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Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
Extending euthanasia to include mental health conditions: will Canada have a change of heart?
Ten years after assisted dying was legalised in Canada, the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID), established in 2021, was tasked with reviewing eligibility for MAID for people whose sole health condition is a mental illness, following motions in the Senate and the House of Commons.
Embryo
Genetic modification of human embryos: a gateway to eugenics?
Researchers at Columbia University in New York have announced that they have used a basic gene-editing technique to modify the genome of human embryos at the single-cell stage (zygote). Although the study (preprint) has...
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
France: Will the government force through the euthanasia bill?
The French bill on ‘assisted dying’ has just entered its third reading in the National Assembly. Whilst a consensus between MPs and senators on the legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide seems increasingly...
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
Bereavement leave in the event of euthanasia: will it be possible to change one’s mind?
In Belgium, workers are entitled to special leave for certain family events, civil obligations or legal proceedings. Bereavement leave, the duration of which depends on the relationship to the deceased, is one such form...
Abortion
Belgium – Proposed liberalisation of abortion laws: 12, 14 or 18 weeks – a scientific question or an ethical choice?
The Belgian Minister for Justice, Annelies Verlinden (CD&V), announced in early June that a bill would shortly be tabled to substantially amend the current legislation on abortion. The bill proposes, in particular, to extend the legal time limit for voluntary termination of pregnancy from 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy,...
Illness & Disability
Belgium: care for people with disabilities under scrutiny from the UN
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a United Nations mechanism responsible for assessing the human rights situation in each member state every five years, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council. During its...
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
Alberta (Canada): a setback for the expansion of euthanasia?
With Bill 18,the Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act, the Canadian province of Alberta intends to restrict access to medical assistance in dying (MAID). Introduced in March 2026 and passed at third...
Surrogacy
Surrogacy: between freedom-restricting contracts and eugenic abortions
The issue of regulating surrogacy continues to be a subject of debate across Europe, and particularly in Belgium. Regulating a practice that involves, on the one hand, the provision of a person – the surrogate mother –...
In the spotlight
All the newsNews
Extending euthanasia to include mental health conditions: will Canada have a change of heart?
Genetic modification of human embryos: a gateway to eugenics?
France: Will the government force through the euthanasia bill?
Bereavement leave in the event of euthanasia: will it be possible to change one’s mind?
Belgium – Proposed liberalisation of abortion laws: 12, 14 or 18 weeks – a scientific question or an ethical choice?
Belgium: care for people with disabilities under scrutiny from the UN
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