Service, not Servitude
An investigation by the Daily Mail has revealed that some physicians in the United Kingdom will arrange for sex-selective abortions. A physician suspended by the General Medical Council following the disclosure agreed to falsify the reason for the procedure. Another physician and an obstetrician/gynaecologist also face discipline. [Daily Mail]
Parents of a child with Down Syndrome have been awarded $2.9 million (U.S.) damages on the grounds that they would have aborted her had the condition been diagnosed during pregnancy. The award is based on the estimated extra lifetime costs of caring for someone with Down syndrome. [ABC News]
Britain’s National Health Service is denying access to various services provided by the state health care system because of patient lifestyles. Smokers and those who are considered overweight are denied some operations or procedures in about a quarter of the country’s health care regions. Physicians and others are critical of the decisions because they say they are being made for fiscal, not clinical reasons. Health care administrators claim that they are medically justified. [Daily Mail]
Opposition to LB461 from various sources, including the Nebraska Board of Medicine and Surgery, the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the Nebraska Psychological Association is generating resistance to the bill in the legislature, and may prevent the bill from proceeding further. Supporters of the bill include Family First of Nebraska, Nebraska Catholic Conference, Americans United for Life and the Nebraska Family Council.[Omaha World Herald; Associated Press]
The Majority Leader in the Philippines House of Representatives and the House Speaker are reported to be in agreement that the controversial Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill) should be voted on before a five week Congressional recess that begins on 23 March.[Philippine Star]