Euthanasia in Belgium: Control Commission’s Report for 2016-2017

Euthanasia in Belgium: Control Commission’s Report for 2016-2017

by | July 20, 2018 | Euthanasia and Suicide, News

euthanasie belgique
On July 17th, the Federal Control Commission for Euthanasia in Belgium submitted its biannual report to Parliament, again revealing a sharp increase in officially reported cases.
According to the Federal Control Commission for Evaluating Euthanasia (“CFCEE”), in 2016 there were 2,028 cases of euthanasia reported and while in 2017 there was nearly a 14% increase: 2309 cases. Since the law was voted in 2002, the number has systematically risen annually. The following chart published in the official report demonstrates:
Graph: Number of declaration of euthanasia by language:  French, Dutch, Total
euthanasiebelgique stats
In most cases, those who resort to euthanasia are very elderly persons, with equal numbers of requests from men and women. Nevertheless, approximately one third of the requests are from those under age 70. Flanders has the highest number of cases of euthanasia (78%) compared to Wallonia (22%) with cultural reasons probably accounting for the disparity between the regions.
Generally, euthanasia is performed in the person’s home (45%), with 39% carried out in hospitals, while the rest are performed in nursing or retirement facilities. Most requests originate from patients with cancer (64%). The report states that the remaining requests are associated with “a combination of several conditions (multiple pathologies)”, and 15% of these individuals are at the end of life. Approximately 40 annual requests are for persons with mental deficiencies or behavioral disturbances;  decisions which are often debated in terms of discernment and autonomy.
Since February 2014, Belgium is the only country in the world to legally allow euthanasia of minors without setting any age limit. In the period of 2016 – 2017, three acts of euthanasia on minors were performed on 2 children in Flanders and 1 child in Wallonia. The children were 9, 11 and 17 years old. The commission’s report stated that these 3 minors “each suffered from incurable and particularly serious conditions that would result in death within a short time-frame”.
Some parliamentarians and some doctors in Belgium are concerned about this escalating rise in euthanasia.
But euthanasia supporters such as Jacqueline Herremans, president of the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity (“ADMD Belgium”) and also member of the Federal Control Commission (“CFCEE”) evoke satisfaction. She declares: “Euthanasia has clearly become an ordinary everyday practice. This increase could possibly be explained by the fact that the law passed in 2002 is now more well-known by the generations who are most affected, and that the information is more widely available.” 
There is no official mention of any instances of abuse being observed. The report concludes: “The Commission considered that all the declarations received met the essential legal requirements and no cases were forwarded to the public prosecutor. The Commission esteems that in the past 2 years, this practice has not resulted in any major difficulty or instance of abuse requiring legislative procedures. ”
However, in reality, major controversies have emerged in recent months concerning the legitimacy of certain acts of euthanasia. A member of the Federal Control Commission even resigned in protest against a very contentious case.
For an overview of statistics, legislations and instances of abuse, refer to our report:
 

 For an overview of statistics, legislations and instances of abuse, refer to our report: “Belgium: 15 years After Legalizing Euthanasia”

[Press Release] French Bioethics: State Council Favors Individual Interests vs. Children’s Rights!

[Press Release] French Bioethics: State Council Favors Individual Interests vs. Children’s Rights!

by | July 11, 2018 | Medically Assisted Procreation, Press Releases

Following the State Council’s report, Alliance VITA challenges French President Macron to defend children’s rights which have been heretofore sidelined. In fact, the State Council intends to align with societal pressure concerning procreation instead of protecting the best interests of the child.

If French law permits this new type of filiation with 2 mothers, these children will be afflicted with a serious, definite discrimination of their civil status, without any paternal genealogy registered.

It is shocking that a group responsible for counseling the governmenton procreation subjects consents to adults transgressive demands from a small minority, instead of assessing an infertility prevention policy, (including environmental and behavioral causes). If they allow ART to be treated in a trivial manner, there will be an impact on children’s rights.

