01 April 2008
New Zealand - Abortion Facts Re-Confirmed
women who gave birtThe Royal College of Psychiatrists says having an abortion may place some women at risk of developing mental health problems. The college has changed its position on how terminating a pregnancy affects women as a result of new research. Prior to the new evidence the college maintained that the risk of psychological problems that come from following through with the pregnancy outweighed those of having an abortion. Recent research by scientists in New Zealand has shown that women who had an abortion had increased rates of severe depression, anxiety and suicidal tendencies compared with h. They were also twice as likely to drink alcohol to dangerous levels and three times as likely to be dependent on illicit drugs. ...[more]
UK - Hundreds Born Within Abortion Limit Survive
Hundreds of children are surviving after being born within the legal limit for abortion. Official Department of Health data show that 909 children were born between 22 and 24 weeks of pregnancy during 2005. Of those, 250 survived for at least a year. The figures will be used by pro-life campaigners as further proof of the need to cut the abortion time limit when MPs vote on the issue in the coming weeks. The current time limit of 24 weeks was laid down by Parliament in 1990. Epicure 2, a Government-funded study into the survival rates of premature babies based on 1995 figures, has suggested that the chance of survival was between 10 and 15 per cent, and the British Association of Perinatal Medicine has suggested that survival rates have not changed significantly since then. John Wyatt, a University College London professor and a member of the anti-abortion Christian Medical Fellowship, has claimed that survival rates are as high as 42 per cent at 23 weeks and 72 per cent at 24 weeks' gestation. Anti-abortion campaigners point out that survival rates can be even higher in specialist hospital units. Last month, a separate study, carried out at University College London Hospital, found that one third of babies born between 22 and 25 weeks' gestation survived in the early 1980s but this had risen to 71 per cent by the late 1990s. ...[more]
USA - Bush Admin Attacked, Praised for Protecting Pro-Life Doctors on Abortion
The Bush administration received both attacks and praise for its support of pro-life doctors who don't want to lose their OBGYN accreditation for not referring for abortions. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt opposes the new policy the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has been working on that says all doctors, including those who are pro-life, should refer women to abortion centres. One of the biggest problems with the policy is that the college's board could adopt it and doing or promoting abortions could become formally linked to obstetrician board certification. Leavitt called on the college's board to reject the policy and protect the conscience rights of physicians. ...[more]
return to top
USA - Nebraska Governor Signs Stem Cell Bill
In a vote of 48 to 0 and one abstention the Nebraskan State Senate passed a Bill that prohibits the use of state money, facilities or resources to conduct research that destroys human embryos or that creates cloned embryos for research or reproduction. Gov. Dave Heineman quickly signed it and the new law took effect immediately. The new law also will provide grants to encourage stem cell research by Nebraska institutions and researchers that do not use human embryos. The grants will be funded with $500,000 from the state's tobacco lawsuit settlement funds. ...[more]
UK - Brown Under Pressure Over Embryology Bill
British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has come under heavy criticism over plans to change the law on embryo research and allow the development of animal-human embryos. The leader of Scotland's Roman Catholics, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, used his Easter Sunday sermon to attack the plans. He said, "One might say that in our country we are about to have a public Government endorsement of experiments of Frankenstein proportion - without many people really being aware of what is going on. "The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill is currently in the House of Commons. It allows for human DNA to be mixed with animal DNA to create an animal-human embryo. Stem cells would then be harvested from the resulting embryo, which must be destroyed by 14 days of development. ...[more]
return to top
Dutch Publish DIY Suicide Guide
A scientific guide on how to commit suicide is going on sale in Holland, written by a group of respected scientists and psychiatrists. It contains detailed information on using drugs as well as committing suicide by starvation, including the quickest and least painful way to do it. Its authors are also planning English, French and German editions. There are about 4,400 suicides a year in Holland, broadly the same as in England and Wales, even though it has barely a quarter of the population. ...[more]
Belgians push for Teens to Decide on Euthanasia
In a drive to further liberalize its euthanasia laws, Belgian lawmakers are suggesting teens should be given the right to request assisted suicide, and parents of terminal children should be able to make the choice for them. Under existing Belgian laws, in place since 2002, patients, other than newborn babies, must be over 18 to qualify for assisted suicide. Euthanasia is currently permitted on infants and more than half of the Belgian babies who die before they are 12 months old have been killed by deliberate medical intervention, and in 16% of those cases, parental consent was not considered. The Belgian Liberals pledged to bring new legislative proposals extending euthanasia to children and old people suffering from dementia and are unable to choose for themselves. "Avoiding suffering is no act of bravery," said Belgium's Catholic Cardinal on his Easter sermon. "Our society seems unable to cope with death and suffering." ...[more]
