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Knowing your biological parents: “a ‘must’ to find out who you really are”
Vincent Brès, President of the association Procréation Médicalement Anonyme has published an article in Le Monde, calling for everyone to be able to access their biological parents' identity. His article is in response to the President of the CECOS Federation[1] who...
Finnish Parliament rejects euthanasia and commits to palliative care
The Finnish Parliament voted 128 to 60 to reject the draft bill to legalise euthanasia. It approved the proposal from the parliamentary commission for Health and Social Affairs "to create a national working party to improve palliative care legislation instead". ...
Assisted suicide overturned in California
The law on medically assisted suicide in California has just been overturned by a Riverside County Superior Court judge. The End of Life Option Act, passed in 2015, authorised assisted suicide for terminally ill patients with less than six months to live[1]. ...
Drop in US birth rate continues
With 100,000 fewer births than in 2016, the US birth rate continued to fall in 2017. Today the US government published the 2017 demographic data: The fertility rate has dropped to 1.76 children per woman (versus 1.82 in 2016). There were only 3.8 million births in...
Harvesting of organs in France: developments in the Maastricht III protocol
Since 2014, France has authorised the harvesting of organs from donors who die from circulatory arrest following a decision to reduce or stop treatment in an intensive care unit. More and more organs are being harvested as part of the "Maastricht III protocol" (M3)....
China: smart cameras monitor concentration of high school pupils
At Hangzhou Number High School in eastern China, artificial intelligence monitors the attention span of pupils and provides feedback to the teacher. In fact, the school management has had three cameras installed at the front of the class and these "mystery eyes" to...
United States: federal funds no longer used to fund abortion clinics
This law dates back to former President Ronald Reagan, but has never been applied (see United States: strengthening the Mexico policy). Today, the US Secretary of Health unveils the new policy banning family planning clinics from carrying out or even encouraging...
Has the constitutional principle of dignity from which bioethics laws originate come to its end?
The objective principle of dignity limits and supervises law. However, weakened by the legal evolutions that have let in so many inconsistencies, will this principle still be able to act as a safeguard? Last 20th April the “Espace éthique” of Ile de...
Brain dead young boy wakes up 24 hours before he was set to be taken off life support
Trenton McKinley, a 13-year-old American boy from Mobile, Alabama, was involved in a horrifying accident two months ago. The small trailer in which he was playing with his friends, pulled by a dune buggy, overturned after the brakes were applied too harshly. "I hit...
Seventeen British sperm donors have fathered more than five hundred children between them
Five hundred children fathered by just seventeen men[1]—these new figures from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) highlight a significant risk of incest and gene defects. In fact, siblings could meet and form relationships without realising that...
Could criminals alter their own DNA using CRISPR kits to evade justice?
Wanted criminals could alter their own DNA through over-the-counter kits which use the CRISPR technique[1]. Created to combat certain hereditary diseases such as sickle cell anaemia, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy, these "revolutionary” kits can "change the...
Genetic testing paid for by US companies
In addition to a salary and paid leave, every company offers incentives intended to attract and retain their employees to safeguard talent for the future. In the US where medical costs are high, companies have decided to make genetic testing available to their...