UK regulations stymie use of aborted foetuses
Regulations created as sop to anti-abortion activists
Out-of-date regulations prevent British scientists from using tissue
from the 200,000 foetuses which are aborted each year in England and
Wales, complains Professor Naomi Pfeffer, of
London Metropolitan University. She claims that women are perfectly
capable of giving informed consent to the use of aborted tissue and
that doctors will act ethically in requesting the tissue.
It is possible to use tissue from aborted foetuses, but the paperwork involved is tedious and costly. The
Royal College of Obstetricians objects to the current rule that
researchers must have no direct contact with women who undergo an
elected pregnancy termination. According to Professor Pfeffer, the
so-called separation principle was put in place as a sop to
"anti-abortion activists" who pointed out that women might be pressured
to proceed with an abortion. However, ProfessorPfeffer suggests that this is patronising for women and demeaning for doctors. She is calling for revision, or abolition, of the 1989 Polkinghorne Guidelines which currently govern research using aborted foetuses. ~ BioNews, Apr 20
- How long can you put off seeing the doctor because of lockdowns? - December 3, 2021
- House of Lords debates assisted suicide—again - October 28, 2021
- Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021
More Stories
Assisted suicide numbers in Oregon continue to rise
In 1997, Oregon became the first jurisdiction to legalise physician-assisted suicide for people with a terminally illness. Since then numbers have increased...
Belgian softens penalties for illegal euthanasia deaths
Belgian doctors can be prosecuted if they administer euthanasia without regard to the specified conditions. But however serious the infraction...
What does the world’s ‘low-fertility’ future look like?
Decades of fretting about over-population and encouraging contraception and abortion have succeeded. But the dream of zero population growth has...
Contradictory attitudes towards people with Down syndrome
March 21st was World Down Syndrome day. The event is supposed to foster awareness of Trisomy 21, as the condition...
The Gambia on track to reverse ban on female genital mutilation
In the United States, Australia, and Europe there can be no cause more popular, more humane, and more progressive than...
Some Americans are disposing of their costly frozen embryos
The cost of storing frozen embryos is steadily rising in the United States, prompting some people to have them destroyed....