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Freedom of Conscience
Bioethics & Conscience Conference - October 4th in Brussels
Over the last few years, in Europe and Western countries, freedom of conscience of healthcare professionals has been progressively challenged as legal access to certain ethically controversial practices has expanded. This trend raises fundamental questions about the definition of healthcare and medicine, about access to certain healthcare professions, and more fundamentally about the right to conscientious objection of...
Abortion
Sexuality and abortion: The European Parliament Adopts the Matic Report
In plenary session in Brussels on Thursday June 24, the European Parliament adopted (378 votes in favor; 255 against; 42 abstentions) the resolution and report "On the situation of sexual and reproductive health and...
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
Belgium: Euthanasia of New-borns Practiced Outside the Law
A recent study has brought to light the practice of deliberate euthanasia to new-borns for whom the medical team considered that there was "no hope of a bearable future". These practices concerned 10% of the...
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
The new Spanish law on euthanasia contested against the Constitutional Court a few days before its entry into force
Friday June 25 is the stipulated date for the Spanish new law on euthanasia entry into force, exactly three months after its approval and publication in the Spanish Official Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado). With...
Embryo
The International Society for Stem Cell Research Drops the 14-day Limit on Human Embryo Research
During the last four decades, a period of 14 days was officially accepted as the ethical and legal limit on human embryo research. In other words, scientists were not allowed to pursue research on embryos beyond the fourteenth day after their fertilisation or after their unfreezing if they were previously...
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
Position of the WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (WMA) on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide – Chronological overview (1987-2019)
In October 2019, the World Medical Association1 (WMA) adopted a declaration on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. This new declaration is an opportunity to analyze the documents successively adopted by the WMA...
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
Death by Request in Switzerland: Post-traumatic stress disorder and complicated grief after witnessing assisted suicide
A study conducted in Switzerland in December 2007 among 85 family members and friends who were present at an assisted suicide showed higher prevalence of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and complicated grief after...
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
New Report : Does euthanasia distort palliative care practice in Belgium?
The purpose of this new Report published by the European Institute of Bioethics is to describe the Belgian model of "end of life care" that, since 2002, has aimed at developing "palliative care for all", while...
In the spotlight
All the news
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
Alberta (Canada): a setback for the expansion of euthanasia?
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