Argentina narrowly rejects abortion bill
The vote means the country will retain its tight restrictions on abortion. Argentina’s upper house this week narrowly rejected a bill that would have legalised...
Bioethicist says conscientious objection may be murder
Recent contributions to the literature have been particularly strident. Conscientious objection has been a hotly debated topic in bioethics for several years. Yet recent contributions...
China is struggling to undo a one-child culture
Authorities are now pro-natalist -- but Chinese society is not. In January 2016, the Chinese government formally abandoned its one child policy in favour of...
Enhancement, disease, and compulsory gene editing
Could we have an obligation to gene-edit embryos? Media outlets were in a frenzy this week after the Nuffield Council on Bioethics released a new...
Canadian man who killed disabled daughter seeks pardon
65-year-old Robert Latimer wants his life-sentence to be revoked. A Canadian man who was convicted of second-degree murder after killing his disabled daughter has asked...
Israel legalises surrogacy for single mothers, not gay couples
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been criticised for failing to support reform. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under fire for failing to support...
Killer Japanese nurse says end of life care was “tough”
The nurse has confessed to killing at least 20 patients. A Japanese nurse has confessed to poisoning at least 20 patients, telling police that it...
Celebrity Brazilian plastic surgeon arrested after deadly botched operation
The doctor used acrylic glass for a buttock-enhancing operation. A celebrity Brazilian plastic surgeon -- known by fans as Dr Bumbum -- has been arrested...
Should social support be an eligibility criterion for organ transplantation?
Current guidelines state that doctors should consider the “social support” of patients. While medical factors are part of the eligibility assessment for organ transplantation candidates...
Does medicine have a telos?
A new edition of a prominent journal takes aim at teleology in medico-ethical theory. Medical practice has changed rapidly in recent decades. Debates challenging essentialist...
Nabbing the “Golden State Killer” poses bioethics question
The Golden State Killer case was cracked using a DNA matching website. In late April this year, California police arrested a suspect believed to be...
The 50 year legacy of the Harvard brain death report
50 years on, the brain death criterion remains controversial. 50 years ago, an ad hoc Harvard Medical School committee declared that patients in an “irreversible...