28 June 2005

News,

A woman has been awarded compensation after a series of strokes following IVF treatment left her brain damaged. The woman became pregnant after her third cycle of IVF but developed ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and suffered a miscarriage following a stroke. She spent a year in hospital and is now being cared for by her family. Professor Lord Winston, a pioneer of artificial reproduction, denied that doctors should warn women contemplating IVF about the risk of suffering a stroke on the grounds that it is a rare occurrence. [The Scotsman, 28 June] Pro-life lobbying groups have been excluded from discussions with the UN General Assembly about the Millennium Summit +5, C-Fam reports. The discussions, described as 'informal interactive hearings' with NGOs form part of a new approach that allows pro-life groups to be barred from UN negotiations. At the meeting, the Women's Environment and Development Organisation is circulating a document calling on the +5 Summit to "reaffirm that universal access to sexual and reproductive health by 2015 and protection of reproductive rights are critical for achieving the MDGs." [C-FAM, 24 June] A group of experts, including a number of Catholic bioethicists, have expressed support for an experimental technique that may produce embryo-like stem cells without creating and killing human embryos. The technique involves the injection of modified genetic material into an egg that would produce a pluripotent stem cell rather than an embryo. Richard Doerflinger of the US Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities said: "This new proposal addresses the Catholic Church's fundamental moral objection to embryonic stem cell research as now practiced, by offering to create cells with the properties of embryonic stem cells without ever producing or harming a human embryo." He added: "If animal trials show the technique to work as planned, and the eggs needed for the technique can be obtained in an ethical manner, it could provide a morally acceptable way to pursue biomedical research with these cells." [Lifenews.com, 27 June]

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

28 June 2005

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