28 June, 2003
No
evidence to support 72 hour window for morning-after pill
A study published in the June issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology
noted only a 1% difference in the pregnancy rates of women who took the
morning after pill within 72 hours and those who took it three to five days
after intercourse. While the results of the survey may have been
affected by small number of women who participated, the researchers assert
that there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that the pill must
be taken within 72 hours to have the desired effect. The study defined
the beginning of 'pregnancy' as implantation rather than conception,
thus avoiding the issue that is usually foremost for conscientious
objectors. However, the extension of the operative window for the drug
by two days and lack of evidence to support the 72 hour limit ought to
relieve some of the pressure to supply or refer for the drug on the grounds
that it is urgently required.
27 June, 2003
Sex-Selective IVF
A 33 year old British woman who has four boys but who wants to have a girl
has gone to Spain for an in vitro fertilization process that will
kill male embryos and select female embryos for implantation. Sex
selection is prohibited in Britain except in the case of genetically
transmitted disease, but the woman asserts that "freedom of choice" ought to
be extended to sex selection as well. She points out that abortions in
Britain take place up to the 24th week of gestation, and that it is
inconsistent to prohibit 'gender choice' when the embryo is only four or
five days old. [BBC]
The case illustrates the fact that the approval of IVF in some situations
and not in others may involve moral decision making in public policy.
It also demonstrates how easily ethical goal posts can be moved, which can
cause moral conflicts for workers in the field.
Concern in UK over potential for euthanasia
A Draft Mental Incapacity
Bill introduced by the British government is generating concern that
incapacitated patients may be legally killed by dehydration and starvation,
upon the direction of attorneys or court appointed deputies. The bill
is to be considered in committee and a report is expected in October. [BBC,
SPUC]
25 June, 2003
UK
government proposes universal eugenic screening
Despite what Health secretary John Reid described as "very real ethical and social concerns",
the government of the United Kingdom is proposing to screen all newborns and
provide eugenic prenatal tests to identify Down Syndrome infants.
[Financial Times, 25 June] The normalization of eugenic screening is likely
to create the expectation that health care workers will participate in the
procedures, causing problems for those who object to it.
24 June, 2003
Coercive
legislation vetoed by Governor in Hawaii
Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle vetoed Senate Bill 658, which would have forced
even objecting denominational hospitals to provide the potentially
abortificaient 'morning-after pill' to rape complainants, or face $5,000.00
fines and revocation or suspension of institutional licenses.
23 June, 2003
New Belgian government plans to force euthanasia upon hospitals
In addition to extending Belgium's assisted suicide law to include those
under 18, political leaders assembling a coalition government plan to force
all hospitals to provide euthanasia teams. The move is reported
to have been sparked by the refusal of some Catholic hospitals to allow
euthanasia on their premises. [Expatica]
20 June, 2003
Compromise worked out in New
York
A bill that will require New York hospitals to dispense the potentially
abortifacient 'morning-after pill' has been amended so that the drug will
not have to be dispensed to women who may already be pregnant. As a
result, the New York State Catholic Conference withdrew its objection to the
legislation. A spokesman for the Conference explained that Catholic
hospitals already dispense the pill when there is no evidence that
conception has occurred.
19 June, 2003
Assisted suicide and euthanasia in Switzerland
A study by the University of Zurich suggests that Switzerland had the
highest rate of assisted suicide in Europe, and a substantial number of
cases of euthanasia. About 500 of 60,000 deaths
in the German speaking part of the country each year are assisted suicides.
The news article about the study distinguishes between what it terms "direct
active euthanasia" (deliberate lethal drug overdoses - illegal in
Switzerland), "indirect active euthanasia" ("giving the patient a palliative
that could lead to death" - legal) and "passive euthanasia" (withdrawing
treatment in order to cause death - legal). Of 3,350 deaths studied by
the university in German speaking Switzerland, half were cases of "active"
or "passive" euthanasia, with the latter accounting for about 1/3 of the
cases.
