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31 August, 2004
French committee
recommends 'passive' euthanasia
A French parliamentary committee has recommended that terminally ill
patients should be able to request that doctors "leave them to die", and
that family members of unconscious patients be permitted to give such
direction. While the report calls this "passive euthanasia" it is not
clear whether 'allowing the patient to die' means withholding extraordinary
treatment, ordinary treatment, withholding nutrition and hydration.
The first would not pose problems for most conscientious objectors.
30 August, 2004
French government
plans to legalize euthanasia
French Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy plans to propose the
legalization of euthanasia by the end of the year. He characterized
the new law as instituting "the right to die with dignity."
Legalization of euthanasia would have a profound impact on health care
workers who object to it for reasons of conscience. [News
item]
24 August, 2004
Planned Parenthood urges complaints against conscientious objectors
Planned Parenthood Alberta is accusing physicians who are conscientious
objectors to abortion of professional misconduct, claiming that they may
"scare" patients with "misinformation" or "impose their moral beliefs."
The organization plans to compile a list of "anti-choice" physicians, and
suggests that patients report doctors to the province's regulatory authority
if they do not provide information on "all options" for their pregnancies,
including abortion. [Project
news release] [Project
response]
Nurse in South Africa
persecuted for refusal to assist with abortions
A registered nurse (called "nursing sisters" in South Africa) who refuses to
assist with abortions has not been allowed to work in an operating room
theatre since 2 May, 2004, according to a Doctors for Life International.
The organization has filed a legal brief in support of Sister Wilhelmien
Charles in a suit against the Kopanong hospital and South African
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. Sister Charles is a senior
nurse who has been working at the hospital since 1997. Three years
later, when the hospital began to provide abortions, many staff members
signed a petition to the effect that they did not want to do abortions. The
hospital stonewalled attempts at correspondence by DFL. A spokesman
for the regional health department claimed said that he was unaware of the
case and claimed that no one is forced to perform abortions. [News
item]
23 August, 2004
Siblings dispute provision of nutrition and hydration for mother;
court sanctions withdrawal
89 year old Doris Smith of Louisiana will no longer receive assisted
nutrition or hydration because two of her children and her doctors have
ordered it stopped. Smith was incapacitated by a stroke. The
Louisiana Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the order by one of her
other children on the grounds that the decision conformed to the "living
will" that Smith had signed. The problem is that the will included a
waiver of her right to "life-sustaining procedures", and this has been
interpreted to included food and water. A number of health care
workers called upon to implement such directions may object to the practice
for reasons of conscience, since they understand that deliberately causing
death by dehydration and starvation is euthanasia. [News
item]
22 August, 2004
'Right' to caesarean section
claimed
A controversy about the increasing number of caesarean sections in the
United Kingdom has led the The National Institute for Clinical Excellence to
issue a statement that women should have the right to a caesarean section
even if two doctors disagree. One if five births in the United Kingdom
is by caesarean section. Caesarean sections are not normally morally
controversial, since most health care workers do not object to the procedure
for reasons of conscience. However, in a particular case, a health
care worker who is convinced that the procedure will harm the mother and/or
child might decline to be involved. In any case, the notion that a
patient has a 'right' to a surgical procedure, even when the attending
physician disagrees, could have implications for freedom of conscience. [The Guardian,
22 August, 2004]
20 August, 2004
US medical personnel accused of complicity in abuse of Iraqi prisoners
The Pentagon has denied allegations in an article published in The Lancet
that US military medical staff were involved in the notorious abuse of
Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad, and have also been
complicit in similar abuses in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The allegations were made by Dr. Steven H. Miles, a professor in the
center for bioethics at the University of Minnesota Medical School in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Among other things, he claims that a physician
and psychiatrist helped plan and monitor the abusive interrogations at Abu
Ghraib, that medical records were falsified and that health care workers
failed to report what was taking place. [CNN]
19 August, 2004
South African Parliament
amends abortion law
Despite what is reported to be significant opposition to abortion among
South Africans, the South African Parliament passed an amendment to the
country's abortion law to allow abortions to be performed by registered
nurses (called "nursing sisters" or "sisters" in South Africa). The
amendment will also allow abortions to be performed in more health care
facilities. The Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC)
and Doctors for Life have voiced concerns that conscientious objectors
to abortion will be pressured to participate in the procedure. The
bishops called upon Catholic health care workers to "insist on their
constitutional rights, respecting their freedom of conscience and to refuse
to cooperate in the performance of abortions." [SACBC
nrews release] [Doctors
for Life news release]
'Brain dead' child recovers
A child who was without a heartbeat for 25 minutes and was in a coma for 12
days following an accident is now recovering. Mason Forbes began
breathing on his own after his life support was cut off following a
diagnosis of 'brain death'. He can now laugh, smile, and sit,
and doctors are optimistic that he will eventually be able to walk.
