All the news
Gender & Sexuality
Gender reassignment: more and more Belgian teenagers are being prescribed puberty blockers
More and more teenagers in Belgium are taking puberty blockers to halt the sexual development of their bodies during adolescence. In just three years, 60% more of them have been prescribed these hormone treatments by their doctors, in an attempt to relieve the unease they feel about their biological sex....
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
Euthanasia in Belgium: 15% increase in 2023 - Towards a normalisation of programmed death
On Tuesday 27 February, the Federal Commission for the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia in Belgium (CFCEE) released the figures for euthanasia declared in 2023. The number of euthanasia procedures officially carried...
Organ Donation
From induced death to useful death: increasing organ donation after euthanasia in Quebec
According to a study by the Canadian Medical Association Journal published in January, the number of organ donors who die by euthanasia in Quebec has risen from 4.9% (8 out of 164 donors) in 2018 to 14% (24 out of 171...
Palliative Care
“End of life stories” to prepare for death: the Amfora association renews the approach to palliative care
What is important to me? How do I see my life? What does death mean to me? These existential questions can be difficult to address at the very end of life. Yet they are essential and can help us to live through this...
Illness & Disability
Guy Dembour, a life devoted to revolutionizing the approach to disability
Dr Guy Dembour's mission is to highlight the special abilities of children with Down's Syndrome, focusing on their potential rather than their deficiency. A cardiopediatrician and founder in 2001 of Constridel, a multidisciplinary consultation at the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc in Brussels for children and adolescents with Down's Syndrome, he never...
Abortion
France and Belgium: abortion remains an icon of ideological battles
On January 30, at the French National Assembly, a large majority of deputies voted in favor of a bill to enshrine women’s “guaranteed freedom” to have an abortion in the Constitution. The text still has to be examined...
Surrogacy
Olivia Maurel, born through GPA, testifies to the wounds this practice inflicted on her
"I’m unable to stay silent while I still struggle with the traumatic legacy of surrogacy" Now aged 31, Olivia Maurel is testifying publicly for the first time about the trauma generated in her by the surrogacy from...
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
Analysis: the Mortier case: the ECtHR assessing the Belgian euthanasia law for the first time
In a judgment delivered on Tuesday, 22/10/2022, the European Court of Human Rights considers that Belgium violated the right to life of a patient euthanized because of depression in 2012.
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
Our Themes
Beginning of Life
End of Life
Rights and Freedoms
Stay informed
Subscribe to our free newsletter!
Support the IEB
To carry out its activities, the IEB relies solely on the enthusiasm and motivation of private donors.
Any donation of €40 or more to the IEB is tax-deductible in Belgium, allowing you to reclaim 30% of your donation.