The report illustrates the problem caused by terminology. Most people who object to euthanasia do not consider it to include the administration of pain relieving drugs that may have the secondary effect of shortening life. On the other hand, they would define deliberate withdrawal of treatment in order to cause death as euthanasia, and reject the qualifier 'passive'. Finally, they would not define euthanasia to include the withdrawal of extraordinary treatment that is burdensome rather than beneficial. The failure to make these distinctions in studies and reports can create the impression that euthanasia is widespread, and lead to suggestions that the purportedly widespread practice should be legalized. In such circumstances, objectors may find themselves increasingly pressured to participate in what they judge to be morally abhorrent practices. [News report]
18 June, 2003
Controversy over failure
to resuscitate
Surgeon David Shields has resigned from Oldchurch Hospital in East London,
claiming that the staff refused to resuscitate an elderly patient. He
rejects the hospital's claim that he had agreed to a 'do not resuscitate'
order and should not have operated on the patient. [The Times] The
incident demonstrates the potential for conflicts of conscience in decisions
about withdrawing or refusing treatment.
17 June, 2003
Issues of conscience
dividing physicians
The Christian Medical Association has
issued a news release claiming that physicians are quitting the American Medical Association
"in droves" because of its support for ethically controversial procedures.
The CMA notes that the number of doctors in the country belonging to the AMA
has declined from about 90% in the 1960's to a current level of about 40%.
13 June, 2003
Abortion
expansion planned by South African government
The South African Department of Health plans to force all hospitals with 24
hour maternity service to provide abortions. The proposed bill is
called the Choice on
termination of pregnancy amendment bill, 2003. The government
appears to be ignoring the fact that significant problems have been caused
by its original abortion law because it failed to take into account
widespread conscientious objection to abortion among health care workers.
[See
South Africa Changes Abortion Law
(1996-97); Are State Doctors in the Western Cape willing to implement the Choice of Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996?
An opinion survey conducted in the Western Cape in November 1997;
Traumatised Health Care Professionals Forced to Take Part in Abortion
Procedures]
The bill would also allow all nurses to perform abortions, which is likely to make things increasingly difficult for nurses who object to the procedure. [See No Place for Abortion in African Traditional Life - Some Reflections (2002)] An additional but current problem for objectors is the use of the abortifiacient drug cytotec (misoprostol). Physicians or health care workers prescribe the drug to begin an abortion, but do not always make themselves available to complete it. The patient may have to go to a hospital with an incomplete abortion, causing significant problems for health care workers who object to the procedure. Ironically, beginning an abortion and sending the woman to the hospital to have it completed was once condemned by the medical profession; the elimination of such practices was often given as a reason for the legalization of abortion. It may be appropriate to consider the present practice a form of abandonment of the patient when the attending physician fails to ensure, in advance, that willing and competent personnel are available to complete an abortion he has started with the drug.
11 June, 2003
Repression of conscience being legislated in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Abortion Rights Action League is supporting a bill that
would force hospitals to supply the potentially abortifacient
'morning-after' pill. not only to rape complainants, but to any woman
concerned that she might be pregnant. The bill would apply to
denominational hospitals, such as the Catholic Saints Memorial Medical
Center in Lowell. A spokeswoman for the Rape Crisis Services in
Lowell, Mass., specifically identified Catholic hospitals as a target for
the bill. [Lowell Sun]
Legalization of euthanasia sought in China
A man who convinced a doctor to give a lethal injection to his mother,
who had cirrhosis of the liver, wants to die as his mother did. Wang
Mingcheng of Shaanxi Province was found not guilty of murder in the Supreme
People's Court in 1991. He now has cancer and says that he "cannot
bear the suffering." [China Daily] The policy of coercion that has been
applied to enforce China's 'one-child policy', which affects both health
care workers and patients, is likely to be applied to euthanasia if the
procedure is legalized. [See
Chinese health care workers and the
'one-child' policy]
Concerns about minority of experts in Japan
Ryuichi Ida, a Kyoto University law professor who specializes in
international law, warns that Japanese do not understand bioethics and that
discussion is controlled by "a tiny minority of experts". He is
concerned about the government's 'biobank' gene data project and has called
for more public discussion of the issues. [The Japan Times] Similar concerns
are raised in several documents on the Project website. See
Is Bioethics Ethical?;
When We Were Philosopher Kings;
Which Medical Ethics for the 21st Century?;
Establishment Bioethics;
The Bioethics Mess.
