Last week, the Dáil began debating the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill but, in reality, there was no debate. Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) poses many serious ethical and legal questions but very few objections were raised by our TDs. This is a typical pattern in these debates. The Bill is very permissive and adult-centered in its...
A new assisted human reproduction Bill, presented this week by Cabinet, will allow the use of sperm or eggs from a deceased person. The children produced will be deliberate semi-orphans, one of their parents dead before they are even conceived. This is one of several big ethical problems with the legislation. The final text of...
Supporters of assisted suicide often say that permitting the procedure would lead to a reduction in non-assisted suicide because it would provide a better alternative. A new study suggests this is not true. In countries where assisted suicide is available, non-assisted suicides do not necessarily reduce in number. The study by David Albert Jones, director...
Exit International, one of the most radical pro-euthanasia organisations in the world, has launched an Irish branch. They want almost no limits on euthanasia/assisted suicide. They believe that any adult who wishes to kill themselves, and is mentally competent, should be facilitated in doing so. The person doesn’t have to be sick, let alone terminally...
There is a mounting pressure in Ireland to have foreign commercial surrogacy arrangements recognised here. Today the matter is being considered by a Special Oireachtas Committee, but ahead of that meeting, the Attorney General’s office produced a document highlighting the ethical pitfalls with commercial surrogacy. It also challenges the recommendations on the matter of the...
The right of parents to choose how to educate their children has been upheld by the Supreme Court in a major ruling published on Monday. It unanimously dismissed the appeal of the Minister of Education against two home-schooled students who were excluded from the Leaving Cert calculated grades scheme. Their exclusion interfered with the constitutional...
The Government has announced the setting up of a special committee on surrogacy to discuss couples (or individuals) who make use of surrogacy arrangements overseas and then have difficulty when they come back home being recognised as the legal parents of the child. At the same time, the Government is passing legislation to make it...
The ‘culture of death’ continues to tighten its grip on Europe. In Austria, a law that went into effect on January 1 allows not simply those who are terminally ill to avail of assisted suicide, but also the chronically sick. In a particularly grisly twist, pharmacies are now authorised to give lethal drugs to those...
In many countries, Christian women and girls suffer abduction, rape, forced conversion and forced marriage, according to a new report. But social stigma and fear of reprisal from perpetrators keep their stories mostly unheard. The “Hear her cries: Kidnapping, forced conversion and sexual victimization of Christian women and girls” report addresses the appalling problem of...
The College of Psychiatrists in Ireland has come out strongly against the proposal to legalise Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia (PAS-E). In a new paper released just before Christmas, they say it is “contrary to the efforts of psychiatrists, other mental health staff and the public to prevent deaths by suicide.” It will place vulnerable...
