Bioethics
Written on 23 Jul, 1988 at 8:07 in
Bioethics | Author:
West Germany: West Germany will introduce legislation limiting experimentation and banning any research that would “affect the dignity of the human race” said Justice Minister Hans Engenhard.
Health Minister Rita Suessmuth said that Germany had a special responsibility to respond to such research in an exemplary way. She was referring to the Nazis who attempted to create the “Master Race.”
This new legislation would ban research using human embryos, forbid surrogate motherhood and put limits on artificial insemination. (Continue reading)
Written on 15 May, 1988 at 9:04 in
Bioethics | Author:
The birth of Louise Brown the world’s first “test-tube” baby, in England in 1978, made headlines around the world, and Drs. Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards gained instant fame. However, they were not the only scientists who were experimenting in the filed of in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Australian scientists from the Queen Victoria Medical Centre and the Royal Women’s Hospital (associated with Monash University and the University of Melbourne respectively), were co-operating in similar research. The first Australian IVF baby, Candice ... (Continue reading)
Written on 15 Apr, 1988 at 7:43 in
Bioethics | Author:
Winifride Prestwich
The recent decision of the Medical Research Council (MRS) to allow experimentations in Canada on live human embryos up to 17 days gestation age, is but the latest episode of a running debate going back to July 1978. That date marks the birth of the first “test-tube baby” in Oldham, England. That birth triggered an unending and worldwide series of discussions and controversies regarding the ethics of procedures such as embryos experimentation, freezing embryos, cloning, gene splicing, genetic ... (Continue reading)
Written on 14 Feb, 1988 at 7:15 in
Abortion, Bioethics, Society & Culture | Author:
Interim Staff
A recent survey, conducted for the Australian Doctor, showed that a number of doctors in New South Wales openly admit that they have performed abortions because the pre-born baby was “the wrong sex.” Margaret Tighe, Chairman of Right to Life Australia, called on the New South Wales Premier to seek prosecution of the doctors concerned. She stated: “Abortions are supposed to be legal only if carried out to prevent serious damage to the physical or mental health of ... (Continue reading)
Written on 1 Dec, 1987 at 13:31 in
Bioethics | Author:
Pat Soenen Repeated pro-life calls for a moratorium – or a halt – to in-vitro fertilization, have fallen on deaf ears. Answers as to the impact of this technology will have on human society, lag far behind its growing use. “Baby Craving” has become big business according to a recent Life Magazine article, creating a huge demand for new baby-making techniques.
Is it possible to control the rapid advancing technologies associated with reproduction? Perhaps more to the point, does society posses the collective ... (Continue reading)
Written on 1 Nov, 1987 at 7:42 in
Bioethics | Author:
By Interim staff
The abortion horror is about to take a further gruesome turn. The special properties of foetal tissue make its use attractive in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other nerve disorders.
One of the most outspoken medical advocates for the use of foetal tissue is Dr. Robert Gale in California. Gale travelled to the Soviet Union where he attempted (in vain) to save victims of the Chernobyl disaster by transplanting foetal tissue.
The Philadelphia-based National Disease Research Institute and other organizations ... (Continue reading)
Written on 1 Oct, 1987 at 6:47 in
Bioethics, Pro-Life | Author:
Leanna Lamb
Many people question the ethics of nurses who are forced, or perhaps opt, to become involved with other medical professionals performing abortions. Among these, are nurses themselves, who are frightened that by refusing to assist this ghastly procedure they would jeopardize their jobs.
“The destruction of human life is against morals and ethics.” This is the motto of Nurses for Life – encouraging words at a time in history when many nurses are required to assist in procuring abortions.
Originally set ... (Continue reading)
Written on 1 Oct, 1987 at 6:47 in
Bioethics | Author:
J.A. Kiernan
Several scientists, associated with members of the medical profession, want to do experiments with early human embryos produced by fertilization outside the body (in vitro fertilization, or IVF).
