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British court gives the go ahead for IVF babies to be created to save sick siblings

Britain's highest appeal court has rejected a challenge from an anti-abortion group and has backed a 2003 Court of Appeal ruling that some couples undergoing the fertility treatment could have their embryos screened to find tissue matches for seriously ill children. The procedure will help save desperately ill children but some fear it could lead to the creation of babies for spare parts

1 May 2005

Neural tube defects decrease with folic acid fortification

A new study published online April 21, 2005 in the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A examines whether the recent decline in neural tube defects in Chile was due to the addition of folic acid to wheat flour in that country or to pre-existing decreasing trends. The journal is available online via Wiley InterScience.

21 Apr 2005

International commitment to reduce maternal and child deaths by 2015 will not be met

An international commitment to reduce maternal and child deaths by 2015 will not be met at the current pace unless rapid and coordinated action is taken now, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

5 Apr 2005

Pharmaceutical reproductive rights in the United States

The battle over reproductive rights in the United States has taken another turn with some pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control and morning-after pills on the grounds that dispensing the medications violates their moral or religious beliefs.

29 Mar 2005

Schiavo case - Judge refuses to allow feeding tube to be reinserted

A request from the parents of Florida woman Terri Schiavo to reinsert her feeding tube has been rejected by a federal judge; this is a blow to attempts by the US Congress and the White House to prolong her life. Bob and Mary Schindler, Schiavo's parents, immediately appealed to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta as their daughter went for a fourth day without nutrition or hydration.

22 Mar 2005

RU-486 plus prostaglandins remains the most effective nonsurgical abortion method

The most common medical approach to terminating early pregnancy — the drug RU-486 plus prostaglandins — remains the most effective nonsurgical abortion method, according to a new research review.

24 Jan 2005

Many of George Bush's health policies likely to be controversial in second term

Many health policies under George Bush's second term in office are likely to be controversial, warns a leading British doctor and an American colleague in this week's BMJ.

20 Jan 2005

Fetal tissue restores lost sight from retinitis pigmentosa

Three years ago Elisabeth Bryant believed she would be blind for the rest of her life. "I couldn't see anything," she says. Now, although her vision is not perfect, she can see well enough to read, play computer games and check emails.

28 Oct 2004

Women aged 16 to 19 are 43% more likely to test positive for Chlamydia than women in their early twenties

Women aged 16 to 19 are 43% more likely to test positive for Chlamydia than women in their early twenties, show data from the first year of the Chlamydia screening programme in England, reported in Sexually Transmitted Infections.

29 Sep 2004

Every minute of every day, at least one woman in developing countries dies in childbirth

Today, WHO and the Partnership for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health are intensifying support to countries around the world to ensure that a woman does not die while giving birth to her child.

29 Sep 2004

New York Judge strikes down federal abortion ban

Planned Parenthood Los Angeles (PPLA) has applauded the New York court ruling issued today in National Abortion Federation (NAF) v. Ashcroft, a lawsuit challenging the federal abortion ban passed by Congress last October and signed by President Bush. Today's ruling invalidates the ban.

26 Aug 2004

Lack of a gene called LBP-1a in the embryo prevents normal growth of blood vessels in the placenta

The lack of a gene called LBP-1a in the mouse embryo prevents normal growth of blood vessels in the placenta. This finding suggests that a similar defect in humans could play a role in fetal growth retardation, infant mortality and spontaneous abortion.

6 Aug 2004

Guidance on providing advice on sex education to young people under the age of sixteen

British doctors and health professionals will be sent new, clearer guidance on providing advice on contraception, sexual and reproductive health and treatments to young people under the age of sixteen.

2 Aug 2004

Colin Powell, "we have continuously called on China to end its program of coercive abortion"of coercive abortion"

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell sent a report to Congress July 16 on China's birth limitation policy and the United Nations Population Fund's assistance to China.

17 Jul 2004

More than four out of ten conceptions among young women aged 15 to 17 end in abortion

But the average proportion across England, Scotland and Wales disguises wide variations in the percentage of terminations between areas.

30 Jun 2004

UK launch of The Institute of Medical Law

The University of Birmingham is continuing to lead the way in international research into medical-legal issues such as MMR, euthanasia and drug regulation with the launch of The Institute of Medical Law.

29 Jun 2004

Prenatal factors may play a role in autism

Mothers of children diagnosed with autism are more likely to be older and to have experienced obstetric difficulties during pregnancy, labor and delivery, but these complications are likely related to underlying genetic factors, according to an article in the June issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

14 Jun 2004

San Francisco judge has slammed the new Bush legislation on abortions as unconstitutional

US federal Judge Phyllis Hamilton has slammed the new Bush legislation on abortions as unconstitutional "This court concludes that the act is unconstitutional because it poses an undue burden on a woman's ability to choose a second trimester abortion; is unconstitutionally vague; and requires a health exception,".

2 Jun 2004

Federal abortion ban is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced

The federal abortion ban passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush last year is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced, Federal District Court Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton ruled yesterday (1st June 2004).