New head of bioethics center says new technology raises moral questions

Crux

Charles Collins

When church leaders in the United States face new bioethical questions – such as those surrounding abortion, euthanasia, or gender identity – they often turn to the Philadelphia-based National Catholic Bioethics Center. . .

. . . It was announced this month that Dr. Joseph Meaney, the director of international outreach and expansion for Human Life International, will be taking over as the president of the NCBC.

Speaking to Crux, he said bioethics is “an almost exponentially growing field.” . . .

. . . He said the greatest challenges in the coming years will be “from gender ideology issues such as sex-change surgeries and drugs and also end of life issues, particularly assisted suicide and euthanasia.” . . .

. . .He told Crux there is “a very broad and concerted attack on conscience rights in many Western countries,” including over abortion and assisted suicide. Meaney said this doesn’t just affect doctors, but also nurses, midwives, and pharmacists.

What follows are excerpts of his conversation with Crux. [Full text]

Scientists Make Model Embryos From Stem Cells To Study Key Steps In Human Development

National Public Radio

Rob Stein

Scientists have created living entities that resemble very primitive human embryos, the most advanced example of these structures yet created in a lab.

The researchers hope these creations, made from human embryonic stem cells, will provide crucial new insights into human development and lead to new ways to treat infertility and prevent miscarriages, birth defects and many diseases. The researchers say this is the first timescientists have created living models of human embryos with three-dimensional structures.

The researchers reported their findings Monday in a paper published in the journal Nature Cell Biology.

But the research is stirring debate about how far scientists should go in creating living models of human embryos, sometimes called embryoids. . . [Full text]

Pressure in dealing with requests for euthanasia or assisted suicide. Experiences of general practitioners

Marike E de Boer, Marja F I A Depla, Marjolein den Breejen, Pauline Slottje, Bregje D Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Cees M P M Hertogh

Abstract

Journal of Medical EthicsThe majority of Dutch physicians feel pressure when dealing with a request for euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (EAS). This study aimed to explore the content of this pressure as experienced by general practitioners (GP). We conducted semistructured in-depth interviews with 15 Dutch GPs, focusing on actual cases. The interviews were transcribed and analysed with use of the framework method. Six categories of pressure GPs experienced in dealing with EAS requests were revealed: (1) emotional blackmail, (2) control and direction by others, (3) doubts about fulfilling the criteria, (4) counterpressure by patient’s relatives, (5) time pressure around referred patients and (6) organisational pressure. We conclude that the pressure can be attributable to the patient–physician relationship and/or the relationship between the physician and the patient’s relative(s), the inherent complexity of the decision itself and the circumstances under which the decision has to be made. To prevent physicians to cross their personal boundaries in dealing with EAS request all these different sources of pressure will have to be taken into account.

de Boer ME, Depla MFIA, den Breejen M, Slottje P, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD, Hertogh CMPM.  Pressure in dealing with requests for euthanasia or assisted suicide. Experiences of general practitioners. J Med Ethics. 2019 Jul;45(7):425-429. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2018-105120. Epub 2019 May 15.

Minister criticised for big gaps in abortion services

The Irish Independent

Eilish O’Regan

Major gaps in hospital-based abortion services have been highlighted in several parts of the country, six months after the law on terminations was liberalised.

It means women are facing long journeys depending on where they live.

Doctors at St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny wrote to GPs last week saying its four obstetricians “decided unanimously that the hospital is not an appropriate location for medical or surgical terminations”.

“We are having difficulties which centre around not only the issues of conscientious objection but also facilities,” said consultant obstetrician Professor Ray O’Sullivan. . . [Full Text]

Kilkenny hospital to appoint extra obstetrician to facilitate abortions

Move follows claim by four doctors that St Luke’s was not ‘an appropriate location’ for the service

The Irish Times

Paul Cullen

An additional obstetrician is to be appointed to St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny as part of the rollout of abortion services to its maternity unit.

The unit in Kilkenny is at the centre of controversy after the existing four obstetricians said it was not an “appropriate location” for the service introduced last January.

“In the event of professional and values training of staff willing to participate in such procedures, the hospital remains an unsuitable location for these services,” the consultants said in a letter to Ireland East Hospital Group chief executive Mary Day last week. . . . [Full text]