The mother of a teenage girl who hit the headlines last year when she had a secret abortion arranged for her by her school is to act as a witness in the High Court case over whether minors should be able to undergo abortions without parental knowledge. Melissa Smith, then 14 years old, regretted the...

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A legal challenge to government guidance that allows minors to have abortions without parental knowledge is to be heard in the High Court today. Sue Axon from Manchester argues that parents should be informed if their children seek abortion. She said: "We have got a very, very strong case that gover...

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News, A legal challenge to government guidance that allows minors to have abortions without parental knowledge is to be heard in the High Court today. Sue Axon from Manchester argues that parents should be informed if their children seek abortion. She said: "We have got a very, very strong case th...

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News, A mother has received compensation and an apology from the hospital where her premature baby's organs were removed without her knowledge. Mrs. Angela Roberts gave birth 26 years ago at University College Hospital, London, to twins Natalie, who survived, and Natasha. She was told Natasha was ...

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A mother has received compensation and an apology from the hospital where her premature baby's organs were removed without her knowledge. Mrs. Angela Roberts gave birth 26 years ago at University College Hospital, London, to twins Natalie, who survived, and Natasha. She was told Natasha was stillbor...

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Republicans have welcomed President Bush's decision to nominate Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Described in The Times of London as 'intellectually brilliant', Judge Alito has 15 years' experience on the US Court of Appeals and a strong pro-life record. Opponents have attacked his stance on abort...

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News, Republicans have welcomed President Bush's decision to nominate Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Described in The Times of London as 'intellectually brilliant', Judge Alito has 15 years' experience on the US Court of Appeals and a strong pro-life record. Opponents have attacked his stance ...

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News, The Voluntary Euthanasia Society is planning to change its name to Dignity in Dying. VES director Deborah Annetts said the change was because many members felt uncomfortable with the use of 'euthanasia', a word she says has been 'misrepresented in the media'. The new name, which members will...

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The Voluntary Euthanasia Society is planning to change its name to Dignity in Dying. VES director Deborah Annetts said the change was because many members felt uncomfortable with the use of 'euthanasia', a word she says has been 'misrepresented in the media'. The new name, which members will vote on...

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A US fertility clinic has been granted permission to allow couples to choose the sex of their babies as part of a clinical trial, The Guardian reports. Baylor College of Medicine in Texas will examine the issues that contribute to a couple's decision to choose the sex of their child and will then mo...

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News, A US fertility clinic has been granted permission to allow couples to choose the sex of their babies as part of a clinical trial, The Guardian reports. Baylor College of Medicine in Texas will examine the issues that contribute to a couple's decision to choose the sex of their child and will...

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News, Lord Joffe has defended his Patient Assisted Dying Bill in an interview with the Guardian newspaper. Answering concerns that people would feel pressured to end their lives because they were a 'burden', Lord Joffe said: 'To pretend one is not a burden when one is dying of motor neurone diseas...

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Lord Joffe has defended his Patient Assisted Dying Bill in an interview with the Guardian newspaper. Answering concerns that people would feel pressured to end their lives because they were a 'burden', Lord Joffe said: 'To pretend one is not a burden when one is dying of motor neurone disease is not...

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A High Court judge has lifted the ruling he made last year that doctors would not be acting unlawfully if they refused to artificially ventilate seriously ill baby Charlotte Wyatt. Mr. Justice Hedley said in his ruling that doctors would still have the final decision on Charlotte's treatment, but an...

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News, A High Court judge has lifted the ruling he made last year that doctors would not be acting unlawfully if they refused to artificially ventilate seriously ill baby Charlotte Wyatt. Mr. Justice Hedley said in his ruling that doctors would still have the final decision on Charlotte's treatment...

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News, A stem cell bank has opened in South Korea to supply embryonic stem cell lines to scientists in countries where human embryos receive more protection from destructive research. At the opening ceremony, Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh congratulated Korea "for constructing the ...

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A stem cell bank has opened in South Korea to supply embryonic stem cell lines to scientists in countries where human embryos receive more protection from destructive research. At the opening ceremony, Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh congratulated Korea "for constructing the world st...

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Scientists at two Massachusetts-based institutes have developed methods of extracting embryonic stem cells that they claim could bypass ethical objections. A team at Advanced Cell Technology used pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to extract one cell from a mouse embryo, which they used to grow an e...

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News, Scientists at two Massachusetts-based institutes have developed methods of extracting embryonic stem cells that they claim could bypass ethical objections. A team at Advanced Cell Technology used pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to extract one cell from a mouse embryo, which they used to g...

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News, The parents of Charlotte Wyatt have returned to the High Court in an attempt to overturn last year's ruling that doctors may refuse ventilation to Charlotte if she develops a lung infection. Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt's legal representative described considerable improvements in the condition of the...

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