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UN committee calls for Irish abortion referendum
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has called for a referendum on abortion in Ireland. Following a two day hearing in Geneva, the 17-member committee stated its concern at "Ireland's ... legislation on abortion." It has called for a referendum to repeal Article 40.3.3 which protects the right to life of the unborn. The committee also called for a revision of the 2013 Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act, claiming it is unclear "what constitutes a threat to a woman’s life." [Irish Times, 22 June]
Doctors defend handling of terminally ill teenager
An 18-year-old suffering from a brain tumour has died months after doctors gave him two weeks to live. Alexander Elliot's case was first heard in February in the Court of Protection. Doctors from the University Hospital Southampton told the court, "it was in his best interests for...treatment to be stopped" and gave Alexander only two weeks to live. [Daily Echo, 19 June] After the prognosis was given, the court granted doctors permission to withhold treatment. However, Elliot's mother argued for her son at a late-night hearing which lasted more than eight hours. Despite predictions, he "remained alive, and surpassed all expectations". Elliot's father told of the "incredible strain" which the teenager's mother had endured. [Belfast Telegraph, 20 June]
Peru: former president linked to sterilisation programme, as investigation is reopened
A criminal investigation has been reopened into a former president's role in a sterilisation programme. Questions will be asked of Alberto Fujimori to determine his involvement in a state programme that sterilised almost half a million Peruvians. During the late 1990s, workers and doctors used tubal ligation to sterilise women and women's organisations “enthusiastically collaborated with the state in setting up the family planning clinics." It was reported that it “...is now apparent that the poor and the indigenous population were specifically targeted". [Catholic Herald, 18 June]
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