The press review index from 13 June to 17 June 2005

Death in a box?

USA: Evolution theory debated

Adult stem cells to treat Parkinson's disease

Death in a box?

The Belgian Senate has adopted a bill aimed at clarifying the role of the pharmacist in the euthanasia law and to enable "better" delivery of euthanasia products. The bill contains provisions enabling a pharmacist to avoid being accused of complicity if a patient's life is ended illegally.

The bill also requests that the government ensure a sufficient amount of euthanasia products are distributed in pharmacies.

The Ordre des médecins (Medical association) has distanced itself clearly from the initiative of Multipharma, the pharmaceutical company that has made "euthanasia kits" available to doctors in its network of pharmacies. "This initiative by pharmacists has offended us a little," indicated the French-speaking vice-chairman of the Conseil national de l'Ordre (National Medical Board). "Death should not be sold in a box! It is about respect for the patient and the practice of medicine," he added.

He acknowledged that many doctors were not informed of euthanasia substances or how to administer them: "But that isn't a reason to leave it to a chain of pharmacies to tell us how to proceed!" he explained.

La Libre Belgique 14/06/05

Collapse of Italian referendum example for Europe

The referendum on relaxing assisted reproduction laws in Italy was invalidated on Monday, 13 June due to a very low turnout. Only 25.9% of voters participated, a number far short of the quorum of more than 50% needed to change the law.

Italians were asked to answer four questions: Should references to the embryo as a human being in its own right be removed from the law? Should the limit of three embryos authorised for creation and implanting without the possibility of screening be done away with? Should the limitations on embryo research be done away with? Should the ban on external donors be revoked?

Abstention supporters were highly active: "You don't vote on life," read the posters. The Catholic Church, and in particular Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the Italian Bishops' Conference, undoubtedly played a very important role: "I am struck by the maturity the Italian people have shown," he declared on Monday evening.

For other observers, including the vaticanist at the Stampa Federico Geremica, "The success of the abstention represents an undeniable victory for Catholic Italians thirty years after being beaten in referendums on abortion and divorce. The victory is that much greater, he stressed, given the secularisation of the world."

Certain doctors also aired their views. For Bruno della Piccola, professor of genetics at the Catholic university of Sapienza in Rome: "It is illusory to make people believe that the only way to treat these diseases is to use embryos. After years of research, these cells have not produced any results. However, using adult stem cells, we have been able to reconstruct skin, the cornea, bones and recently, the damage caused by degenerative neuronal diseases." This point of view is in line with that of the writer, Oriana Fallaci, who denounces the "Frankensteins and their mercenaries" who have "once more massacred the innocent". Cardinal Angelo Scolo justified his own abstention by saying "If I am now the patriarch of Venice, it is because I too was once an embryo."

For Norbert Martin, German professor of Sociology and member of the Pontifical Council for the Family, "The abstention from the referendum in Italy is an example to the other States in the European Community."

He was pleased at the abstention rate for the referendum on assisted reproduction in Italy: "What struck me the most," explained Norbert Martin, "was the joint commitment of the Bishops and Catholics in Italy. This commitment and the results achieved are an example for the other States in the European Community where similar issues are discussed and where, in the long term, decisions of this kind should be taken. Without a doubt, it is a great success for the united commitment of the Catholic Church in Italy, whom I congratulate."

In Italy, commentators spoke of a success for the Catholic Church and Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the Italian Bishops' Conference, which called for Catholics to abstain, remarked: "I only tried to do my duty as a bishop and listen to my conscience as a man, a Christian and a citizen." His position on the Italian political scene has now been strengthened: "The country is not as dechristianised as the media affirms," he said with pleasure. "It is profoundly rooted in Catholicism."

