LIFEAlerts

LIFEalerts – IVF & Surrogacy

IVF & Surrogacy

USA –  Fertility clinics are being taken over by profit-driven companies selling false hope

Rachel Strodel, a first year med student describes how the fertility industry is dangerously glossing over what science tells us these treatments can and can’t offer. “Assisted reproductive technology is a potent tool for empowerment for some, and can bring a peace of mind that we should not take lightly. Yet the industry is increasingly exploiting anxieties about reproduction without addressing the urgent inequities, unfounded promises and disregard for medical best practices in the field.” Rachel feels that it’s time to establish an independent government body that can regulate industry practices and ensure women get the information they need to make fertility decisions that are right for them.

the American Society for Reproductive Medicine lifted the experimental label in 2013, a move that normalized the use of egg freezing as part of infertility treatment. However, they did not recommend the procedure’s use for delaying childbearing. There wasn’t enough evidence, the committee wrote, that the benefits of this type of egg freezing outweighed potential financial and emotional risks, and it warned that “marketing this technology for the purpose of deferring childbearing may give women false hope.”

“Nonetheless, companies like Facebook and Apple began offering egg freezing as a perk to their employees. This and a host of other factors — the increase in the average age of marriage and childbearing, technological advancements in egg freezing and the legalization of same sex marriage — have pricked the ears of venture capital funds and private equity firms eager to cash in.”

Today, fertility companies and standalone egg-freezing centers cater to people who “aren’t necessarily infertile but want the ability to decide when to have children without worrying about declining fecundity (ability to have babies). Doctors know that while the uterus doesn’t age, eggs do. — a leading reason why females over the age of 35 often have trouble getting pregnant. Egg freezing allows people to keep their eggs young while they get older.”

Fertility start-ups in the USA were giving “free hormone tests that indicate how many eggs a woman has left, but not her overall fertility. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists doesn’t endorse this test as a reliable predictor of reproductive ability in people who are fertile. But the fact that their directive is being ignored is a sign that some level of additional oversight is needed, because self-regulation isn’t cutting it.” Bottom line, the U.S. would be wise to follow the UK’s example to establish an analogous agency to body regulate the all aspects of assisted reproductive technology. It could also require that clients be educated on the effectiveness of tests and procedures offered at these centers — and even ensure that clinics follow standards of care. More

LIFEalerts – Paedophilia

Paedophilia

Arizona – Pedophile Red Flags to Look Out For

Psychotherapist Dr. Karen Ruskin outlines some common red flags to point out potential pedophiles. 1. Pedophile spends more time with children than adults. 2. Pedophile expresses interest in the same things your child likes. 3. Pedophile frequently offers to give your child a ride, to take your child shopping to “help you out,” and looks for any other way to be alone with your child.4. Pedophile is overly affectionate with children who are not his/her own. Be involved in your child’s life — typically molesters target children who do not get a lot of attention from parents.  Do not dismiss your child’s claims or observations about other people or things that happened to them. More

LIFEalerts – Pornography

Pornography

USA – Sexually violent acts prevalent on Pornhub and other major porn sites

Sexually violent pornography scripts are commonly promoted on the main pages of Pornhub and other widely accessed porn sites. The British Journal of Criminology published an article  titled “Sexual violence as a sexual script in mainstream online pornography,” which analyses the presence of sexually violent material on major pornography sites. Fiona Vera-Gray, an assistant professor at the Department of Sociology of Durham University in the United Kingdom who specializes in the subject of sexual violence, was the lead author. They found that one in eight titles shown to first-time users on the first page of mainstream porn sites describe sexual activity that constitutes sexual violence. According to the analysis, the most common themes include incest and non-consensual actions, which include content where subjects are described as being “drugged,” unconscious or very young. Article in BJC, Reporting article

USA – Mastercard Adds New Rules to Confront Pornography Site Abuses 

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) commended Mastercard for instituting new rules on banks that process payments for pornography tube sites. Banks will need to certify that the seller of adult content has effective controls in place to monitor, block and, where necessary, take down all illegal content. Mastercard will also require the pornography websites to document the age and identity of anyone depicted in or uploading the content. Pornhub have come under fire for profiting from videos depicting child rape, sexual assault, incest, and non-consensually shared content. NCOSE founded in 1962, is the leading national non-partisan organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation. More

