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Finland, 70% of foetuses diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted
According to the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare, approximately 70% of Finnish women now opt for an abortion if their unborn child is diagnosed with Down syndrome compared to 50% a decade ago. These figures are increasing at an even faster pace...
US takes measures to stop mailing of abortion pills
The US "could stop subsidising postal services transporting medication from overseas for illegal abortion". In fact, Donald Trump announced the withdrawal from the US of a "little known UN agency that sets standards in relation to international mail", called...
Texas – lesbian couple carried same baby
A lesbian couple from Texas gave birth to a baby boy, Stetson, last June. The baby was carried alternately by both women. Following ovarian stimulation, eggs were harvested from 37-year-old Bliss. They were then fertilised by donor sperm in a laboratory. The...
250 women’s human rights organisations call for surrogacy ban by UN
A coalition of women's human rights organisations has petitioned the UN and world leaders calling for a ban on surrogacy (womb rental). The petition also exhorts governments to withdraw funding support to UN agencies that support surrogacy. More than 250 women's human...
Transgender man gives birth – is this person the mother or the father?
In the UK, a transgender man, who was born a woman, gave birth to a child but refuses to be registered as the mother on the birth certificate. He simply wants to be known as the child's " parent". In fact, he explains that having taken the social, public and...
Down syndrome: the joy of four mothers whose children are ‘different’
Currently in the UK, 90% of people whose unborn child is diagnosed with Down syndrome decide to abort. Furthermore, no-one believes that the introduction of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) could lead to a further increase in the abortion rate. NIPT, which detects...
Presumed consent in England and Scotland? One in ten people refuse to donate their organs
Following on from Wales, which adopted this system in 2015, the British government is considering changing the organ donation system in England and Scotland to switch to presumed consent by 2020. The aim, which is highly commendable, is to increase the number of...
Israel rejects surrogacy for single men and homosexual couples
The Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) voted against a draft bill seeking to "extend the circle of people using the services of a surrogate mother to single men and homosexual couples ". Surrogacy is authorised in Israel for married or single women who...
Heavy smoker donates lungs and passes on cancer to recipient
Two years after undergoing lung transplant surgery, a female patient developed a very aggressive form of lung cancer. It turns out that the donor—a woman in her fifties—had been a heavy smoker, smoking a packet of cigarettes every day for thirty years. Tobacco is the...
India: first birth following uterine transplant
In India, a baby girl was born in mid-October 2018 following uterine transplant surgery performed on her mother in May 2017 (see India: two women given uterine transplants). A Caesarean section was performed full-term. The transplanted uterus was donated by the...
Norway – victory in favour of conscientious objection
The Norwegian Supreme Court has ruled in favour of conscientious objection and freedom of conscience for doctors. It held that Dr Katarzyna Jachimowicz had acted within her rights by refusing to insert intrauterine devices in women on the grounds of moral objections....
The Netherlands issues “gender neutral” passport
In the Netherlands, people can now be identified as "gender neutral" on their passports as opposed to male or female. This is a European first[1], but the practice has already been authorised in Canada and Australia. The Dutch government is thus going to have...