...