by Alliance VITA | February 7, 2020 | News, Surrogacy
Michelle Reaves, a young American wife, and mother of two children, died tragically during childbirth. She was serving as a gestational surrogate for the second time for same couple.
The news of Michele’s death was spread by one of her friends who set up an online fundraiser for funeral expenses, on behalf of her widowed husband, and her children, who are now left motherless.
This event calls to mind two additional surrogate deaths. An Indian woman who was also married and the mother of two children, Premila Vaghela, died while acting as a surrogate for an American woman. And Brooke Browns, who served as a surrogate mother for a couple from Spain, died due to complications during pregnancy in the USA.
In December, the Court of Cassation ruled that children born abroad from surrogacy or ART from third-party donors may now have their foreign birth certificates recorded on French civil registry. This decision is equivalent to authorizing surrogacy, even though it is prohibited by French law.
![[Press Release] France Bioethics Bill: Alliance VITA denounces the Senate’s Transgressive Vote](https://www.alliancevita.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Senat-1080x675.jpg)
by Alliance VITA | February 4, 2020 | News, Bioethics Law
In the plenary session on February 4, 2020, the French Senate voted the bioethics bill. However, this text does not deserve to be called bioethical. It threatens the rights of the most vulnerable in our society by ignoring the fundamental principles of human ecology.
Alliance VITA had previously pointed out that the text is full of contradictions and injustices. How is it possible to assert that “no one has the right to a child”, and in the following article to propose ART with a donor to any woman without a male partner? In so doing “ART without a father” is instituted, de facto, and at the same time, ART for heterosexual couples is made possible for medical reasons only. Completely irrational. And the ultimate paradox is that the couples confronted with infertility are facing the greatest discrimination. Worse, the national research infertility program, which was added to the text by the National Assembly to study the causes and prevention of infertility, has disappeared from the bill.
How is it possible to pretend that the anonymity for donors is lifted, and at the same to allow the donor to choose whether or not to reveal his identity when the child requests it when he is 18? This is a ticking time bomb extremely detrimental to the child.
How can human embryos be given their due and rightful consideration, when the maximum period of time for cultivating an embryo for research is extended to 21 days, and the creation of transgenic and chimeric embryos is authorized?
The senators finally ruled against the ultra-eugenic technique, PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis). Nevertheless, they re-established the use of “saviour babies”, despite the fact that the deputies had rightly voted to put an end to this practice. This shows that the senators are unable to assess this bill and to criticize the decisions which are absolutely contrary to ethics.
“The debates in the Senate have finally shed light on the challenges of this bill and on its dangers. Many experts following political lines rather different from the presidential line have denounced the serious ethical breaches in the bill. The Senators have made one contradictory vote after another, as if it was still necessary to prove that relativism in bioethics tends to disintegrate ethics. As it stands, this text is unacceptable because of the serious injustices it inflicts on future generations by yielding to individualism and scientific technology. The parliamentary process is not finished, and we will continue fighting for appropriate changes in the bill. Alliance VITA and their teams throughout France will continue to plan actions to inform and alert.“
by Alliance VITA | January 31, 2020 | Euthanasia and Suicide, News
On January 31, the verdict was rendered in the trial for three Belgian doctors who had performed euthanasia on Tine Nys in 2010, a young girl suffering from mental problems: the three were acquitted.
The Belgian press refers to it as “the euthanasia trial”, which is the first of its kind since Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2002. This trial began on January 17 in Ghent at the Assize Court in Ghent.
Tine Nys had experienced a romantic breakup which led to her depression and suicidal behavior. Since Belgium is one of the few countries in which euthanasia is allowed in cases of mental suffering, she requested euthanasia.
Prior to practicing euthanasia, Belgian law requires for three doctors to certify that the patient’s request is voluntary, well-considered, and repeated. The person must be in “a hopeless medical situation and a state of constant and unbearable physical or mental suffering which cannot be alleviated, resulting from a serious and incurable accidental or pathological condition”.
After Tine Nys’s death, her family members decided to press charges. The public prosecution also questioned whether or not the legal conditions for euthanasia had been respected.
The court also investigated the issue of the doctors’ sovereignty. The family alleged that the doctors had made an expeditious decision, especially since Tine Nys had been diagnosed with autism just two months before euthanasia, without ever receiving treatment for this condition.
During the trial some of the witnesses questioned, in the Belgian law, the articles which allow euthanasia for psychiatric illnesses. “It can never be asserted that a psychiatric patient’s case is hopeless,” acknowledged neuro-psychiatrist, Ivo Uyttendaele, former President at the Physician’s College.
As Clinical Psychology Professor at the Free University of Brussels, Anne Bazan testified in support of the Nys family. In her opinion, although the medical staff may have the responsibility of informing the patient of his right to request euthanasia, this information may be detrimental to his therapy. “In these circumstances, a patient is never informed that treatment is no longer available. Treatment is always an option. Mentioning euthanasia even undermines our capacity to treat our most vulnerable patients. This encourages them to give up hope, rather than hold on, and the key to treatment is hope. “
While many suicide prevention initiatives have appeared throughout the world, such as The Suicide Prevention Days or Weeks, the Belgian society’s attitude is delusive. What is the message to suicidal people when euthanasia is suggested to people suffering from mental disorders?