10 June, 2003
Harvesting tissue
from abortion in Australia
Crucell, the Dutch company that was unsuccessful in securing tissue from
abortions in New Zealand,
is reported to be trying to obtain it in Australia through Parexel
International, a Sydney organization. The normalization of the
harvesting and use of organs and tissue from aborted infants is likely to
cause problems health care workers and others who object to such activity. [Wholesale
enterprise supplies researchers (Canada
& U.S.A.) (1999)]
9 June, 2003
Euthanasia activism in
U.K. and Australia
Lord Joffe's private member's bill to legalize euthanasia for patients
suffering from terminal or incurable illness was debated for seven hours in
the United Kingdom's House of Lords. The bill received second reading
and passed into committee, a procedure which is apparently customary and
does not necessarily signify the support of the House. It is reported
to have been stiffly opposed by peers from all parties, despite widespread
media support. [The
Telegraph] Among those seeking such legislation is Lesley Close, whose brother
travelled to Switzerland for assisted suicide at a clinic run by the
organization "Dignitas". On the other hand, hospice and palliative
care unit chaplains are opposed to the bill, insisting that patients should
receive 'holistic palliative care.' [Church Times] The BBC is running
a 'Kill or Cure' series on the subject, and will be broadcasting the video
diary of a 'right-to-die' advocate.
Meanwhile, in Australia, The Advertiser reported that over the past seven years there have been five private members bills on euthanasia in the South Australia Parliament; one is now at the committee stage. It also noted that euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke was planning to display a suicide machine at a workshop in Adelaide.
In the absence of sound protection of conscience legislation, success by groups seeking legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia would likely cause significant problems for health care workers who do not wish to participate in the procedures.
5 June, 2003
Canadian MP wants abortion
on demand
Svend
Robinson of the New Democratic Party has introduced a
motion asking the government to increase the proportion of hospitals
providing abortion from 17% to 33% in two years, and adopt measures to see
that it is available "on demand". Robinson is attempting to use the
Canada Health Act, which is the basis for Canada's state health care system,
to force hospitals to provide the morally controversial procedure. Robinson also
advocates legalization of euthanasia; he was present when a woman suffering
from motor neuron disease was killed by lethal injection in British Columbia
several years ago. He refused to disclose the name of the doctor who
gave the injection. [See
Chief Justice favours assisted suicide, willing to order assistance]
Wisconsin bill passes
Wisconsin
Assembly Bill 67
has cleared the Assembly and passed to the state Senate. Amendments
that had been proposed in committee were rejected by the Assembly. [See previous item:
Wisconsin pro-life groups
at odds over protection of conscience legislation;
Wisconsin committee approves protection of conscience bill]
30 May, 2003
House of Lords to debate
euthanasia bill
Lord
Joffe’s Patient (Assisted Dying) Bill is to be debated in the House of Lords
in England on 6 June. Catholic peers have been urged to challenge the
bill by Peter Smith, Archbishop of Cardiff and Chairman of
the Catholic Bishops’ Department for Christian Responsibility and
Citizenship.
Nutrition and hydration to be withdrawn from Australian woman
The Supreme Court of the Australian state of Victoria has ruled that tube
feeding is medical
treatment that can be withdrawn from of a 68 year old woman who suffers
from a fatal form of dementia known as Pick's Disease.