Germany – Authorities Bust Major International Child Porn Site

German authorities, in conjunction with Europol and law enforcement agencies in the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, the United States and Canada, busted a child porn platform on the dark net with over 400,000 registered members. “Boystown,” as the platform is called, was used by pedophiles and could only be accessed through special software. The site is designed to allow pedophiles to view and upload images of child sexual abuse without being detected by law enforcement. Three administrators of the site were charged. As part of the services they offered, they helped users evade detection from law enforcement. Most of the images on the platform were of young boys, including what authorities described as images of most severe sexual abuse of toddlers. More

UK – Dad takes legal action to protect sons from porn

Ioannis Dekas, 52, a father of four is taking legal action against the Government over its failure to implement promised age-verification checks on pornographic websites. Regulations to require pornographers to introduce strict age-verification checks online were approved under the Digital Economy Act 2017, but the plans were dropped in October 2019. The Government’s proposals for a replacement age verification system are significantly weaker, and there is currently no date set for the new Online Safety Bill. Children are being harmed by the lack of age-verification – a breach of the Government’s legal duty to protect them. Mr Dekas had noticed a “drastic” change in his son’s behaviour before he found out that their son had viewed porn due to peer pressure. He stressed that “porn is harming our young people”. More

UK – Government lays out plans to protect users online

Social media firms will have to remove harmful content quickly or potentially face multi-billion-pound fines under new legislation as stated in the Queen’s Speech. It is “especially” geared at keeping children safe. The draft legislation, previously known as the Online Harms Bill, has been two years in the making. It covers a huge range of content to which children might fall victim – including grooming, revenge porn, hate speech, images of child abuse and posts relating to suicide and eating disorders. But it goes much further, taking in terrorism, disinformation, racist abuse and pornography, too. More

LIFEalerts – Abortion

Abortion

New Zealand – Doctors sue to regain conscientious objection rights

Last year, New Zealand (NZ) passed abortion laws which decriminalized abortion up to 20 weeks and severely undermining conscientious objection for pro-life physicians. A physician refusing to do abortions should provide contact information of one nearby. The New Zealand Health Professionals Alliance went to NZ’s High Court arguing that the current abortion law makes pro-life physicians part of the “chain of causation that leads to taking a human life.” President of the NZ pro-abortion group equated conscientious objection to harassment which is gross mischaracterization. Physicians can decline to participate in abortion while maintaining respect for their patients. More

UK – Wales: 100% increase in ambulance calls since DIY abortion pills

A Freedom of Information request revealed a 100% increase in ambulance call-outs to women taking abortion pills at home. Originally sanctioned as a temporary measure to reduce transmission of Covid-19 during the pandemic in March 2020, the Welsh Government followed England in introducing DIY abortions. In December 2020 they began evaluating whether to end it. This information comes at the same time as evidence emerging of massive underreporting of complications arising from DIY abortions. In December 2020, Baroness Philippa Stroud, a prominent member of the House of Lords has called on the Government withdraw provision of ‘DIY’ home abortions given the potential for serious complications, coercion from abusive partners and inability to verify gestational age over the phone.

Wales: 100% increase in ambulance calls for women taking ‘DIY’ abortion pills at home | Lockdown regulation enabling at-home abortions putting women at risk, says MS | Prominent peer speaks out against ‘dangerous’ DIY home abortion scheme

USA – 20 State Attorneys General filed amicus briefs in support of journalist

Twenty state attorney’s general and several non-profit organizations have filed amicus briefs at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Sandra Merritt and her colleague, David Daleiden. They argue that the lower court’s decision against Merritt and Daleiden will harm First Amendment journalism, which often uses undercover recordings to reveal crime and abuse. The lawsuit is with regards to their undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood’s trafficking of human baby body parts. The Attorneys General from 20 states argue in their brief that the trial court erred in excluding the public policy defense, because the videos were used by law enforcement authorities – including some of these amici themselves – to successfully investigate and prosecute wrongdoers. More

USA – Study shows legalized abortion does not improve maternal mortality

A new 10-year study highlighted by the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) prove that Restrictions on abortion do not lead to an increase in women dying due to a lack of “safe” abortions. The study was published in the peer-reviewed British Medical Journal Open, which examined maternal mortality in 32 Mexican states over a 10-year period, between 2002 and 2011. The study acknowledging the pro-abortion argument that “the legal status of abortion … is a factor that influences maternal health.” They also acknowledged the common argument that restrictions on abortion are thought to lead to “clandestine, or illegal, or unsafe abortions” leading to an increase in maternal deaths. 

