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Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
Organ donation after euthanasia: Altruism to mask utilitarianism?
The 10th ‘Sympadot’ symposium, organised on 21 November by the Transplantation Department of Brussels University Hospital (Erasme), focused on organ donation and transplantation. Among the topics discussed was the deliberately provocative question: ‘Euthanasia, a pathway to the futur? According to the speakers, the aim is to promote an ‘end-of-life project’...
Fertility and Pregnancy
Natural Fertility Awareness Methods: Empowering Couples with Greater Autonomy
Long overshadowed by contraception, particularly the pill since the 1960s and 1970s, natural fertility awareness methods are experiencing a resurgence. This is largely due to increasing awareness of the health and...
Abortion
Prof. emeritus Dr. Bernard Spitz: “Abortion: between fundamental right and crime against humanity”
Prof. emeritus Dr. Bernard Spitz is a physician and professor emeritus at the Catholic University of Louvain, where he taught obstetrics and medical ethics. Dr. Spitz is the (co-)author of “Quand vous perdez une...
Surrogacy
Italy recognizes surrogacy as a “universal crime”: symbolic measure or first step towards a global ban?
On October 16, 2024, the Italian Senate voted to extend the criminalization of surrogate motherhood to include the “crime of surrogate motherhood committed abroad by an Italian citizen”. From now on, Italian nationals...
Parentage and Access to Origins
Access to origins: Belgian law deems gamete donor anonymity unconstitutional
In a ruling handed down on September 26, 2024, Belgium's Constitutional Court ruled that legislative provisions which absolutely prevent a child born from a gamete donation from obtaining any information from the fertilization center concerning the donor were unconstitutional. Belgium has until June 30, 2027 to review its legislation.
Palliative Care
World Palliative Care Day: “It's about reducing suffering, not ending life”
October 12, 2024 is World Hospice Palliative Care Day. To mark the occasion, the three Belgian palliative care federations in Wallonia, Brussels and Flanders have relaunched a national campaign to spread a more positive...
Medically Assisted Reproduction
Artificial reproduction: study reveals increased risk of congenital heart defects in children
According to a study published in the European Heart Journal (EHJ), children conceived by artificial procreation have a higher risk of congenital heart defects than those born of natural conception.
Illness & Disability
“To be or not to be”: actors with Down's Syndrome give a performance of Hamlet that challenges prejudices
“A luminous show that goes beyond the turmoil of Hamlet to bring to the stage an irrepressible thirst for life”. This is how the commentators on Musiq3 (RTBF) describe a play that made a stopover in Belgium at the...
In the spotlight
All the news
Bereavement leave in the event of euthanasia: will it be possible to change one’s mind?
Belgium – Proposed liberalisation of abortion laws: 12, 14 or 18 weeks – a scientific question or an ethical choice?
Belgium: care for people with disabilities under scrutiny from the UN
Alberta (Canada): a setback for the expansion of euthanasia?
Surrogacy: between freedom-restricting contracts and eugenic abortions
Euthanasia in cases of advanced dementia: a further extension of Belgian law?
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