Dr. John Fleming, director of the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute and
an advisor to the Project, warned that the decision "potentially affects all
the elderly, handicapped, and unconscious persons who rely upon such
assistance." The Project has issued a news release on the decision,
pointing out that it also has serious implications for health care workers.
[The
Age;
Tube Feeding: Medical Treatment or Basic Care?;
News Release]
Controversy in Wisconsin
continues
An attempt to restore protection of conscience provisions in AB67 has been
defeated in the Assembly.
[See previous items:
Wisconsin pro-life groups
at odds over protection of conscience legislation;
Wisconsin committee approves protection of conscience bill]
28 May, 2003
'Excessive paperwork' faulted for failure to report euthanasia
The Netherlands' euthanasia authority (NOS) has found that only 54% of the
cases of euthanasia in 2001 were properly documented, up from 41% in 1995
and 18% in 1991. The poor reporting record is blamed on 'excessive
paperwork'. Although the number of patients killed through euthanasia
and assisted suicide appears to have leveled off in 2001, physicians in the
Netherlands "end the lives of 900 people without the required request."
[News
Report] There have been reports of pressure applied to physicians who
are unwilling to provide this service. [Refusal
of hospitals to perform euthanasia considered 'problematic';
Doctor in the Lions' Den]
21 May, 2003
Company seeks tissue from
abortion
The Dutch company Crucell will be unable to use tissue obtained through
abortions in New Zealand to develop stem cell lines or make vaccines.
The general manager of the Capital Coast Health Board, which withdrew its
support for the bid, noted that New Zealand had no guidelines on the use of
foetal tissue for research. It is not clear if the Board will change
its position if guidelines are established. The use of vaccines or
other products derived through abortion creates conflicts for some patients
and consumers as well as health care workers. [New
Zealand Herald]
19 May, 2003
Use of
morning-after pill triples in United States
A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation indicates that the number of
American women using the potentially abortifacient morning-after pill has
tripled in the past three years.
The College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that women be
given prescriptions for the drug in advance. Such developments
underscore the increasing pressure being felt by pharmacists who object to
dispensing the drug for reasons of conscience.
16 May, 2003
"Truth in advertising" suggested in Australia
Independent Tasmanian Senator Brian Harradine has proposed that Australian
drug companies should have to state whether or not their products have been
developed using human embryos. The Therapeutic Goods Administration
has been instructed to consider and report on the suggestion. [Sydney Morning Herald]
It is not uncommon for companies to identify their products as not having
been tested on animals, for the benefit of those who object to animal
testing. It does not seem unreasonable to demonstrate the same respect
for those who object to the use of human embryos in research or product
development.
Only non-religious
belief or morality allowed
Vatican opposition to granting UN status to the National Abortion Federation
(United States and Canada) has been criticized by
France. The French representative claimed that the decision should not
be made on moral or religious grounds. However, the acceptance of the
Federation would require the presupposition that there is nothing morally
objectionable about its activities - itself a moral judgement. [For
commentary on this type of argument, see
There Are No Secular Unbelievers and
The Illusion of Moral Neutrality ]
British appeal court
permits embryo design
Britain's Court of Appeal has approved a plan by parents to produce a baby
through in vitro fertilization and genetic screening to serve as a
bone marrow donor for their four year old son. They hope to cure the
boy of beta-thalassaemia using bone marrow from the donor sibling.