The case illustrates why health care workers may experience conflicts of
conscience when required to terminate life support or assisted nutrition and
hydration [The Daily Express, 19 August, 2004].
11 August, 2004
Human cloning to begin in UK
Newcastle university will use cell nuclear replacement to clone embryos in
order to obtain embryonic stem cells to treat Alzheimer's, diabetes
and Parkinson's disease. Permission for human cloning was given by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)
[BBC, 11 August, 2004].
9 August, 2004
Abortifacient
drugs to be more widely used in the UK
Following lobbying by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service,
abortifacient drugs will be made more readily available to women in the
United Kingdom for abortions within nine weeks of conception. The
first of the two drugs used is to be administered by a physician, while the
second, which induces expulsion of what is supposed to be a dead fetus, is
to be taken by the woman at home two days later. BPAS argued that the
arrangement will be more economical. Its chief executive, said that it
would "give
women more control over their own abortions.” [The Sun, 9 August] In
addition, there are plans to give the abortifacient drugs to Irish women who
go to Britain from the Republic for abortions. They would take the
second pill after returning home.[The Sunday Times, 8 August]
One unexamined problem with the scheme is that women experiencing
complications, including incomplete abortions, will likely present at
hospital emergency rooms to have the abortions completed. There is
likely to be a conflict if a conscientious objector is faced with a woman
who is carrying a living fetus but who wants an incomplete chemical abortion
completed surgically. The problem has become a significant issue in
South Africa, and would be particularly serious in Ireland, where most
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists will not perform abortions for reasons of
conscience [Conscientious
Objection in Ireland (May, 2000)].
4 August, 2004
South Africans
fear bill will be used to force nurses to assist with abortions
Proposed amendments to South Africa's abortion law will permit any health
facility with a 24-hour maternity service to perform abortions up to 12
weeks gestation and allow abortions to be performed by registered nurses,
traditionally called "nursing sisters" or "sisters" in South Africa.
The Christian View Network, Human Life International, Pro-Life South Africa
and the Evangelical Alliance are lobbying for a protection of conscience
clause because they fear that health care workers will eventually be
deprived of their freedom to avoid participation in abortion. Problems
have already arisen for conscientious objectors, either because they have
had to deal with abortions started by a previous shift, or abortions started
by physicians outside the hospital who have prescribed abortifacient drugs
and told their patients to go to emergency rooms deal with complications. [Independent
On Line] [Doctors
for Life news release]
Opposition to
Mental Capacity Bill in UK
Disability Awareness in
Action (DAA), the National Centre for Independent Living and The British
Council of Disabled People have formed a coalition to oppose the
government's Mental Capacity Bill. They are concerned that the bill
will allow family members to force sterilization, withdraw medical
treatment, including nutrition and hydration. The concerns are shared
by many conscientious objectors in health care professions. [Disability Now , 4 August].