But instead of discovering data in support of that argument, the study instead found that “states with less permissive abortion legislation exhibited lower MMR [maternal mortality rates]” (emphasis added) than those where abortion laws are more permissive. In other words, pro-life restrictions on abortion did not result in higher maternal mortality rates. To be clear, the Mexico study’s authors did not find evidence that abortion restrictions were the cause of better maternal outcomes. As AAPLOG’s tweet pointed out, “non-legislative factors (female literacy, birth weight, skilled attendance at birth, clean water, etc.) were leading causes” in the lower maternal mortality rates in the states with more abortion restrictions.  The pro-abortion journal called Contraception attempted a rebuttal attacking the authors’ use of the underlying data while also engaging in ad hominem attacks by saying the Mexico study’s authors “have failed to respond to anti-abortion ‘junk science,’ which influences policy in the region,” Yet the critique did not hold up to scrutiny. After an examination of the data and counter-argument in the paper, major statistical error in key calculations of the rebuttal that undermined the published conclusions, were discovered. More

LIFEalerts – LGBTQ+ Issues

LGBTQ+ Issues

USA – LGBs suffer more with COVID illness than heterosexuals

In a study designed to gather more data about how “sexual minorities” — lesbians, gays, and bisexuals — are affected by COVID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that LGB persons in the United States have higher self-reported prevalence’s of several underlying health conditions associated with severe outcomes from COVID-19 than heterosexual persons, both in the overall population and among racial/ethnic minority groups,”. Conditions include asthma, stroke, heart & kidney disease and cancer.

The study was done over 3 years, with respondents from 31 states in 2019. In total, there were 643,956 persons in the study, 24,582 of which identified as a sexual minority. Doctors For Life believes that these underlying conditions which make Covid-outcomes more severe for LGB persons could possibly be linked to the lifestyle in relation to alcohol and drug use — which is higher among LGB persons compared to heterosexual persons according to the Gay Lesbian Medical Association findings.

CDC Study | CDC: LGBs Have Higher Rates of Health Conditions Associated With Serious COVID Than Heterosexuals | Top Ten Issues LGBT to Discuss with Your Healthcare Provider

USA – Transgender Daycare worker & Child Court judge Arrested

Kadence Kristine Pinder, 24, born Nelson Christopher Pinder, a popular YouTube star and daycare worker who cares for children from their home, has been arrested and charged with possessing child pornography and child abuse images. Police also arrested Pinder’s boyfriend, 29-year-old Marcus Strebel, for the same charges. He was discovered when Google filed a CyberTip claiming the transgendered individual used their services to host child pornography. Police say the investigation into Pinder began in 2019 with Google’s complaint.

Despite scandal after scandal, Drag Queen Hour has remained a progressive favourite. The U.K.’s Drag Queen Story time tweeted out the pedophile slogan “Love Has No Age”; no outcry. In Ireland, a drag troupe called -sexually provocative name- were invited to read to children. In Scotland, a primary school brought in a drag queen named after a sex act but changing on letter in attempt to sound otherwise, to meet the kids. In Texas, it was discovered that one of the drag queens invited to a library had previously sexually assaulted an eight-year-old. The founders of Drag Queen Hour have stated explicitly that their project is designed to promote gender fluidity to children. Many say, and disturbingly so, that Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH) is not only harmless but helpful. Judge Brett Blomme, a 38-year-old Milwaukee Children’s Court judge who served as president of the local LGBT group Cream City Foundation and sponsored Drag Queen Story Hour events, has been arrested for seven counts of child pornography possession. It is alleged to have uploaded 27 videos and pictures of the sexual abuse of children to Kik, a freeware instant messaging app.