Producing genetically 'made to order' babies in order to supply tissue is
ethically contentious. Normalization of the practice may adversely
impact health care workers who object to such procedures. [BBC]
Assisted suicide bills
in United States
Bills to legalize
physician-assisted suicide have been introduced this year in Arizona,
Hawaii and Vermont; a bill in North Carolina would ban it. [American
Medical Association]
15 May, 2003
Physicians
oppose assisted suicide in United Kingdom
Continued pressure to legalize assisted suicide in the United Kingdom is on
a collision course with the majority of British doctors. It is
reported that 74% of physicians surveyed would refuse to participate in
assisted suicide even if it were legalized. [BBC]
Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) to fund embryo research
With the apparent approval of Health Canada, CIHR President Dr. Alan
Bernstein has announced that the Institute is unwilling to wait for
parliament to pass regulatory legislation and will fund stem cell research
that will result in the destruction of human embryos. In the absence
of legislation there are no legal restrictions on any form of embryo
research in Canada. Canada also has no laws to protect researchers who
may object to some forms of embryo research for reasons of conscience. [National
Post]
14 May, 2003
Conscientious
objection among military physicians
It is reported that no military physicians were willing to perform
abortions after President Clinton allowed abortions in military facilities from 1993 to
1996. This needs to be taken fully into account in the formulation of
any policy applied to military health care workers.
Wisconsin committee approves protection of conscience bill
By a 6-2 vote, the Wisconsin
Assembly Labor Committee approved
Assembly Bill 63,
which will now go to the full Assembly for approval. The bill offers
protection to pharmacists who object to dispensing drugs or devices that
they reasonably believe would be used to cause death. [News
Release]
Euthanasia bill in United
Kingdom
Lord Joffe has introduced a bill in the United Kingdom's House of Lords that
would legalise euthanasia, while the House of Keys on the Isle of Man has
appointed a committee to study similar legislation proposed by two
parliamentarians there. The Isle of Man is a crown dependency in the
Irish sea.
12 May, 2003
Court challenge looms in Hawaii
A Catholic hospital system could challenge a bill now before the
governor of Hawaii which would require hospitals to provide abortifacient
morning-after pills to rape victims. The St Francis healthcare system says
the law would force them to go against their religious beliefs. Governor
Linda Lingle expressed surprise that the bill did not exempt religious
organisations. The measure would allow for hospitals to be fined $5,000 for
not co-operating and, if they offended twice, their licence could be
revoked. [Honolulu Advertiser, 12 May]
10 May, 2003
Euthanasia campaign in Britain
The Voluntary Euthanasia Society's poster campaign calling for
legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia is being supported by the
widower of Mrs. Diane Pretty. Mrs. Pretty died a year ago from motor
neurone disease following an unsuccessful attempt to challenge the existing
law.
9 May, 2003
Human rights
commission advocates euthanasia
A former high court judge who now heads the human rights commission of
West Bengal, India, wants euthanasia legalized when requested by patients,
if relatives and doctors agree. [Hindustan Times, 9 May]
Objecting health care workers are particularly vulnerable to coercion when
euthanasia is advocated as a 'right'.
6 May, 2003
Public
funding proposed for fertility treatments in Japan
The Daily Yomiuri reports that the Japanese government plans to combat a
falling birth-rate by funding fertility treatments for married couples.
The funding would include morally controversial procedures like in vitro
fertilization, creating an expectation that health care workers will provide
the service.
Repressive measure stalled in
Nevada
Hundreds of e-mail messages from advocates for freedom of conscience and
religion have caused the Nevada senate to table a bill that would have
forced pharmacists to fill prescriptions for morally controversial drugs.
Planned Parenthood championed the bill because it wanted to prevent
pharmacists from exercising the religious freedom that one normally
associates with western democracies.
5 May, 2003
Australian court asked to rule on nutrition and hydration
The supreme court in the Australian state of Victoria is being asked to
rule on whether feeding and hydration is medical
treatment or
care.