3 August, 2004
Alabama public
health ordered to rescind policy
A policy of mandatory distribution of the potentially abortificacient
morning-after pill will be withdrawn by public health authorities.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has acknowledged that the
current law does not support the policy. It has been reported that the
implementation of the policy resulted in the forced resignation of at least
11 nurses, and led 50 employees asked for reassignment. [Catholic World
News. 2 August]
South African physicians concerned that new law jeopardizes freedom of
conscience
An amendment to the South African abortion law
is being opposed by physicians because it will impose pressure on
conscientious objectors in hospitals "designated" to provide abortions. [News
release] [See also
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.]
Terminal sedation in Netherlands associated to death by starvation,
dehydration
According to Dutch researchers, terminal sedation, a procedure intended to
render a patient in intractable pain unconscious, is being used in the
Netherlands in conjunction with withdrawal of food and fluids in order to
cause the death of a patient. They estimate that four to 10 percent of
patient deaths are caused in this way. The researchers from the
Erasmus Medical Centre and the Free University Medical Centre in Amsterdam
also reported that about 44% of patient deaths in the country are the result
of a 'medical decision', such as assisted suicide or refusal or withdrawal
of treatment. [Expatica, 3 August]
30 July, 2004
General Medical Council
may appeal ruling
Britain's High Court accepted the arguments of Leslie Burke, who suffers
from a degenerative brain condition, that present GMC guidelines that allow
doctors to withdraw food and fluids from patients contravene the
European Convention on Human Rights. The BBC reports that the GMC will
either have to appeal, or redraft its guidelines to incorporate a
presumption that a patient wants to live. [BBC, 30 July] Withdrawal of
food and fluids from patients who are not dying or near death is a morally
controversial issue for some health care professionals.
Euthanasia bill
in preparation for Scotland
Jeremy Purvis, a member of the Scotland's parliament, is reported to be
drafting a bill to legalize euthanasia in Scotland. He argues that the
bill is simply a "natural progression" from rules that now permit withdrawal
of treatment. [Sunday Herald, 1 August]
29 July, 2004
Pharmacist attacked for exercising freedom of conscience
Pharmacist Steve Mosher, who owns the only private pharmacy in Fabens,
Texas, refuses to dispense contraceptive pills because of concern that they
may have an abortifacient mechanism. Planned Parenthood in El Paso
attacked Mosher because he would not fill a prescription for a "legal
product" and was creating a "barrier" for women in Fabens. Mosher will
dispense birth control pills when they are prescribed for reasons other than
contraception. [El
Paso Times]
28 July, 2004
Lack of conscience clause cited as concern in Mental Capacity Bill
James Bogle, a London lawyer, has pointed out that the Mental Capacity Bill
permits non-medical proxies to force doctors to withdraw or withhold
treatment or nutrition in order to end a patient's life, with no provision
for conscientious objection by physicians. [The Telegraph, 28 July]
27 July, 2004
Diagnosis cited as
reason not to treat infant
The North West Wales NHS representing a Bangor, North Wales Hospital
has postponed a request that the High Court decide whether or not it is
obliged to treat a six month old infant diagnosed with Edwards Syndrome.
It appears that, since most infants suffering from the syndrome die within a
year of birth, the Trust was of the view that there was no point in treating
him. The child has been at the hospital for four months. News
reports do not indicate that the child was near death. His mother
opposed to application. [BBC, 27 July]
25 July, 2004
Royal College of
Nursing to reconsider euthanasia
Euthanasia supporters have convinced the Royal College of Nursing to reconsider its
opposition
to euthanasia. The chair of the RCN's ethics committee supported Lord Joffe's
Assisted Dying bill last year. [Sunday
Herald, 25 July, 2004] Conscientious objectors among nurses will be
significantly affected should the College begin to support euthanasia. [See
Assisted Suicide: What Role for Nurses? ]
23 July, 2004
Audiotapes available from Conflict and Conscience in Health Care
The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity is making available tapes of its
summer conference on freedom of conscience issues. [Full
Conference] [Plenary
Sessions only]
22 July, 2004
First international conference on ethics, science, and moral philosophy of
assisted human reproduction
The Royal Society of London is hosting
conference from
September 30th to October 1st, 2004. Among the planned presentations:
-
Procreative Liberty
: Scope and Limits of Reproductive Freedom;
- When Does Life Begin: The Moral Status of the Human Embryo;
- Designer Babies: Choosing Our Genes, Changing Our Future;
- Why We Are Morally Obliged to Genetically Enhance Our Children;
- The Ethics of Human Reproductive Cloning; ES Cell Research and the
Moral Status of Human Embryos;
- Gay Science: Choosing Our Children's Sexual Orientation;
- Preconception Gender Selection: Choosing Our Children's Sex;
- Preventing the Existence of People with Disabilities;
- Godless Morality: Keeping Religion Out of Ethics.