Transgender Daycare worker Arrested for child porn | Child Court Judge who supports Drag Queen Story Hours Arrested for Child abuse video uploads

LIFEalerts – Euthanasia

Euthanasia

South Africa – Medical doctor and patient wants doctors to kill their patients

A medical doctor and her patient, both terminally ill, are giving evidence in their bid to legalise euthanasia in South Africa. The actual legal challenge will only be heard in the Johannesburg High Court later this year but have been giving their evidence during virtual proceedings chaired by retired Judge CJ Claassen. The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), the Justice Minister, and the National Director of Public Prosecutions are opposing the application. The HPSCA has argued that palliative care in South Africa is sufficient enough to alleviate suffering. They also claim that assisted suicide could be abused by unscrupulous doctors and families who want to benefit from hastening a patient’s death. The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) will be bringing expert evidence from Oregon, Colombia, Canada, and the Netherlands where the right to die is legal. More

Portugal – Constitutional Court Rejects Euthanasia

Portuguese Parliament had earlier this year voted to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia, comfortably approving five “right-to-die” bills. Now, Portugal’s Constitutional Court has rejected the parliament-approved bill seeking to legalize euthanasia, declaring that its text presented a threat to the principle of “inviolability of life.” The ruling noted the “excessively imprecise nature of the concept of unbearable suffering” contained in the bill, as well as lack of clarity on “the concept of severe irreversible damage.” As a result, the bill will now return to parliament, where the governing Socialist Party reportedly promised to simply reword the bill and attempt to pass it once more. For now, though, Portugal has avoided legalized euthanasia once more.

Catherine Robinson, a spokesperson for U.K. based Right to Life noted that “This is typical of euthanasia legislation and could eventually lead to its expansion. Why, after all, would we limit euthanasia only to those who are terminally ill and over 18 if they are otherwise in ‘unbearable’ pain? Children and adults can be in ‘unbearable’ pain without being terminally ill. If the justification for euthanasia lies in being in ‘unbearable’ pain then, it seems unfair to limit euthanasia to only those who are terminally ill.” Robinson also pointed to a report conducted by the Oregon Health Authority, which revealed that “only slightly more than a quarter of those who died by assisted suicide in Oregon listed ‘inadequate pain control, or concern about it’ as one of their end of life concerns. Far more significantly a full 94.3% of patients were concerned with being ‘less able to engage in activities making life enjoyable’. 93.1% were concerned with ‘losing autonomy’ and ‘loss of dignity’ was a concern of 71.8% of patients.” More

Latvia – Rejects Euthanasia Initiative

After a long debate, the Latvian Saeima rejected a citizen’s initiative to legalize euthanasia by a vote of 49 to 38. Opposition MP Viktors Valainis said euthanasia would be the easiest way for severely ill people to escape intolerable pain, yet it is “absolutely unacceptable” because it ignores a number of problems in palliative care. At the same time, the Member stated that he was prepared to do everything necessary to improve the medical sector in the country. Saeima deputy Anda Čakša recognized the topic of euthanasia as a call for help. She believes there are two important aspects – the accessibility of analgesia and palliative care and what are the people’s rights to refuse aggressive health treatment. However, the topic of euthanasia should not be on the table while the issue of palliative care remains unresolved. More

LIFEalerts – IVF & Surrogacy

IVF & Surrogacy

Australia – Fertility Specialist comments on new online tool

Dr Bill Watkins, a Fertility Specialist and a clinical IVF director from Tasmania commented on two recent changes regarding IVF in a radio interview. One, a recent change in law now requires IVF clinics in Australia to publish their performance rates publicly which Dr Watkins says could cause IVF doctors and clinics to pick and choose their patients since they would not want their performance rates to be negatively affected. On the online tool that helps couples decide on IFV and which provider they choose, Dr Watkins said it would still be better to see a specialist since every person is unique. The online tool does not account for relevant factors like whether a person is a smoker, and ovarian reserve. Watkins also said most patients who come for IVF are not infertile. Most people also have a distorted view of IVF thinking that they can conceive through IVF when they are mid to late-40’s but the eggs are too old at that point.

Dr Watkins warns patients not to make use of IVF just because its trending and admits that there were times when he was confident a patient would conceive and they did not. He also recognizes the emotional and financial stress involved for couples. Doctors For Life holds the view that IVF should be procured only between married couples and if no other means exist — On condition that no embryos are destroyed in light of the fact that the gold standard of embryology development, the Carnegie Stages, of embryological development classifies the fertilization as the beginning of life for a human being. Listen to the interview podcast

LIFEalerts – Pornography

Pornography

Utah – Utah considering law to block porn on phones

The governor of Utah is considering signing a bill that would make pornography filters mandatory and switched on by default on cell phones sold in Utah to prevent users from accessing or downloading material that is harmful to minors,” which includes pornography. Adults would be provided a passcode to deactivate the filters if they choose. The Utah law would take effect Jan. 1, 2022 if passed. Utah would be the first state to mandate pornography filters for minors if the bill passes. There are countless heart-breaking stories of the harm caused by children’s unhindered access to Internet devices—including the individual and familial trauma of pornography exposure and addiction and adult predators targeting and grooming kids online. More