Le Figaro (Richard Heuzé) 11&13/06/05 - Le Monde (Jean-Jacques Bozonnet) 13/06/05 - Libération (Eric Jozsef) 11&13/06/05 - le Nouvel Observateur 13/06/05 - Zenit 10/06/05 - Osservatore Romano 07/06/05 - Le Figaro (Richard Heuzé) 14/06/05 – La Croix (Anne Le Mir) 14/06/05 – Le NouvelObs 14/06/05 – Libération (Eric Jozsef) 14/06/05 - Le Monde 14/06/05 - Le Quotidien du Médecin 15/06/05 - Zenit 15/06/05 - Le Monde (Jean-Jacques Bozonnet) 15/06/05 -

USA: Evolution theory debated

A strange debate is currently being held in the USA over Darwin's theory of evolution. Fundamentalist Christian communities are calling for evolution only to be taught in schools as a simple theory. Creationists have being trying to have the story of the Bible recognised as a valid theory since 1925. Their petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court in 1987, and they now talk of an "intelligent design" inscribed in molecules.

A Christian association has now decided to open a theme park for tourists, the Creation Museum, to promote the idea that God created the world in 6 days 6,000 years ago. The first part of the museum is set to open before the end of the year.

The American National Academy of Sciences has created a web site to defend the official theory (http://nationalacademies.org/evolution). "The teaching of the theory of evolution is now being questioned in 40 States of the Union," stated the Academy.

[Editor's note] Jérôme Lejeune proposes an original theory on the theory of evolution based on genetics that is between Darwinism and creationism: it involves a type of evolution a lot less gradual than that put forward by Darwin but which occurs in successive "leaps" with qualitative changes. As chromosomes contain thousands of genes, the separation between species is far greater than the genetic mutation Darwin spoke of. A qualitative leap therefore occurred to produce human beings. No gradual hominisation occurred – man suddenly appeared. Prof. Jérôme Lejeune's explanation is in agreement with palaeontology and does not conflict with Genesis.

La Croix (Dominique Lecourt) 14/06/05 - Lemonde.fr 11/06/05 - ProtestInfo 13/06/05 -

Adult stem cells to treat Parkinson's disease

Teams led by Pierre-Marie Lledo (CNRS, the French national research council, and the Pasteur Institute) and Magdalena Götz (German University of Munich) have succeeded for the first time in growing dopamine-secreting neurons from adult stem cells, which offer new hope for patients with Parkinson's disease. This disease is caused by degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons.

"Our work could help develop new therapeutic strategies enabling doctors to choose the cellular orientation of newly formed neurons and guide them to the areas to be repaired," explained Pierre-Marie Lledo.

The findings allow new therapeutic strategies for treating neurodegenerative diseases to be envisaged in the long term. These would combine gene therapy (orientation of the future of stem cells) with cell therapy (guiding stem cells to a particular area).

The next step will be to test this discovery on a murine model of Parkinson's disease.

 La Croix 14/06/05 – Le Nouvel Observateur (Cécile Dumas) 14/06/05 – Le Quotidien du Médecin 14/06/05 - Le Monde (Jean-Yves Nau) 15/06/05

Paris: First Life Parade

The "Life Parade" youth group organised its first celebration of life through the streets of Paris on Saturday, 11 June, from the Denfert-Rochereau to Vauban squares. The parade attracted between four and ten thousand people who gathered to celebrate life, from conception to its natural end. The demonstration, which was non-denominational, drew numerous associations for the family and for assistance to the disadvantaged in life and pregnant women in difficulty.

"It is a cultural event which strives to be secular and apolitical, for the youth. The aim is to fight against individualism in society," explained Gaétane Belliard, one of the young organisers.

  The crowd, which was happy and full of life, mostly consisted of young people between 16 and 20. The theme chosen for this first march was helping the disadvantaged in life, in partnership with the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation. The march was in the form of a carnival and included a musical parade of floats on the theme of marriage, handicaps, welcoming life, the family and the end of life.

  The parade was followed by Christian rock concerts at Vauban Square interspersed with accounts on assisting handicapped people, pregnant women in difficulty and people at the end of life. Dominique Morin spoke of the ravages of drugs and about AIDS, Tim Guénard talked about his fight against violence and his actions among the youth, and Jean-Baptiste Hibon, who is multiply handicapped and an industrial psychologist, spoke of his difficulties as a handicapped person as well as the joy he had been able to discover in his life.

Figaro (Sophie de Ravinel) 11/06/05 – La Croix 13/06/05 – Libération 13/06/05 -