The distinction is important because laws in common law countries generally
allow withdrawal or refusal of medical treatment. When nutrition and
hydration are classified as 'treatment', it is legally permissible to cause the death of patients by starvation and dehydration, which some
health care workers find morally repugnant. The patient at the centre
of the case is a 68 year old woman with dementia who continues to live
because she is being fed artificially in a nursing home. [Courier-Mail, 5
May]
1 May, 2003
Public funding
sought for artificial reproduction
A decision by an English appeals court in 1997 that a woman could use
her dead husband's sperm to conceive a child now appears to have become a
precedent for a claim by another woman. A widow in Hampshire, who has
two sons, complains that public funding is not available to assist her in
using her dead husband's sperm to produce a daughter through in vitro
fertilization. The case illustrates the kind of expectations that can
be generated when health care is delivered chiefly by the state.
Health care workers in such a system may find themselves expected to
participate in morally controversial procedures because they have been 'paid
for' through taxation and guaranteed as 'rights'.
28 April, 2003
Euthanasia activism in Hungary
While two thirds of Hungarians are said to favour the legalisation of
euthanasia, the country's constitutional court has rejected a request that
mercy-killing not be treated as manslaughter. If the report of such
broad public support for euthanasia is accurate, the possibility that
euthanasia might be legalized should be of special concern to health care
workers who object to euthanasia and assisted suicide for reasons of
conscience.
Euthanasia in Netherlands said to be down
Over 1800 patients were killed by euthanasia in the Netherlands in 2002,
down from over 2000 in 2001 and 2100 in 2000. The accuracy of reports
filed by doctors has been a subject of contention.
28 April, 2003
Kenyan constitutional
conference to start
The Catholic Church in Kenya is encouraging Catholic participants to resist
legalization of abortion in the country's constitutional conference
scheduled for 28 April, 2003. Failure to consider opposition to
abortion among health care workers has led to problems in South Africa. (See
previous
report on Kenya, with remarks on the situation in South Africa)
Parthenogenesis used
to produce human embryos
Scientists in Gaithersburg, Maryland, claim
to have produced human embryos by parthenogenesis. They chemically
stimulated a the human oocyte and caused it to transform
into an embryo which survived until the blastocyst stage. The process
is intended to be used to produce human embryos as a source of stem cells.
The article claims that parthenogenesis avoids ethical concerns surrounding
embryonic stem cell research; that opinion is sharply contested. [Study]
25 April, 2003
Arizona governor
vetoes conscience protection
The governor of Arizona vetoed Senate Bill 1089, which had been passed
in order to ensure that non-profit religious corporations or groups would
not be forced to violate their beliefs by being forced to provide
contraceptive drugs to employees.
Hawaiian legislature suppresses freedom of conscience
The Hawaiian House of Representatives and Senate have passed a bill to force
hospitals to provide the potentially abortifacient 'morning after pill' to
rape complainants who request it. No exemptions were allowed for
denominational institutions. Failing to provide the information
demanded by the act or failing to provide the drug can be punished by a
$5,000.00 fine for a first offence. Later violations can lead to
suspension or revocation of licences to operate.
23 April, 2003
Wisconsin pro-life groups
at odds over protection of conscience legislation
Pro-life groups are divided over Wisconsin Assembly Bill 67. The
bill was primarily supported by Wisconsin Right to Life, though Pro-life
Wisconsin, a different group, and Pharmacists for Life International both
expressed support for it in its
original form.
The original bill was 'procedure specific', in that it ensured freedom of
conscience with respect to six explicitly defined activities. Five of
the six defined activities involved direct or indirect participation in
causing the death of human individuals; the sixth, sterilization procedures,
did not. The original bill made no reference to contraception, so that
no protection was afforded those with moral or religious objections to
contraception.
However, the bill was amended by its sponsor to specifically exclude the possibility of protection for conscientious objectors with respect to contraceptive drugs and devices as defined in Wisconsin Statutes, Chapter 450.155(1)(a): "Contraceptive article" means any drug, medicine, mixture, preparation, instrument, article or device of any nature used or intended or represented to be used to prevent a pregnancy.
Why exclude protection of conscience with respect to contraceptives in a bill that did not purport to provide it in the first place?
