NEWS
A young Dutch woman with autism will receive euthanasia due to depression
Zoraya ter Beek, 28, living in the Netherlands, will receive euthanasia this May after requesting it for suffering from various mental health problems such as autism, borderline personality disorder and depression. This decision was made, despite not suffering from any terminal illness, [...]
Infinite dignity: a clarifying document
On April 8, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published the Declaration “Dignitas Infinita” on human dignity in which it insists that euthanasia, gender theory or abortion constitute great threats to human dignity. The new document, consisting of 68 points [...]
MEPs call for the inclusion of the right to abortion in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will vote next Thursday, April 11, whether to include abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In a recently approved resolution, some MEPs urge member states to decriminalise abortion, and to remove [...]
NHS England stops prescribing puberty blockers to minors with gender dysphoria
National Health Service (NHS) England has announced that it will stop prescribing puberty blockers in its clinics for children who wish to change their sex. The so-called puberty blockers, which stop the appearance of the characteristic physiological changes in the adolescent phase, [...]
Macron proposes the legalization of euthanasia in France
French President Emmanuel Macron has given an interview to the newspapers Libération and La Croix in which he commented that he is preparing a bill to legalize euthanasia that will be presented in April to the French parliament. Although Macron intends for it [...]
Suppression of freedoms in the name of freedom
The French State has just approved by a majority of 80% the inclusion of the right to abortion in its Constitution. The intention behind this decision is to protect women's presumed right to abort against possible limitations to their freedom that could [...]
Alabama establishes that frozen embryos are like born children
The Alabama Supreme Court has legally equated frozen embryos with born children, prohibiting their destruction and establishing serious legal consequences if it is done. “Unborn children are ‘children’ under the [law], without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other [...]
UN denounces selective abortion of girls in Albania
In Albania, the number of births of girls is decreasing due to selective abortions that have been carried out in recent years. This is a nation with a majority Muslim population (60%) in which there are great social inequalities between men and [...]
Alabama carries out first nitrogen gas execution
The state of Alabama executed Kenneth Eugene Smith on January 25, 2024 using an experimental method, nitrogen asphyxiation. This prisoner was sentenced to death for murdering Elizabeth Sennett in the late 1980s. The use of this method for execution, carried out for [...]
ER doctors may not be forced to perform abortions in Texas
Abortion was the leading cause of death worldwide in 2022 according to the WHO. Every year, around 73 million induced abortions occur, which is about 200,000 abortions per day. Six out of ten unwanted pregnancies end in abortion. Joe Biden, president of [...]
More countries want to regulate the use of new technologies in schools
As we explained in previous posts, big technology companies - such as TikTok, Meta, Google or Snapchat - have been sued by dozens of schools in Seattle, United States, for causing large-scale psychological damage to minors. And, according to UNICEF data, the [...]
Michigan will allow partial birth abortions
The Democratic governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, has signed a series of bills that include the possibility of abortion up to the moment of delivery even if the baby is viable. In the same way, she authorizes abortion centers to hide information [...]
A volunteer dies after participating in a gene editing trial against LDL cholesterol
A study published in Nature reports the results of research conducted by a team of scientists led by Ritu Thamman of Pennsylvania State University, who have managed to drastically reduce the level of LDL cholesterol in humans after injecting them with an [...]
Researchers warn about the risks posed by patient-facing artificial intelligence
Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have warned in an article about the need to review healthcare mediated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) in cancer patients. “To date, there has been little formal consideration of the impact of patient interactions with AI programs [...]
The Spanish Association of Bioethics and Medical Ethics awards the Bioethics Observatory
The Bioethics Observatory, which belongs to the Institute of Life Sciences of the Catholic University of Valencia, was awarded on Friday, October 27, the Bioethics Initiative award from the Spanish Association of Bioethics and Medical Ethics (AEBI). The director of the Bioethics [...]
Nobel Prize for parents of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19
Researchers Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their pioneering work on messenger RNA (mRNA). Their discoveries on nucleoside base modifications enabled the development of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 during the pandemic that began in [...]
Italy considers surrogacy a “universal crime”
Giorgia Meloni, president of the Italian Council of Ministers since October 2022, has approved in parliament the Varchi law, which considers surrogacy a “universal crime.” She has also announced prison sentences of between three months and two years, and fines of up [...]
Ruling decriminalizing abortion in Mexico
According to information published in different international media, which we at the Bioethics Observatory have confirmed as inaccurate, the Supreme Court of Mexico had recently approved the decriminalization of abortion at the federal level after considering the proposal of the Information Group [...]
International experts discuss the ethical dilemmas of neuroethics
The Bioethics Observatory of the Catholic University of Valencia (UCV) held the Congress on New Frontiers in Neuroethics in July. Julio Tudela, director of the Bioethics Observatory, has coordinated the event in which experts from international universities have participated. They analyzed the [...]
Strasbourg upholds Poland’s ban on abortion for fetal malformations
The European Court of Human Rights of Strasbourg (ECHR) rejected, on June 8, a lawsuit filed by eight women against the Polish legislation, which prohibits abortion in case of congenital malformations of the fetus. In this way, it sets a legal precedent, [...]