Russia – Russia threatens to block Twitter in a month

Russian authorities said they would block Twitter if it doesn’t take steps to remove banned content. Russia’s state communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, last week announced it was slowing down the speed of uploading photos and videos to Twitter over its alleged failure to remove content encouraging suicide among children and information about drugs and child pornography. Deputy chief of Roskomnadzor Vadim Subbotin argued Twitter has failed to remove more than 3,000 posts with banned content, including more than 2,500 posts encouraging suicide among minors. The platform responded by emphasizing its policy of zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation. Twitter doesn’t react to our requests appropriately, and if things go on like this, then it will be blocked, on an out-of-court basis. More

Canada – Lawmakers call for criminal investigation of MindGeek

More than 70 parliamentarians are calling for a full criminal investigation into Pornhub’s parent company following testimony from survivors. The demand, comes two weeks after a similar request by more than 100 victims of exploitive content they say was posted to websites owned by MindGeek. The lawmakers cite recent evidence by victims and child-protection organizations alleging the Montreal-based company regularly shared child pornography and sexual assault videos as well as content shot or posted without the consent of subjects. Even more alarming is evidence that MindGeek continues to make available material featuring child sexual abuse material and non-consensual acts. At least five lawsuits have been filed against the company in the U.S. and Canada over the past year on behalf of survivors of child abuse, sex trafficking and non-consensual image uploads. More

UK – Pornography causing disrespect for girls

Dandy Doherty, a woman who was sexually abused and raped as a child, speaks out on the website, Everyone’s Invited, about her experience. More than 14,000 allegations have now been made by school pupils on the website, which is gathering testimonies of sexual violence and abuse. General secretary of the National Education Union, Mary Bousted told Sky News the behaviour of schoolchildren has been “corrupted” and “gone back” due to social media and access to pornography. Teachers in our service argue that they were unsure about how to deal with it and if they stop to deal with it they would never get any teaching done. They need a national programme to help schools tackle this behaviour. More

Malaysia – Child abuse and the pandemic

Most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic is the system of family and social relationships, and the change is not limited to distancing. Children who are forced to stay at home day in and day out are doubly hit. Reports confirm that the lockdowns and various forms of community quarantine have exacerbated the abuses that many children suffer. This happened despite several laws passed by previous Congresses and Presidents, all upholding the rights of children. The Department of Social Welfare and Development, which is chair of the Inter-Agency Council against Child Pornography, has urged its local counterparts in cities and towns all over the country to pull their resources and personnel together to mount a serious offensive against pornography on the internet, some materials of which involved children. More

LIFEalerts – Sexual Exploitation

Sexual Exploitation

Malaysia – Sex work is not work, it’s oppression

Dr Madeline Berma described the multi-billion-dollar sexual exploitation industry as a deception that was built upon the backs of the bodies of real women and girls who have been raped, assaulted, trafficked and murdered. Even the term ‘sex worker’ has been created and popularized to lend some sort of ‘dignity’ to prostitution and other forms of sex work including that of pornography. Sex work is not work like ‘any other job. Escaped prostitutes’ testimonies testify to that. Many women are driven by poverty, criminally trapped or even trafficked into it. They are often unable to exit. Melissa Farley, a clinical psychologist who has worked in this field for 25 years, reports in the Journal of Trauma Practice that 70 per cent of prostituted women had a history of childhood abuse which led to their entry into prostitution.

We reiterate that all forms of ‘sex work’ ranging from prostitution to pornography and everything in between need to be abolished, and clients who patron them need to be severely punished as a form of prevention. More

LIFEalerts – Euthanasia

Euthanasia

Netherlands – Surgeons develop domestic organ donation

An indignant letter to JAMA Surgery by two surgeons from a hospital in the Netherlands developed domestic organ donation after euthanasia as a “newly introduced, donor-friendly donation procedure”. The patient is sedated and intubated at home where he lapses from consciousness surrounded by his family. Then he is taken, unconscious, to the hospital in an ambulance, euthanised, and operated on. There is no clarity on how often this happens. So why are the surgeons indignant? Because a 2020 article in JAMA Surgery had suggested that the best-practice location for organ donor euthanasia is the hospital. More