Bioethics News

Family right-to-die plea rejected

A woman in a vegetative state will be given a sleeping pill which may “wake her up” against her family’s wishes.

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Deadly toll of botched abortions

Unsafe abortions in the developing world kill 68,000 women a year, research suggests.

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Italy court snubs euthanasia plea

An Italian judge has rejected a request by a terminally ill man to have doctors switch off his life support machine.

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After Buddhist dies, legal battle continues

Last week, doctors declared Cheng, a grandfather of seven who suffered cardiac arrest the day after Thanksgiving, brain-dead and said it was time to remove him from the ventilators and intravenous medicines keeping his organs functioning. But the family refused to let doctors take Cheng off the life-support system because his heart was still beating.

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Doctor has admitted switching off the life support machine

A doctor has admitted switching off the life support machine of a terminally ill Italian man who had lost a legal battle for the right to die.

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Ghanaians risk death for abortion

Thousands of women in Ghana are seeking dangerous, illegal abortions every year with many ending in death or disability. The criminalisation of abortion along with traditional values, social perceptions and religious teachings have created a crisis in Ghana.

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Four out of five want to give doctors right to end life of terminally ill patients in pain

Four out of five people in Britain believe the law should allow a doctor to end the life of a terminally ill patient who is in pain if they wish to die. In a finding confirming that British public opinion is at odds with the law, today’s British Social Attitudes Survey reveals strong support for euthanasia, though only in carefully defined circumstances.

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Most support voluntary euthanasia

Eight out of ten of people support a law change to allow doctors to actively end the lives of terminally ill patients who want to die, a poll shows. The report states: “In certain respects the current law that prohibits assisted dying seems to be at odds with public opinion.

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Euthanasia doctor avoids prison

A French doctor has been given a one-year suspended jail term for poisoning a terminally ill woman. A French law adopted in 2005 allows families to request that life-support equipment for a terminally ill patient be switched off.

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Polish woman wins abortion case

The European Court of Human Rights has awarded a Polish woman 25,000 euros ($33,000) in damages after she was refused an abortion. The 35-year-old mother was refused an abortion despite warnings that having a baby could make her go blind.

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