According to Carine Brochier at the European Institute of Bioethics, “this law has got out of control. Starting with the terminally ill, it was then extended to the elderly who suffered from several pathologies, then finally suggested to people with a risk of dementia, since once dementia is established, the law is no longer applicable. In the end, psychological distress was a reason to request euthanasia. We didn’t realize what we were doing.”
![[Press Release] Bioethics Bill: Alliance VITA Plans More Action](https://www.alliancevita.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Bioethique-1080x675.jpg)
by Alliance VITA | January 30, 2020 | Bioethics Law, Press Releases
The result of the recent examination of the French bioethics law by the Senate shows that this law cannot be simply amended.
The Senators must vote on the amended text in a plenary session scheduled for February 4. Ethics is supposed to protect human rights, life and human dignity but never before has a text on bioethics been so far removed from ethics,
Caroline Roux, Alliance VITA’s Assistant General Delegate declares:
The text of the senators turns out to be full of contradictions and presents a concept of ethics that varies according to man’s desires. Although we appreciate the attempts made to amend the draft law, obviously the senators have failed to consider the overall implications of this bill which promises ensuing episodes of discrimination and injustice.
An inconsistent law for Alliance VITA
- How is it possible to assert that “no one has the right to a child”, and in the following article to propose ART with a donor to any woman without a male partner? In so doing “ART without a father” is instituted, de facto, and at the same time, ART for heterosexual couples is made possible for medical reasons only. Completely irrational. And the ultimate paradox is that the couples confronted with infertility are facing the greatest discrimination. Worse, the national research infertility program, which was added to the text by the National Assembly to study the causes and prevention of infertility, has disappeared from the bill.
- How is it possible to pretend that the anonymity for donors is lifted, and at the same to allow the donor to choose whether or not to reveal his identity when the child requests it when he is 18? This is a ticking time bomb extremely detrimental to the child.
- How can human embryos be given their due and rightful consideration, while the maximum period for cultivating an embryo is extended to 21 days, and the creation of transgenic and chimeric embryos is authorized?
- The senators finally ruled against the ultra-eugenic technique, PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis). Nevertheless, they reinstated the use of “saviour babies”, despite the fact that the deputies had rightly voted to put an end to this practice. This shows that the senators are unable to assess this bill and to criticize the decisions which are absolutely contrary to ethics.
Tugdual Derville, Alliance VITA’s General Delegate declares:
This confirms the warnings we voiced when the consultative process began. After initially being scoffed at, these warnings are now widely accepted. As it stands now, the bill is a serious back slide. Senators are usually known for their wisdom, and they now have a serious responsibility towards future generations. If they vote this text as it is, we will ask the National Assembly to improve it at the second reading, or the government to withdraw the bill. For future generations, we shall continue to voice our protest.
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by Alliance VITA | January 21, 2020 | Bioethics Law, Press Releases
As the French Senate begins to examine the bioethics bill today, Alliance VITA urges the senators to be bold and wise, but cautious to amend the text while there is still time.
Caroline Roux, Alliance VITA’s Assistant General Delegate insists: “We call upon the senators to make a thorough analysis of the implications of this text. Their duty is not to give in to illusions of progress where humans are selected and technologically created, instead of protecting the rights of the most vulnerable, the children and even humanity itself. The dignity of mankind and human rights are at stake. Senators must promote a society that refuses discrimination and injustice as a consequence of a misleading definition of progress.”
Should we call it progress to hide paternity behind artificial procreation techniques?
Should we call it progress when a man’s role is just to supply gametes, thus deliberately depriving him from any filiation with his child?
Should we call it progress when motherhood is a technological achievement, with hormonal treatments imposed on women without any medical reason? Should we call it progress to freeze oocytes with the illusory promise of motherhood, which can never be guaranteed?
Should we call it progress when justice turns a blind eye to the violations of the law implied by the commodification of the body of foreign surrogate mothers?
Should we call it progress to “track down anomalies” and to eliminate vulnerable people rather than welcome them and try to find treatments for them?
Should we call it progress when the human embryo – and at one time all of us were human embryos – is used as lab material, to be genetically modified, to create chimeras by combining its cells with animal cells, or even used to produce artificial gametes?
Should we call it progress when human integrity is no longer respected, and scientists are allowed to play God?
Alliance VITA believes that society will progress provided that fatherhood, motherhood, differences and the integrity of the human race are respected.
Along with “March for the Children” Alliance VITA is calling for a large turnout in front of the Senate on January 21 and 22 at 7:00 pm to urge the senators to review the text of this law, which as it stands, does not deserve to be called ‘bioethical’.