return to top
Nigeria - 61 Percent of New HIV/Aids Infections Are Women
The National Agency For The Control of AIDS (NACA) has revealed that an estimated sixty one percent of Nigerians that are newly infected with HIV/AIDS are women and young girls. The Director General of NACA, Professor Babatunde Oshotimehin who gave the information in Abuja at a One-day workshop organised by the agency to strengthen its relationship with the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), said the country stands the risk of losing an important part of her population to the scourge of HIV if the situation is not quickly addressed. He said, "We have to appreciate why it is important for women to be in the fore front of the battle against the spread of HIV/AIDS. Today, Africa houses seventy percent of HIV/AIDS infections, with sixty-one percent of new infections in Nigeria being women and young girls. ...[more]
International - UN raises alarm on AIDS epidemic in Asia
Asian governments must devote more funds to preventing AIDS or face the risk the disease could kill nearly 500,000 people each year across the continent by 2020, a United Nations report says. While the international spotlight has often focused on AIDS in Africa, the study commissioned by the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS sounded the alarm about the impact of the scourge in Asia. About 440,000 currently die from the disease each year in Asia, the report said. The study released Wednesday also said the overall number of infected people would likely double to 10 million by 2020 if prevention efforts are not implemented. "Despite a declining trend of new HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) infections in a few countries, AIDS still accounts for more deaths annually among 15 to 44 year-olds than do tuberculosis and other diseases," it noted. ...[more]
USA - Abstinence The Best Health Message
President Bush’s 2009 budget proposal includes $204 million to support Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE), but dozens of liberals in Congress want all abstinence money axed from the budget. Seventy-six representatives — all abortion supporters — have signed a letter sponsored by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., asking the House Appropriations Committee to cut all abstinence-education funding. The debate surfaces on the heels of a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that shows one in four teen girls in the U.S. has a sexually transmitted infection (STI). “With 3 million teen girls infected with STIs, safer sex in adolescents does not exist,” said Linda Klepacki, sexual health analyst for Focus on the Family Action. “For the current and future health of teens, we must teach them how to have strong relationships not based on sex.” ...[more]
return to top
USA - State Joins Fight Against Syphilis Outbreak
Five state health investigators are joining in to help stem the spread of syphilis is San Diego County, where there's been a 1,100 percent rise in syphilis cases between 2000 and 2007. This may sound insignificantly small, but it still implies more than 100% increase per year. California communicable disease control chief, Douglas Hatch says, "San Diego's increase is a cause for concern because we're just not understanding why it's being transmitted in the frequency that we're seeing." Most of the syphilis infections in San Diego, and nationwide, involve male homosexual encounters. San Diego County syphilis cases went from 28 in 2000 to 340 last year, much higher that the other large urban counties of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange and Alameda. The state team dispatched to San Diego County will contact people diagnosed with syphilis to locate their sexual partners so they can be tested. Last month, the county health agency launched a radio and television ad campaign in an effort to reverse a spike in syphilis infections and other sexually transmitted diseases. ...[more]
return to top
South Africa – Brothel Property Forfeited to State
The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that a property owner who used his property for the sole purpose of prostitution should forfeit the property, worth about R2m, to the state. Asset Forfeiture Unit head Willie Hofmeyr said, “The judgement will make the work of the Asset Forfeiture Unit a lot easier in that category of offences. We hope the judgement will send a strong message to brother owners”. In 2000, a close corporation of which Frederick Geyser was sole member bought property in Arcadia, Pretoria, consisting of a single-storey residence. Geyser renovated the building and added a storey of 14 bedrooms, 10 of which contained no more than a shower, a double bed and a chair. "What this unanimous judgment makes clear is that where owners deliberately use property for criminal activities, they will not be treated with any sympathy by the courts, especially when the property is used in an ongoing way as a criminal business,” said Hofmeyr. ...[more]
return to top
India – ‘Rent-A-Womb' Is Still Exploitation
In an article entitled "India Nurtures Business of Surrogate Motherhood," the New York Times reported recently on this globalization of the practice of hiring wombs of impoverished Indians to a carry the babies of the affluent to term: "An enterprise known as reproductive outsourcing is a new but rapidly expanding business in India. Clinics that provide surrogate mothers for foreigners say they have recently been inundated with requests from the United States and Europe. The Times also observes: "Surrogacy is an area fraught with ethical and legal uncertainties. Critics argue that the ease with which relatively rich foreigners are able to 'rent' the wombs of poor Indians creates the potential for exploitation. ...[more]
return to top
|
