Category: News

Quebec euthanasia rates on track to match Belgian 7-8 year rates after 2 years

Sean Murphy*

Available statistics indicate that Quebec is on track to reach euthanasia rates  after two years that correspond to Belgian rates after seven to eight years (i.e., per 100,000 population and as a percentage of deaths from all causes).

Not all Quebec euthanasia statistics have been made public.  However, the following points appear to be of interest:

  • Almost 20 requests for euthanasia were made weekly in the province in the first half of 2017, slightly higher than the last half of 2016.
  • The percentage of requests that did not result in euthanasia increased slightly from about 37% to 40%
    • Increases in this category, when reported, were attributed mainly to patients becoming incompetent, dying or withdrawing their requests.

The Project’s analysis is available at Euthanasia Statistics: Quebec.

 

Vatican summons Belgian order to Rome over euthanasia policy

Catholic Herald

Simon Caldwell

Vatican officials want to hear in person why Brothers of Charity board members insist on allowing the euthanasia

The Vatican is planning to summon members of a Belgian nursing order to Rome to explain why they are refusing to ditch a policy which allows doctors to kill psychiatric patients in Church-run homes.

Senior Vatican officials want to hear in person why board members of the Organisation of the Brothers of Charity insist on allowing the euthanasia of non-terminally ill patients in the face of a top-level order to reverse the policy. . . [Full text]

 

Bolivia enacts new abortion law with limited conscience clause

Sean Murphy*

A new abortion law has been enacted in Bolivia as part of the revision of the country’s Penal Code.  Section 153 of the Penal Code now permits abortion of any girl under the age of 20 for any reason and at any point in gestation, when pregnancy results from rape, incest or involuntary artificial reproduction.  Abortion is also allowed at any point in gestation in the case of present or future risk to the life or “overall health” of a woman, and (when pregnancy is under 8 weeks gestation) the woman is a student or has the care of a disabled relative.

The protection of conscience provision prohibits “the national health system” from asserting conscientious objection and insists that conscientious objection is limited to individual medical personnel “directly involved in the accomplishment” of the procedure, and must be stated in advance.  “The national health system” is not defined in the law.  It would appear from this that private or denominational health facilities (if they exist and are legally part of the national health system) cannot establish policies prohibiting abortion.

The fact that abortion is permitted as an exception to a general prohibition should mean that medical personnel or institutions of the opinion that a women does not qualify for an abortion under one of the legal criterion (such as risk to “overall health”) cannot be compelled to participate.  This would not constitute conscientious objection and could not be stated in advance.

New Canadian organization for midwives concerned for freedom of conscience

Sean Murphy*

A new Canadian organization for midwives has been formed.  Canadian Midwives for Life describes itself as a not-for-profit group that attempts to speak for Canadian midwives “who recognize the dignity and inviolability of human life from the moment of fertilization.”  Among the objectives of CMFL: “Understand their own personal boundaries in midwifery practice and the implications of conscientious objection.”

After 15 years in a vegetative state, nerve stimulation restores consciousness

Medical Xpress

A 35-year-old man who had been in a vegetative state for 15 years after a car accident has shown signs of consciousness after neurosurgeons implanted a vagus nerve stimulator into his chest. The findings reported in Current Biology on September 25 show that vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)—a treatment already in use for epilepsy and depression—can help to restore consciousness even after many years in a vegetative state.

The outcome challenges the general belief that disorders of consciousness that persist for longer than 12 months are irreversible, the researchers say. . . [Full text]

Corazzol and Lio et al.  Current Biology,  “Restoring consciousness with vagus nerve stimulation.” DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.07.060