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Nevada expands the conditions for abortion, Vermont seeks to make it a “fundamental right”
In the state of Nevada, “self-induced abortion is punishable by up to 10 years in prison”. After a second review, lawmakers have just adopted a “reform that decriminalizes the over-the-counter sale of drugs causing miscarriage and ‘self-induced’ abortion”....
The Pope has addressed healthcare workers: any “medical intervention on human beings” must be evaluated in terms of respect for “life and human dignity”
Pope Francis today addressed some 300 members of the Italian Catholic Association of Healthcare Workers at the Vatican. The Holy Father recalled that any "medical intervention on human beings" must first be evaluated in terms of respect for "human life and dignity"....
Vincent Lambert: lawyers ask for his transfer to a specialized unit
"Vincent is fine. Vincent is not at the end of his life", said his mother Viviane after leaving the hospital on Tuesday once his nutrition and hydration had resumed. "Vincent needs only to drink, eat and be loved". He is not "the vegetable connected to machines that...
Foetuses treated as ‘medical waste’ in Hong Kong
Babies born in Hong Kong before the age of twenty-four weeks are treated as "medical waste": they are "incinerated and then thrown away as landfill". An eye-witness account revealed in the press has "shocked Hong Kong society" and "forced the authorities to...
Oocyte freezing gives women no guarantee
As the trend towards late motherhood continues, more and more women are considering oocyte freezing as insurance against age-related infertility. In the United Kingdom, figures published by the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) confirm that oocyte...
Vincent Lambert: what place do disabled people have in our societies?
"The Lambert case is not about the end-of-life debate but rather the place of disabled people in our societies". It raises an issue to which Nazi Germany found a radical response by exterminating more than 200,000 disabled people between 1936 and 1945: "Should we let...
Uterine transplant: two babies born in Germany
Two babies were born following uterine transplants at Tübingen University Hospital in Germany: one in March and the other in May. Both women were suffering from Müllerian agenesis, a rare malformation (1/4,500) that had caused them to be born without a uterus and...
Surrogate mother for her best friend – Sophie recounts what happened afterwards
At the same period exactly a year ago, Sophie Braggins was a surrogate mother pregnant with the baby of her best friend, Toni Street, who has an autoimmune disease called Churg-Strauss syndrome. Lachie, a little boy, is now almost 10 months old. When "I look at...
An obstetrician-gynaecologist found guilty of not performing an abortion in Argentina
In May 2017, Dr Leandro Rodrígues Lasta – an obstetrician-gynaecologist and head of a gynaecology department – received a 19-year-old woman in consultation "who was suffering from severe pain after taking misoprostol", the first of the two pills for a medical...
The crime of fertility fraud: Indiana makes it a criminal offence for gynaecologists to use their own sperm for insemination
In the U.S., Indiana becomes the first state to criminalize “fertility fraud” or assisted human reproduction scams. The law, signed on 6 May by the Governor of Indiana, will come into force on 1 July. It defines 'fertility fraud' as “the use by fertility specialists...
U.S.: Governor signs law prohibiting abortion in Alabama
The Alabama Senate voted Tuesday in favour of a bill that would make abortion a crime in Alabama. The only exceptions would be cases of non-viability of the foetus and/or when the health and life of the mother is at risk. Already adopted by lawmakers on 30...
Palliative care: 71% of Americans are unaware of this
A study by the Journal of Palliative Medicine (JPM) reveals that 71% of adults in the United States are unaware of the existence of palliative care, while more and more palliative care centres are diversifying their services. The study found that seniors, university...