News,

Women who are implanted with two embryos have the same chance of successful in vitro fertilisation as those implanted with three, according to research by Professor Allan Templeton, secretary to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The college claims that, if the number of embryos implanted were limited to two, savings could be made which could resolve alleged iniquities in fertility-treatment. [Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, 21 January 2000]


A British woman who was left infertile after mistakes by hospital staff has been refused the 400,000 pounds she wanted so that her eggs could be implanted in an American surrogate mother. Miss Margaret Briody's expert witness had told the high court that the chances of the pregnancy's being successful were "about one percent". Mrs Justice Ebsworth awarded Miss Briody 80,000 pounds for negligence by St Helens and Knowsley health authority, though she must pay the authority's legal costs. [BBC website, 21 January 2000]


A Republican presidential candidate has visited the grave of a foetus as part of an anti-abortion campaign. Mr Bauer said that humans were being treated "like styrofoam cups" and that, if the life-issue could not be got right, no issue could. [The Guardian, 24 January, 2000]


The Belgian senate debated euthanasia on Wednesday and there were differences of opinion across the socialist/liberal/green coalition. The French-speaking Christian Democrat opposition has called for a referendum on the subject. [Catholic Herald, 21 January 2000]


The Archbishop of Vienna has appealed for a charter for medical staff which would safeguard the rights of the terminally ill. Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn also called for the creation of a network of hospices. [Catholic Herald, 21 January 2000]


The Vatican newspaper has said that it is deceitful to call the morning-after pill a contraceptive. Fr Gino Concetti writes in L'Osservatore Romano that human life begins at fertilisation, not implantation nor brain-development. He says that the morning-after pill, which: "provokes the destruction of the already-fertilised egg, is simply abortifacient." [Catholic Times, 23 January 2000]


The 12-year-old who gave birth in south-west England on Wednesday is said to be doing well. [Metro, 20 January 2000]


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To subscribe to SPUC's email information services, please visit www.spuc.org.uk/em-signup. The reliability of the news herein is dependent on that of the cited sources, which are paraphrased rather than quoted. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the society. © Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, 2018