We are a multidisciplinary fellowship researching threats to life at its beginning and natural end.

“Death and Budgets”

That is the title of a column by David Brooks in yesterday’s New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/opinion/15brooks.html?_r=3&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212 Brooks comments on an op-ed piece in last Sunday’s New York Times by Dudley Clendinen, who has ALS. Clendinen’s piece expressed the author’s inclination to commit suicide when his condition worsened. (Teresa already posted about Clendinen’s essay. http://uffl.org/blog/?p=1139  ) The column by […]

German bishops denounce Germany’s approval of PDG

Here is a Zenit story on the German Catholic bishops’ response to a new German law that gives the go-ahead to the use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PDG). http://www.zenit.org/rssenglish-33074 The bishops point out the eugenic implications of such usage. “The selection  of a ‘healthy’ embryo always entails the rejection of ‘unhealthy’ human embryos–and thus a violation […]

Italy Moves Toward Euthanasia Ban

Michael Cook at Bioedge reports on Italian efforts to ban assisted suicide and euthanasia here. The legislation would also require provision of artificially administered food and hydration when needed.

Call for US Bioethics Commission to Step Down?

BioEdge is reporting that “the Project on Government Oversight, has called upon the chair of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues to step down after allegations of ghostwriting by professors at her university.” The story can be found here.

Expansion of Embryonic Stem Cell Research

David Prentice has a very helpful article, Stem Cell Bill Ignores Patients and Real Science, on The Hill blog. It contains links to prior legislation, an NIH report and ongoing litigation regarding government funding of ESCR.

Cost of Unplanned Pregnancies and Laws on Fetal Pain

UFL member Michael New has some interesting observations on the Guttmacher Institute’s new report estimating the cost of unplanned pregnancies here and a brief comment on the NYT report regarding the passage of laws related to fetal pain here.

Abortion and Increased Sex Trade

Chuck Colson reflects on the connection between sex-selective abortions and the increased demand for prostitution in a post here. He mentions a law review article by two Loyola law students, Kristi Lemoine & John Tanagho, Gender Discrimination Fuels Sex-Selective Abortion: The Impact of the Indian Supreme Court on the Implementation and Enforcement of the PNDT […]

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