21 July, 2004
Embryos to be conceived
as tissue donors
The United Kingdom's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has
approved the conception of embryos with a view to selecting one to provide
stem cells for a two year old boy in Northern Ireland. Embryos not
selected for this use will presumably be frozen, used for research or
destroyed. Production of embryos for tissue donation has already taken
place in the United States and Australia.
Controversy about
MAP in Northern Ireland
The Family Planning Association is angry that only two of fifteen hospital
emergency departments in Northern Ireland dispense the potentially
abortifacient morning after pill. A third will dispense the pill only
to girls under 18 years old, and some doctors refuse to prescribe the drug
for reasons of conscience. It is possible that attempts will be made
to force conscientious objectors to dispense the drug, despite the fact that
it is widely available from physicians, clinics and can be purchased over
the counter at pharmacies. [BBC]
$60,000.00 damages for
birth of child
A woman whose child survived an attempted abortion has been awarded
$60,000.00 for stress and loss of income by the Supreme Court of British
Columbia, Canada. The court refused to award money for the raising of
the child. After the failed abortion, Prince George regional hospital
offered the woman money for a partial-birth abortion in the United States,
but she declined. The case differs somewhat from other wrongful birth
cases because the child is not handicapped. In this respect, it is a
precedent that concerns those performing abortions rather than conscientious
objectors.
19 July, 2004
Controversy
continues re: Mental Capacity Bill
The Catholic bishops' conference of England & Wales stated that there
are grounds to believe that the draft Mental Capacity Bill is inconsistent
with the teaching of Pope John Paul
II in Evangelium Vitae (the Gospel of Life). An archbishop
speaking for the conference noted that opponents of the bill "many reasonable
fears". While the conference does not believe that the bill
introduces permission for euthanasia, other critics insist that the bill
will legalize euthanasia by neglect. [CBCEW, July 2004] [SPUC
media release, 19 July, 2004] [See
Warning sounded
about Mental Incapacity Bill]
17 July, 2004
Only half of
Dutch euthanasia cases are reported
Research indicates that only half of about 3,500 cases of euthanasia that
occur each year in the Netherlands are reported as required by law.
The Dutch health minister wants to be able to discipline doctors who ignore
'procedural' guidelines, since the public prosecution service concerns
itself only with those who disregard 'material' guidelines. Health
care institutions are being urged to appoint euthanasia consultants and
establish guidelines for the procedure [British
Medical Journal]. Increased expectation of participation in the
procedure is likely to cause problems for conscientious objectors.
15 July, 2004
Warning sounded about
Mental Incapacity Bill
National People First, the British Council of Disabled People,
Disability Awareness, and the Guild of Catholic Doctors are among the
critics of the United Kingdom's Mental Incapacity Bill. The Guild is
concerned that the definition of 'euthanasia' does not include euthanasia by
omission, and that the bill will lead to euthanasia: first, by withdrawal of
food and fluids, and later, by lethal injection [Guild
commentary]. Passage of the bill would have serious implications
for conscientious objectors.
Protection
of conscience amendment added to bill
A committee of the US House of Representatives has added a provision to a
spending bill that will prohibit the use of funds authorized by the bill by
any federal, state or local agency that discriminate against institutions
that do not provide or refer for abortions.
