LifeZine No. 552: 31st Dec 07
Workplace Influences Pregnancy Decisions
Workplace policy and culture significantly influence the decisions made by women facing crisis pregnancy, according to a report in the “Irish Medical Times” (Nov.16). Problems with continuing their career are cited as one of the biggest factors influencing Irish woman to have an abortion. Research undertaken by Trinity College Dublin, involving women who have had an abortion shows that their job or career issues strongly influenced their decision not to continue as a parent of their unborn child. Pregnancy discrimination in the workplace is still a problem in Ireland, the research found, despite being illegal since 1997. Figures show that in 2006 there were 3,716 queries to the Equality Authority under the Maternity Protection Act. The research concluded “workers need to be supported to allow them to combine employment with family and personal commitments”. Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Ireland has Fastest-Growing Population of EU States
Ireland continues to have the fastest-growing population in the EU, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). In the year ending April 2007, the Republic of Ireland's population grew by 2.5 per cent to just under 4.34 million people (not including 1.7m in Northern Ireland). This marked the third year in a row the population increased by over 2 per cent annually. CSO figures found that two-thirds of the increase in population (106,100) was accounted for by net migration. The other third (38,800) was accounted for by a natural increase in the population (births less deaths). The CSO said that the excess of births over deaths has more than doubled from 16,600 in the twelve-month period ending April 1994 to 38,800 in the corresponding period to April 2007. The Irish Times. CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Majority of UK Peers Oppose Use of Human Embryos for Medical Research
A clear majority of UK peers oppose the use of human embryos for medical experiments if effective alternatives exist, according to a survey of 100 peers by polling firm, ComRes. This could result in important changes to the present Human Fertilisation & Embryology Bill, which is currently being debated in the UK. Some 48% of peers surveyed thought human embryos should not be used for research purposes where there are alternatives. In comparison only 38% of peers support the use of human embryos regardless of alternatives. Excluding those respondents who said they 'don't know', the percentage of peers overall who oppose such use rises to 56%. Lord Alton of Liverpool said: "This is why Professor Ian Wilmut, creator of Dolly the sheep, and until now a great supporter of embryonic stem cell research, has abandoned cloning. He added: "Since 1991, at vast public expense, more than 2 million human embryos have been destroyed, cloned, or experimented upon. Now the Government want to change the law to make animal-human hybrid embryos. Yet, not a single cure has been forthcoming anywhere in the world from the use of embryonic stem cells. So far such work has proved enormously costly and utterly futile. It has not resulted in one treatment. Yet, meanwhile, around 80 cures - and 300 clinical trials - have been developed from ethically non-controversial adult stem cells. Lord Alton's Office/Observer/ICN.END.
German Study Finds Alternatives to Destructive Embryo Research
Transplanting genetically engineered cells into the heart may reduce the risk of a fatal condition, which occurs after heart attack, new German research suggests. Ventricular tachycardia—an unusually fast heart rhythm—is the main cause of sudden death after heart attack. In mice, transplants of skeletal muscle cells engineered to produce a specific protein prevented the condition. Experts said the study in “Nature” should help to direct research on using stem cells to treat heart attacks in humans. The German researchers tested a variety of cells in mice who had been induced to have heart attacks. They found that heart cells taken from 15-day-old embryos reduced the risk of ventricular tachycardia but other implanted cells, such as skeletal muscle cells, did not. It was found that a protein present in embryonic heart cells but not the other cells—connexin 43—was the key. By engineering skeletal muscle cells, which are more readily available than embryonic cells, to produce connexin 43, the researchers found the cells were equally effective in preventing heart arrhythmia. BBC. CLICK TO READ MORE.....
President Bush's Stem Cell Stance ‘Thoroughly Vindicated’
Charles Krauthammer of the “Washington Post” recently quoted American scientist, James A Thomson: "If human embryonic stem cell research does not make you at least a little bit uncomfortable, you have not thought about it enough." Krauthammer added: “A decade ago, Thomson was the first to isolate human embryonic stem cells. Last week, he (and Japan's Shinya Yamanaka) announced one of the great scientific breakthroughs since the discovery of DNA: an embryo-free way to produce genetically-matched stem cells.” He continued, “Even a scientist who cares not a whit about the morality of embryo destruction will adopt this technique because it is so simple and powerful. The embryonic stem cell debate is over. Which allows a bit of reflection on the storm that has raged ever since the August 2001 announcement of President George Bush's stem cell policy. The verdict is clear: rarely has a president - so vilified for a moral stance - been so thoroughly vindicated. Why? Precisely because he took a moral stance. Precisely because, as Thomson puts it, Bush was made ‘a little bit uncomfortable’ by the implications of embryonic experimentation. Precisely because he therefore decided that some moral line had to be drawn.” The Washington Post Writers Group. The Irish Times. CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Cardinal O’Malley Rebukes Democrats on Abortion
Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, has criticised the Democratic Party's policies on abortion and said that Catholics should not vote for pro-abortion politicians. Speaking to the “Boston Globe”, the Cardinal said that support of such policies by Catholics sometimes "borders on scandal". CNS. CLICK TO READ MORE.....