Lesbians and single women to have IVF in Victoria
“Socially infertile” women in the Australian state of Victoria would be allowed to have IVF children if a law reform commission’s recommendations are adopted. This would apply to single women and lesbians who are currently excluded under the provisions of the current act which allows only “medically infertile” women to have IVF. Other proposed changes include allowing women to use the sperm of deceased partners and allowing parents to create “saviour siblings” through IVF to help a sick child.
Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott pounced on the proposals and attacked the wisdom of expert committees which dismiss traditional values, “especially if their reports are couched in emotive language designed to intimidate the public”. He also urged the Australian Health Ethics Committee to publish an annual report on its most difficult decisions. “We don’t need sanitised versions of the good medical research might do, but any gory details of what might have to be done in order to bring about such good,” he said.
- Prescribe morning-after pills to young teenagers, say US pediatric group - November 30, 2012
- Bahrain sentences protest docs to prison - November 28, 2012
- Terry Pratchett assisted suicide documentary wins International Emmy - November 27, 2012
More Stories
A painful debate: shrinking the carbon footprint of anaesthetics
If there is any profession which seems remote from the Sturm und Drang of climate change, it must be anaesthetists....
Some patients recall death experiences after heart attacks
In an article in the journal Resuscitation, some survivors of cardiac arrest have described lucid death experiences that occurred while...
Queensland widower dies after taking assisted suicide drugs ordered by his wife
“Move along, please. Nothing to see here.” This was more or less the reaction of supporters of “voluntary assisted dying”...
Australian first: nurse donates organs after euthanasia
A Victorian woman has become the first Australian to combine death by euthanasia with organ donation. Ballarat nurse Marlene Bevern,...
Canadian study hints at crushing institutional conscience objections to ‘assisted dying’
Supporters of “voluntary assisted dying” fought hard to achieve legalisation in various jurisdictions around the world. After legalisation, however, battles...
Hope, hype and xenotransplantation
On January 7, 2022 David Bennett, a 57-year-old with terminal heart disease, made history as the first person to receive...