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Doctors For Life International
Bi-Weekly Updates on Current Ethics Issues
| 12 June 2006 Articles in this issue are:
HIV / AIDS The American Civil Liberties Union sued the state of Alaska today over a new law penalizing marijuana possession for personal use in the home. It also claims the law allows prosecution of people who use marijuana for medical purposes. The law, which was signed by Gov. Frank Murkowski on Friday, is an attempt to reverse a 30-year-old Alaska Supreme Court decision of Ravin vs. Alaska in which the court ruled the privacy rights of Alaskans trumped the harm the drug could cause. The ACLU alleges the new law is an unconstitutional invasion of privacy...[more] The Social Development Department is working on a Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Bill which is expected to be tabled before Parliament soon. According to Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya, the legislation seeks to promote greatercommunity involvement in preventing drug abuse among young people. Placing greater emphasis on preventative services, Dr Skweyiya said the draft law would also be more sensitive towards the needs of children who are often victims of drug dealers and pushers...[more] Switzerland has become a favourite destination for “death tourism” and the Swiss leading euthanasia doctor has pledged to open a chain of profit-making killing facilities. While Switzerland officially prohibits other forms of active euthanasia, it looks the other way when it comes to physician assisted suicide. After a number of abuses at the private “Dignitas” clinic, Parliament called on government to re-examine the law. They responded that existing guidelines were sufficient...[more] Also in Switzerland , in an ugly rundown block of flats, residents want to move out as they are traumatised by the experience of passing living people going up in the lift, only to come across them hours later descending in a body bag. "This is meant to be a residential flat but some days you'd think it was a morgue. The floors are thin and when we hear movements upstairs we know that means they're up there, and someone's going to die. The look in their eyes haunts me, particularly if they are young," a resident reported. With each assisted suicide, police are called to the apartment and must watch a video of the death to prove that the assisted suicide was voluntary, but it seems a lot of under-the-counter suicides are happening...[more] A nurse who tried to kill her terminally ill mother will not be struck off the register of New Zealand health practitioners, a medical tribunal ruled. However, she must pass a full competency test, a psychiatric examination as well as three years of strict supervision. The Nursing Council's lawyer told the hearing the lack of remorse by Martin meant she was no longer fit to work as a nurse. The nurse had decided to fight her deregistration because she did not believe her views on voluntary euthanasia were incompatible with her position as a professional nurse...[more] On Wednesday, 8 June, the US Senate voted down a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The 49 to 48 Senate vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to clear a procedural hurdle, thwarting the efforts of George W Bush,and the mostly Republican lawmakers who said the constitution must be amended to prevent judges from striking down existing State bans on gay marriage. However Republicans have planned a vote in the House of Representatives to keep a national spotlight on the hot-button issue...[more] In Norway , the Oslo city council leader, Erling Lae, has a new 40-point campaign to end discrimination against homosexuals in sport, schools, day care centers, and amongst immigrants in the capital. He said, "Superficially there is a lot of tolerance towards homosexuals and lesbians. On the surface it is easy to underestimate the negative attitudes that still exist. Even if one can become city council leader and be a homosexual, it isn't necessarily easy to be a homosexual ninth grader at ( Oslo school) Ila,". The city education councilor, Torger Ødegaard wants to use post-education funding to inform teachers about homosexuality and ensure that school libraries also have gay literature on their shelves. Children at day care centers will be taught how to meet same-sex parents...[more] Douglas Laycock, of the University of Texas Law School, suggests a modification to the current joint administration of marriage by the state and religious groups. An EU committee recently approved details of a new report, which could make it legal to kill human embryos for research purposes. It also asks for EU funding for research on human stem cells, including embryonic stem cells. In response SPUC has urged people across Europe to contact their MEPs to oppose the report, which will be presented before a full parliamentary session for adoption on June 14. “The outcome of the vote on 14 June will determine how the EU will allocate 2 billion Euros in bioethical research and what types of research projects will benefit from it,” said Patrick Buckley of European Life Network...[more] Using private funds, researchers from Harvard University will attempt to create embryonic stem cells, something Hwang Woo Suk, from South Korea, claimed to have achieved - claims that turned out to be false. The aim will be to create a human embryo clone, to extract stem cells which identically match a person genetically. The scientists will combine genetic material from the cells of adult humans with egg cells. The egg cells will be donated by women. The new cloned embryos will mature for a few days, after which their stem cells will be extracted...[more] The newly formed Charity, Freedom and Diversity (NVD) party of the Netherlands has introduced itself to Dutch politics as a champion of children's rights and has vowed, "We are going to shake The Hague awake!" The NVD is Europe 's first political party dedicated to promoting and legitimizing pedophilia. In a press release, the NVD's spokesman and co-founder, Ad van den Berg said among their goals is lowering the age of consent for sexual activity from 16 to 12 and eventually eliminating it completely. The party also said that people should be allowed to go naked in public and promotes legalising all drugs and free train travel for all. Reuters reports that a poll found that in the same country that has legalized prostitution, marijuana use, euthanasia of children and homosexual "marriage," 82 % said the government must do something to stop the paedophilia party from advancing its agenda..[more] The American state of Indianapolis has approved an anti-abortion group's application for a license plate that could include the words "Choose Life." The group has submitted a design that would be similar to one that will be available soon in Kentucky . That design includes a yellow background, drawings of two children, and "Choose life" printed in magenta on the bottom. "We think this is great," said Mike Fichter, executive director of Indiana Right to Life. The organization "has worked for years to bring this about." "The driving force is to provide the levels of funding needed for pro-life pregnancy resource centres, which provide information on alternatives to abortion," he said...[more] Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, says she will sign a law advocating a statewide abortion ban that would take effect if the Supreme Court reverses Roe v. Wade. The decision is delighting pro-life groups who are pressing for the ban in the legislature. The abortion ban only contains an exception to allow abortions in order to save the life of the mother. Blanco had previously said she wanted rape and incest exceptions added as well, but the House and Senate voted against them...[more] After a majority vote by the Canadian branch at their Winnipeg meeting last week to adopt abortion as a 'human right,' Amnesty International will move forward with its consideration of supporting decriminalisation of abortion in Portugal this summer and then on to abortion on demand the following year. Britain and New Zealand have also voted to support abortion (refer to report in the previous bi-weekly newsletter)...[more] Over three-quarters of sexually abused children who seek help from Childline in KwaZulu-Natal have been hurt by other children, with kids under the age of 12 now outnumbering teens as the main culprits. 88% of these Child Sex Offenders have been exposed to pornography. Childline KZN is one of eight Childlines and receives approximately 24000 calls every month. According to Childline KZN Director, Linda Naidoo, paedophiles are the most difficult to catch because they spend a long time grooming a child, and creating a dependence on them...[more] Three suspects arrested on suspicion of Muti murders in the Limpopo province have been charged. Bishop Tanzwani Ramafamba (73) of the Holiness Apostolic Church, Mukondeleli Phosha (54) and Shumani Dzebu (31), both traditional healers, were formally served with seven counts which range from murder, robbery, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and possession of human body parts...[more] |
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'Doctors for Life International' represents more than 1400 medical doctors and specialists, three-quarters of who practice in South Africa. Since 1991 DFL has been actively promoting health care that is safe and efficient for all South Africans. DFL was founded as a South African organization in 1991 and has spread across the globe. DFL is involved in several community projects including orphan care, the care of terminal AIDS patients, malaria prevention and the care of abused women.