Tugdual Derville, Alliance VITA’s General Delegate states:

“These new recommendations give the impression that the group has little concern for legal coherence and justice for the most vulnerable. As if political pressure forced them to go back to the previous decisions… How can the principles which were claimed when the law was revised in 2011 to protect children, all disappear so suddenly? “

The State Council recommended avoiding “the risk of ceding to the least ethical position “, and to maintain “the basic requirement for a child to have a family with a father and a mother” and not to “intentionally create a child without a father, which cannot be considered to be in the best interest for the unborn child.”  This is the same consternation if the State Counsel recommends allowing research on 13-day old embryos. Such bioethical policies based on a downhill slope can’t make our society safe.”

On a point which deserves adjustment, Alliance VITA notes that the Council of State makes an absurd proposal that does not meet the demands of children born by medical assistance with donor, tested by the anonymity of gamete donation and seeking of their origins. This quest is tackled on tiptoe, by a proposal for access of non-identifying data subject to the consent of the donor and the parents. It’s scientifically absurd and virtually derisory; because nowadays, nothing can hinder a child from having access to his origins.

Alliance VITA continues to insist that the main principles governing French and International law must be respected, in particular Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that every child has “the right to know his parents and be raised by them as far as possible.“

Alliance VITA intends to participate in mobilizing efforts for bills to be passed in accordance with the child’s best interests.

Alarming Public Health Report on Infertility in France

by | July 6, 2018 | Fertility and pregnancy, News

In its latest epidemiological bulletin, dated July 3, 2017, the French Public Health Agency, addressed the issue of “Reproductive Health and Endocrine Disruptors“.
This alarming report confirms worrisome data on increasing infertility, already published in other reports. The overall results “reflect a generalized deterioration of male reproductive health in France, consistent with the international literature“.
Environmental factors and exposure to toxic substances, such as some endocrine disruptors for example are highly  implicated.
Genital malformations, sperm quality, and the incidence of testicular cancers were evaluated.
The quality of semen is in free fall: sperm concentration has dropped by 1.9% annually, or nearly 32.2% in the past 15 years. The number of morphologically normal spermatozoids is also decreasing.
Unfortunately, testicular cancer has been increasing by 1.5% per year. In the male reproductive system, the absence of one or both testicles in small boys has increased in France by 2.6% per year. This is caused by insufficient hormonal permeation into androgen which may result from the mother’s exposure to endocrine disruptors during pregnancy or trans-generational problems, due to toxic substance exposure in previous generations.
The phenomena of early onset of puberty or “precocious puberty”, with its possible negative consequences for health and fertility, have also been observed for several years with a strong regional disparity. This may be caused for multiple reasons, such as genetic or ethnic factors, unrelated to environmental factors.
The causes of infertility are multifaceted and complex. It is essential that studies continue and that they be followed by information and prevention campaigns. This is a major public health issue.

[Press Release] Bioethics: Where is Justice in the French State Council’s Position?

by | July 6, 2018 | Medically Assisted Procreation, News

Alliance VITA takes note of the State Council’s position which is detrimental to the child’s best interests, because it concedes to some citizens’ requests regarding reproductive techniques.
When reading the possible ART bioethical changes that have been appearing in the media, it is shocking that a group responsible for counseling the government consents to demands coming from a small minority of adults, seen as transgressive, instead of assessing an infertility prevention policy, (including environmental and behavioral causes). Besides they don’t even recognize that treating ART in a trivial manner, will have an impact on children’s rights.
Tugdual Derville, Alliance VITA’s General Delegate wonders:
“These new recommendations give the impression that the group has little concern for legal coherence and justice for the most vulnerable. As if political pressure forced them to go back to the previous decisions… How can the principles which were claimed when the law was revised in 2011 to protect children, all disappear so suddenly? The State Council recommended avoiding “the risk of ceding to the least ethical position “, and to maintain “the basic requirement for a child to have a family with a father and a mother” and not to “intentionally create a child without a father, which cannot be considered to be in the best interest for the unborn child.”  Such bioethical policies based on a downhill slope can’t make our society safe. “
On a point that merits reconsideration, Alliance VITA notes that the State Council makes an absurd proposal which does not respond to individuals seeking their origins, after birth by ART from a donor, yet still confronted by the anonymity of gamete donation.  This issue is feebly addressed, by proposing access of non-identifying data, but subject to the donor and the parents consent. This is scientifically absurd and practically derisory. Nowadays, nothing can hinder one from having access to his origins.
Alliance VITA continues to insist that the main principles governing French and International law must be respected, in particular Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that every child has “the right to know his parents and be raised by them as far as possible.”
Alliance VITA intends to participate in mobilizing efforts for bills to be passed in accordance with the child’s best interests.

