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Abortion: the European Parliament calls for complete decriminalisation
Author / Source : IEB Published on : News Temps de lecture : 2 min.
news
On 11 April 2024, the European Parliament voted (336 in favour, 163 against and 39 abstentions) for a resolution to amend Article 3 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union to include the right to abortion. Although European Parliament resolutions are not binding, they nevertheless express the official position of the legislative body if a majority of MEPs vote in favour of them. As for the Charter of Fundamental Rights, it is binding on the Member States, but only when the...
Constitutionalisation of abortion in France: a high-risk symbol
Author / Source : IEB Published on : News Temps de lecture : 3 min.
news
At Versailles on Monday 4 March 2024, French parliamentarians meeting in Congress voted 780 to 52 to include the freedom to have an abortion in the Constitution. The single article aimed at amending article 34 of the Constitution was added to the list of citizens' rights and freedoms in the following terms: "The law shall determine the conditions under which the freedom guaranteed to a woman to have recourse to a voluntary interruption of pregnancy is exercised". "Guaranteed freedom":...
Protection of the embryo: the Alabama Supreme Court recognises that embryos are "unborn children"
Author / Source : IEB Published on : News Temps de lecture : 1 min.
news
The ruling was prompted by a complaint lodged against a clinic by three couples whose embryos stored for in vitro fertilisation were accidentally destroyed in 2020. The Supreme Court based its decision on the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act of 1872. The justices relied on specific case law (Mack v. Carmack) to define the term "minor child" and to declare that unborn children fell within that definition - "regardless of stage of development and regardless of location", in the words of Justice...
France and Belgium: abortion remains an icon of ideological battles
Author / Source : IEB Published on : News Temps de lecture : 2 min.
news
The bill is particularly opposed by many healthcare professionals, who see the constitutionalization of abortion as a direct threat to their freedom of conscience. In the event of the constitutionalization of abortion, Emmanuel Sapin, Professor of Pediatric and Neonatal Surgery, calls for the right of healthcare professionals to conscientious objection to abortion to be enshrined in the Constitution. In a letter co-signed by numerous healthcare professionals...
Sexuality and abortion: The European Parliament Adopts the Matic Report
Author / Source : European Institute of Bioethics Published on : News Temps de lecture : 2 min.
news
More broadly, with the expression "reproductive and sexual rights", the resolution calls on the European Union (EU) Member States to guarantee access to: "comprehensive sexual education; modern contraceptive methods; care during childbirth and the pre- and post-natal periods; obstetric care; new-born care; services providing safe and legal abortions; prevention and treatment of HIV infection and other STIs; services to detect, prevent and treat sexual and gender-based violence; treatment of ca...
Pre-conception screening: Is it necessary to know everything before conceiving a child ?
Author / Source : IEB Published on : News Temps de lecture : 2 min.
news
Carrier screening is a test carried out before conception for couples who are at risk of passing on a genetic disease to their offspring. Ghent University Hospital recently asked the government to reimburse the cost of these genetic tests for all couples who wish to undergo them. In the event of such a reimbursement, the more systematic use of preconception tests would raise serious concerns. In future, if a risk of genetic disease were detected, would couples really be free not to turn to in ...
The European Parliament lists "the exploitation of surrogate motherhood" as an act of human trafficking
Published on : News Temps de lecture : 2 min.
news
On 23 April 2024, the European Parliament voted to amend the Directive on human trafficking to include surrogate motherhood among the acts of human trafficking that Member States are obliged to punish. Voted 563 in favour, 7 against and 17 abstentions, the text is still subject to approval by the ministers of the Member States who are part of the Council of the European Union. Given the diversity of European legislation in this area, the question arises as to what impact this will have on...
Surrogate motherhood: in Rome, a large panel of experts calls for an international ban on the practice
Author / Source : IEB Published on : News Temps de lecture : 2 min.
news
The organisation of this conference at the beginning of April 2024 came just a few days before a new meeting of the working group of the International Hague Conference (from 8 to 12 April), whose mandate includes considering the drafting of an international convention on the transnational recognition of filiation resulting from surrogate motherhood. In an open letter published on X, the International Coalition for the Abolition of Surrogacy took the opportunity to reiterate the need to put an...
Olivia Maurel, born through GPA, testifies to the wounds this practice inflicted on her
Author / Source : IEB Published on : News Temps de lecture : 1 min.
news
"From all my research, I cannot see there is a ‘good’ version of surrogacy," she tells the Daily Mail. Even when the surrogate mother doesn't donate her eggs, the reality remains that "it's a woman's body that's being rented out, and it's a baby who will be separated from its mother at birth", whereas "it's to her that it feels connected". And in countries that prohibit so-called commercial surrogacy, considerable sums of money are nevertheless paid as compensation. Olivia Maurel also cites th...
Reform of the Belgian Penal Code: "loss of pregnancy" regarded as an attack on personal integrity
Author / Source : IEB Published on : News Temps de lecture : 2 min.
news - Pregnancy
In the new Penal Code, "loss of pregnancy", whether or not intentionally induced, is classed as an "act of violence" resulting in third-degree bodily harm. Unlike under the old Code, the intention to cause the loss of pregnancy is now taken into account (Art. 214). This offence is punishable by a level 4 penalty (as opposed to a level 3 penalty if the perpetrator did not intend to cause the loss of pregnancy). Article 215 provides for a level 5 penalty if the loss of pregnancy results in the...