The reason appears to be that a number of drugs or devices that are marketed as contraceptives do not always prevent conception, but sometimes prevent the implantation of a human embryo. Pharmacists and other health care workers who object to causing the death of a human embryo may object to dispensing drugs or devices that have this effect. In its original form, AB67 could have been interpreted to provide for freedom of conscience for these people. The amendment appears to have been introduced to exclude that possibility. As a result, Pro-life Wisconsin and Pharmacists for Life International withdrew their support for AB67, and PFLI publicly rebuked Wisconsin Right to Life and the bill's sponsor for moving the amendment.
An ironic consequence is that the amended bill continues to protect those who would not participate in the destruction of a human embryo in vitro, but not those who would object to the destruction of a human embryo in utero. In any case, from the outset, nothing in the bill would have secured freedom of conscience for those who oppose contraception per se.
Conscientious objection in Mexico potentially unlawful
It is not clear whether or not legislators in Mexico have actually made
conscientious objection a criminal offence by passing a law that makes it an
offence to "hinder women's access" to information about "reproductive
health", which is typically interpreted to mean abortion and contraception.
14 April, 2003
New
Zealand physician expresses concern about Mifepristone
After New Zealand's High Court ruled that women need not remain in a clinic
after taking the abortifacient mifepristone (formerly RU486)
the medical director at Lyndhurst Hospital in Christchurch reminded the
public that chemical abortions are a lengthier process than surgical
abortions, and that a certain number of women who take the drug will have to
have a surgical abortions anyway. [News
item][News
item] What has been overlooked is the probability that physicians who
find abortion morally abhorrent will be confronted by women with incomplete
abortions who expect them to finish surgically what one of their colleagues
has begun chemically, even if the child might be saved by conservative case
management. The Project has received reports that this has become a
problem elsewhere.
12 April, 2003
Human cloning
proposed for research purposes
The Scotsman reports that Professor Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute
in Scotland plans to request permission to clone a patient who has motor
neuron disease, and then destroy the cloned embryo to extract stem cells for
the purpose of research. Existing ethical controversy concerning the
use of vaccines derived from aborted fetuses illustrates demonstrates the
probability that research cloning will produce long-term, ongoing conflicts
for those who object to such procedures. [The Scotsman, 12 April,
2003]
11
April, 2003
New
York City council demands 'morning-after pill' be dispensed
Under the terms of a bylaw passed by New York city council over the veto of
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, hospitals that have contracts with the city must
provide the potentially abortifacient 'morning-after pill' to patients
complaining of rape. It is not clear to what extent the bylaw will
impact hospitals run by groups that are opposed to abortion.
A second bylaw requires pharmacies to post notices if they do not carry
the 'morning after pill'. Whatever the intent of the bylaw, it
may actually reduce the possibility of a conflict between pharmacists and
patients.
9 April, 2003
Majority of Britons said to favour destruction of embryos for research
70% of people surveyed in Britain are said to support destructive
research on embryos in order to study human fertility and find treatments
for serious diseases. The survey was jointly commissioned by several
organizations. If the survey results are accurate, and if they can be
applied to health care professions, 30% of health care workers
may find themselves under pressure to participate in procedures that they
find morally objectionable.
8 April, 2003
English Court of Appeal approves eugenic production of babies for tissue
donation
A family in England may now produce in vitro embryos and use eugenic
screening to identify a suitable bone marrow donor, who will be
brought to term to provide a transplant for their four year old child.
It is not clear whether genetically unsuitable embryos will be frozen,
destroyed or offered for experimental research. The procedure has been
approved by an appeal court ruling that overturned a lower court judgement.