They have used arguments unacceptable to any scientist in trying to convince the public that these early embryos are not young human beings at all. They also claim that their investigations will contribute importantly to knowledge of human reproduction, and to the prevention of infertility, miscarriage and congenital handicap. This claim ... (Continue reading)
Written on 31 Jul, 1987 at 8:24 in
Bioethics, Society & Culture | Author:
By Leanna Lamb
If you happened to have been down at Harbourfront in Toronto the last Thursday in May, you would have noticed an interesting event taking place in the Brigantine Room a panel discussion on “Surrogate Motherhood.”
Moderator Jeffrey Wilson, family layer and author of Children and the Law, introduced the topic and then invited each panelist to express his or her views. Interesting points were raised, most markedly the concerns of Margrit Eichler, a sociology professor at the Ontario Institute for ... (Continue reading)
Written on 18 May, 1987 at 11:54 in
Bioethics, Pro-Life | Author:
Winifride Prestwich
The United States Government announced on April 16, 1987, that it is clearing the way for investors to patent new forms of animal life through gene splitting, and that the new policy would be adopted by the Commerce Department’s Patent and Trademark Office.
The policy will allow the patenting of animals with new traits, and one report states that “researches will eventually make it possible to mix animal, plant, microbe, and human genes into animal embryos to ... (Continue reading)
Written on 18 May, 1987 at 11:20 in
Bioethics, Human rights, Pro-Life | Author:
Pat Soenen
In January this year an In Vitro Fertilization clinic opened at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre. This prompted meetings and considerable correspondence between members of the IVF team and the League of Life in Manitoba. As a result;, the recent Vatican document, “On Respect for Human Life and its Origins and the Dignity and Procreation,” which formally condemned IVF, has created more than a simple academic controversy in the city. It is a tragic irony that a ... (Continue reading)
Written on 18 May, 1987 at 8:59 in
Bioethics, Society & Culture | Author:
Interim Staff
Bishop Anthony Tonnos of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hamilton had rejected the idea that teaching students how to use condoms is an acceptable way to prevent the spread of AIDS.
In a firmly-worded pastoral letter, Bishop Tonnos stresses Catholic teaching on “faithful and permanent” marriage, rejects extra-marital sexual activity and affirms chastity as a positive and viable virtue.
“We believe that sexual activity must properly take place within the dedicated communion of marriage,” the Bishop writes, “and we ... (Continue reading)
Written on 18 May, 1987 at 8:43 in
Abortion, Activism, Bioethics, Pro-Life | Author:
Pat Soenen
“Western society is at a crossroads: the crossroads of civilization, and a technological scientism in which people may be produced in glass tubes. It is a time of family versus the State; the individual versus big business and is about; the helpless versus the powerful; the right of choice. It is a ‘crucial state’ history and you, are making a difference.
Ted Byfiled
Picketers at Morgentaler’s Toronto abortuary, the volunteers across this country who lick stamps , stuff envelops, and ... (Continue reading)
Written on 18 Apr, 1987 at 8:08 in
Abortion, Bioethics, Society & Culture | Author:
Father Paul Marx
“It is ludicrous logic that causes them (the Doctors Billings’) to link abortion and contraception” wrote the pastor of Calgary’s Glamorgan Church of God in January 1987 Interim.
Certainly two famous British abortionists don’t think so. Let me cite two of many researchers:
Dr. Malcolm Potts, former medical director of the London International Planned Parenthood Federation, has written, “As people turn to contraception, there will be a rise, not a fall, in the abortion rate…”
No society has ... (Continue reading)
Written on 18 Apr, 1987 at 7:45 in
Abortion, Bioethics | Author:
Two recent studies by Newfoundland researchers show that single women undergoing abortion are both knowledgeable about contraceptives available to them and are unwilling either to marry to legitimize the pregnancy or to consider adoption as a viable alternative. For women under 24, age, lack of financial security and single status are the three most common-cited reasons for seeking abortion.
Paul Sachdev, a social work professor at Memorial University in St. John’s interviewed 130 single women who had abortions ... (Continue reading)
