The American Nurses’ Association has offered a draft policy document for public input until 8 November. The position statement opposes nurse participation in euthanasia and assisted suicide. Some of those opposed to the procedures remain concerned that the draft statement equates the provision of food and fluids with medical treatment that can be withdrawn from patients even if they are not dying. [Lifesite News]
Category: Procedures & Services
Serious mistake made in diagnosing death before organ transplantation
A 19 year old girl who was seriously injured in a car crash in October, 2011, narrowly escaped having vital organs removed for transplant following what appears to have been a misdiagnosis by attending physicians. After consulting with the family, they removed a respirator and ceased treatment. However, the girl regained consciousness as they were preparing to harvest her organs. [Medical Daily]
Abortion described as a “right”
In a commentary on CBC Radio, Canada’s publicly funded state broadcaster, Prince Edward Island University professor Richard Raiswell asserted that “abortion is a medically necessary, essential health care service” and insisted that all Canadian women have a “right” to the service. Since the province does not provide abortion on the island, Raiswell argues that women who have to leave the island to obtain the procedure “are being denied access to safe medical care.” He suggested that that is illegal. [CBC Radio]
Ethicist supports “positive” eugenics: likens current practice to Nazi policies
Julian Savulescu, an ethicist at the University of Oxford, argues that the current practice of using prenatal screening and abortion to eliminate embryos suspected of having disabilities or diseases is akin to Nazi eugenic policies, which were also directed at eliminating the ‘unfit.’ He supports the use of prenatal testing to identify and destroy embryos with disease or disabilities as long as it is understood that this implies nothing about the moral status of disabled people, but argues that people should also be able to select for desirable characteristics, like intelligence or sex. His position is that “freedom of reproduction” can be restricted “for social purposes,” but only if the purposes are “uncontroversially good,” the restrictions are necessary, and that no less restrictive policies would be workable. [News Limited]
Illinois court rules in favour of pharmacist freedom of conscience
Two pharmacists have won an appeal against a 2005 executive order issued by the Governor of Illinois that required all pharmacies to fill prescriptions for the morning after pill. The appeals court upheld a lower court injunction based on the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act.
An Illinois appeals court has ruled in favor of two pharmacists who objected to having to provide emergency contraception on religious grounds, setting a precedent their lawyer hopes will protect others from judicial or state sanctions. [San Francisco Chronicle]