[BBC News]
7 April, 2003
Nevada assembly
prefers business over morality
The Nevada Assembly has rejected a protection of conscience amendment in a
bill that is intended to suppress religious freedom among pharmacists in the
state. The bill is supported by Planned Parenthood, which wants to
force pharmacists to dispense contraceptive and abortifacient drugs even if
they have religious or moral objections to doing so. Assemblyman David
Goldwater, of Las Vegas claimed that refusing to dispense drugs could "put
peoples' heath at risk". Remarkably, Goldwater asserted that this
purported health risk was acceptable if it resulted from a business decision
not to carry drugs rather than a moral decision to refuse to dispense them.
His argument was supported by Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, also of Las
Vegas,and a Planned Parenthood representative. They did not explain
why it was acceptable to endanger someone's health for economic reasons.
The Minority Leader in the Assembly, Lynn Hettrick, rejected freedom of conscience for pharmacists because, in his view, the physician, not the pharmacist, makes the decision that the drug should be taken. The same argument could be used to force pharmacists to dispense drugs for assisted suicide, euthanasia, and execution by lethal injection. The protective amendment had been moved by Assemblyman Joe Hardy of Boulder City, a physician. [Review Journal][Kaiser Report]
New York
permits cloning for medical experiments
The New York State Assembly has passed a bill that will allow cloning and
gestation of
human beings as long as they are killed before birth. This was
accomplished by defining somatic cell nuclear transfer as 'reproductive
cloning' when it is intended to result in the birth of a child, and
'therapeutic cloning' when intended to produce an embryo for research or
treatment. The bill, called
The Reproductive
Cloning Prohibition and Research Protection Act, is described as a
"moral outrage" in a
news
release from the New York State Catholic Conference. While the act
purports to 'protect' research, it includes no protective provisions for
those who do not want to participate in human cloning.
4
April, 2003
The New York Supreme Court has ruled that a child suffering from cystic
fibrosis, conceived by in vitro fertilization, may not sue for
wrongful life. However, the court upheld the right of parents to sue a
fertility centre and hospital for punitive damages on the basis of reckless
conduct. The decision naturally encourages eugenic practices, though
this may not be a significant issue for those now involved with in vitro
technology. On the other hand, continued judicial insistence upon a
eugenic 'standard of care' has broader implications that may indirectly
impact conscientious objectors.
New York Supreme Court approves damages for birth of defective in vitro
child
3 April, 2003
American senators
attempt to re-write science
Senators Hatch,
Feinstein, Specter, Kennedy, Harkin, and Miller of the United States
are attempting to ignore the moral controversy surrounding human cloning by
defining it out of existence. Their Bill S303 purports to prohibit
human cloning, but defines it
as "implanting or attempting to implant the product of nuclear
transplantation into a uterus or the functional equivalent of a uterus."
The bill defines 'nuclear transplantation' as "transferring the nucleus of
a human somatic cell into an oocyte from which the nucleus or all
chromosomes have been or will be removed or rendered inert"- a description
of cloning by somatic cell transfer. In effect, cloning will be
permitted to produce human embryos as long as the cloned embryos are not
implanted, and those involved in cloning embryos for research will be able
to claim that what they are doing is not 'really' (ie, 'legally) cloning.
Legislation or policy of this type is particularly troublesome for
conscientious objectors, who find themselves accused of being 'unscientific'
because they refuse to accept such utilitarian re-definitions.
Vatican publishes lexicon
The Pontifical Council for the Family has published an 868 page document
containing an explanation of 78 phrases and expressions commonly used by
lobbyists, legislators and officials involved in international meetings.
The document is intended to expose the actual meanings that are often
concealed by the terms. The document is now available only in Italian.
For examples of words and phrases that have become contentious, see the
Project
Glossary.
1 April, 2003
Ethical stem cell bank
started in Russia
Russia has opened its first ethical stem cell bank. A stem cell bank opened
in Russia bank will allow parents to store their children's umbilical cord
blood for up to 15 years. Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells
and has been shown to be therapeutically productive. The opening of
the bank is a reminder that moral controversy can often be avoided without
causing problems for patients.