French Health Professionals “Solemn Appeal” to Protect Minors from Porn

by | July 5, 2018 | News

On Friday, June 15, with several health professionals, Israel Nisand, President of the French National College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians, launched a “solemn appeal” to the government to fight against mass distribution of pornography to which children and adolescents are exposed.  
An increasing number of health professionals recognize and are confronted with this problem. They demand that the existing French law which prohibits pornography for those under 18 be enforced. Israel Nisand also deplores “Today businesses have the upper hand. But internet providers cannot hide behind the free Web access; they must still protect minors. ”
Smartphones have increasingly given youth widespread access to free pornographic images and movies, hidden from parental supervision.
This exposure may even start in primary school, and may sometimes be forced on students when a friend obliges him to look, or when a window unexpectedly pops up.
Already in 2002, a report from the Ministry of Culture and Communication declared “When a (young) child receives raw and brutal pornographic images, his brain feels confused about the taboos, and this has the same effect as being sexually abused”. According to Professor Israël Nisand, “pornography transmits the misconception that sexual performance is measured. Women areonly considered as objects. Boys have no concept of what consent means.” This wide consumption of pornographic images also corresponds to an increase in child-on-child sexual assault, as detailed in the press release from French National College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians.
The gynecologist, Ghada Hatem, deplores “We see so many teenage girls who do not even understand their own bodies;manipulated by their boyfriends who make them do things they don’t agree with“. Through the sex education classes she gives in Seine-Saint-Denis, she became aware of the widespread access to these films. In her opinion, these films have become a reference model for intimate relations between sexual partners. Ghada Hatem speaks of her experience at the Women’s House, which helps young girls who are victims of abuse in Seine-Saint-Denis.
Several recent studies show the increasing prevalence of porn among young people. On March 20, 2017, an IFOP study commissioned by “OPEN” (Observatory of Parenting and Digital Education) was published. It focused on “the prevalence of  pornography among teenagers and its influence on sexual behavior” and the figures are quite alarming. An Opinionway survey, published in April 2018, reported that 62% of young adults have viewed porn images before age 15, with 11% of them being exposed before age 11. On June 8, 2018, an IPSOS poll, published by the Foundation for Political Innovation, emphasized this fact. It revealed that 21% of the 14- 24 year-olds surveyed watched porn at least once a week.
The French National College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians therefore calls for the existing law to be enforced to protect minors via information and awareness campaigns for children, adolescents and parents, and to provide widespread informative sexual education in schools. Professor Nisand also blames porn websites and proposes to force them torequire consumers to give their credit card details before viewing films, or be penalized with a heavy fine.
The question is whether the political commitment will follow through. The government has made announcements over the past few months. On November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, President Macron unveiled a government strategy which included fighting against children exposition to porn on Internet. He announced that he would like to build on various bodies, and extend the High Audiovisual Council’s authority over social networks, video games and online porn to control “content which could lead to violence against women“. A task force has been established at the French Health Ministry.
If the awareness that pornography seriously abuses children and women is to be beneficial, it must also take into account the fact that it is detrimental for men as well.