Disability rights activists are frustrated that a person who wants disabled people euthanised at birth is to speak at a public event. Australian ethicist Dr Peter Singer’s views are “harmful” to those with disabilities, the activists say. Singer is back in Auckland for a one-off event at Trusts Arena in Henderson on Saturday night. He Read more
For Catholics who put their faith first, before anything else, there is one way – above all others – to view the life and death issues facing local communities, the nation and the world: and that is, through the lens of the Gospel and Catholic social teaching! But instead, it clearly appears that more often Read more
After-birth abortion or infanticide for babies with a disability is supported by more than 9 in 10 Belgian physicians surveyed, a shocking new research paper into abortion attitudes has revealed. A poll of healthcare professionals in Flanders, Belgium found 93.6% of physicians surveyed “agree that in the event of a serious (non-lethal) neonatal condition, administering Read more
Forced abortion and infanticide are being used to carry out China’s family planning policies, according to a former hospital worker in China’s Xinjiang province. Hospitals regularly force late-term abortions on Uyghur women and kill newborn Uyghur babies, says Hasiyet Abdulla, who presently lives in Turkey. Abdulla is one of many Uyghurs who have fled to Read more
Reports suggesting no girls have been born in 132 villages in the small Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in the last three months are being investigated. About 400,000 people live in the state’s 550 villages and five towns. Some say the reason for the gender imbalance is clear. “No girl child was born for three months Read more
A Samoan woman who acknowledged she killed her new born son at a Washington convent where she was studying to become a nun was sentenced to four years in prison. Sosefina Amoa, 26, has said she didn’t know she was pregnant before she gave birth to a baby boy in her room at the Little Read more
A woman who had just begun a five month course with a view to entering religious life has accepted a plea agreement for voluntary manslaughter after killing her newborn infant in a convent in Washington DC last October. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed to argue for a sentence between four and 10 years Read more
Could infanticide become legal here in New Zealand? The state of Victoria gives us a clue. A coalition of feminist groups, politicians and leading doctors campaigned for the decriminalisation of the state’s abortion law. The Abortion Law Reform Act was passed by the state Parliament in October 2008. Two medical ethicists have put the case for Read more
In 1985, Mary Anne Warren coined the term gendercide to refer to the ritual eradication of women and girls throughout the world. More recently, the heartbreaking film It’s a Girl documents the effects of this practice on the numbers of girls and women in China and India. It makes for difficult viewing, particularly when confronted with the Read more
Several prominent bioethicists have come out in favour of infanticide in a leading medical journal. A special issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics contains 31 commentaries on infanticide from a range of ethicists, some arguing it can be a moral action; others maintaining that even suggesting it is a vile stain on academic integrity. Read more