14 July, 2004
Blonde hair and blue eyes
required
Those who normally do not object to artificial reproductive technology may,
nonetheless, encounter cases in which they may experience a conflict of
conscience. This is illustrated by the case of Helen McCrave, a woman
in the United Kingdom whose IVF treatment will be delayed for an
indeterminate period because she does not have blonde hair and blue eyes.
The conditions for treatment include a requirement that she donate some of
her eggs to the IVF facility, but the current demand is for eggs from
blonde, blue-eyed donors.[This is Plymouth, 14 July]
12 July, 2004
Nicaraguan concerns about
abortion
Arguments being made in favour of legalizing abortion in Nicaragua have been
criticized by the Nicaraguan Catholic bishops' conference. The country
has a pro-life constitution. Legalization of the procedure would have
a profound impact on health care workers who object to abortion.
9 July, 2004
Canadian Pharmacists Association queried by Catholic bishops
The Canadian Pharmacists Association has been asked by the
Canadian Organization for Life and Family to ensure that pharmacists
disclose to patients the fact that the morning-after pill can cause the
death of the early embryo by preventing implantation. COLF, which
addresses life issues for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, also
asked the Association about its policy on freedom of conscience for
pharmacists who do not wish to dispense the morning-after pill. [COLF letter]
Belgium: 400 cases of
euthanasia
400 cases of euthanasia have been reported in Belgium since the procedure
was legalized two years ago. Questions have been raised about the
accuracy of the figure, while some claim that the number represents only the
disclosure of euthanasia that would have happened illegally. [Expatica
]
6 July, 2004
Chilean court
rules against morning-after pill
Judge Silvia Papa of the Chilean Federal Court has ordered the withdrawal of
all drugs containing Levonorgestrel, the key hormone in the morning-after
pill. The judge ruled that the pill can prevent implantation of the
early embryo, thus acting as an abortifacient. Abortifacient drugs are
illegal in Chile. The Ministry of Health has been attempting to force
Chilean mayors to distribute the drug, sparking opposition from authorities
in the Catholic Church. The controversy suggests that legalization of
the drug would create conflicts of conscience among some health care workers
and others ordered to distribute it.
British Medical Association: abortion survivors should not be neglected
BMA guidelines require that infants who survive abortions should receive the
same care and treatment as other infants, but it appears that the guidelines
have not been followed in a number of cases. The Sunday Times reported
upon six cases in which babies who survived abortions were denied medical
treatment until they died. One midwife stated that there was an
'unwritten rule' that abortion survivors were not to be resuscitated. In one
case, the child lived for three days [The Sunday Times, 20 June, 2004] .
65% of the delegates at the BMA's annual conference in Llandudno, Wales,
reinforced the guidelines by voting in favour of equal care and treatment
for infants surviving the procedure [Daily
Post]. That 45% of the delegates were in favour of causing the
death of the infants by neglect may be taken as an indicator of support for
infanticide in these cases. It also provides an explanation for the
existence of the practice. Similar problems were reported at the
Foothills Hospital in Calgary, Alberta [Nurses
At Foothills Hospital Rebel Over The Horrifying Results Of Late-Term
'Genetic Terminations']. The College of Physicians
and Surgeons of Alberta eventually responded by approving the lethal
injection of infants in utero prior to late term abortions to ensure
that none are born alive.
Statistics in the United Kingdom show that 114 abortions in 2002
were of infants at 24 weeks gestation or more. The Sunday Times of 27
June, 2004, reported that a child was born at 25 weeks gestation a few
hours before a scheduled abortion at Guy's Hospital, London. Abortion,
neglect of abortion survivors and killing by lethal injections in utero
place conscientious objectors among health care workers in
difficult situations.
4 July, 2004
Euthanasia supporter
threatening suicide
Andrew Graham of Fife, Scotland, has threatened to commit suicide
because he suffers from multiple sclerosis and is in constant pain. He
has asked that euthanasia be legalized.
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