Mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) utilises nuclear transfer technology to replace defective mitochondria with healthy ones and thereby minimise the risk of a mitochondrial disease passing from a mother to her child. It promises much but comes with ethical controversy, significant risk of harm and many unknowns. Forming a position on MRT requires accurate information about the current state of knowledge, and an appreciation of the ethical issues at stake. Ethical deliberations will vary depending on the framework used. There are in (...) principle objections to MRT on the grounds of direct harm to human embryos and germline genetic modification. But even without these objections MRT can be weighed in terms of the balance between risks and benefits, alternatives and uncertainties. This paper explores the evidence and lays out the relevant issues to assist such a deliberation. (shrink)

Reproductive coercion encompasses a collection of pregnancy promoting and pregnancy avoiding behaviours. Coercion may vary in severity and be perpetrated by intimate partners or others. Research is complicated by the inclusion of behaviours that do not necessarily involve an intention to influence reproduction, such as contraceptive sabotage. These behaviours are the most common, but are not always included in survey instruments. This may explain why the prevalence of reproductive coercion varies widely. Prevalence also varies when coerced abortion is included in (...) survey instruments. When it is, it seems roughly comparable in prevalence to coercion intended to impregnate. The extent and nature of coerced abortion can also be derived from studies that explore the reasons why women access abortion, the relationship between abortion and intimate partner violence, and online blogs and forums. This narrative review of reproductive coercion examines the evidence and attempts to comprehend why coerced abortion has been neglected. (shrink)

Pike, Gregory K Drug abuse has come into the public spotlight again as the Australia21 group recently released several documents arguing for an end to the prohibition of drugs like cannabis, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamine. The arguments are not new, and those who advance them probably think it is only a matter of time before they achieve their goal.

Pike, Gregory K In the year 2000, Canberra-based writer Melinda Tankard Reist placed notices and advertisements in various places about a project she was conducting on 'Abortion Grief'. Over 200 women responded, bravely prepared to tell their stories. The resulting book, Giving Sorrow Words: Women's stories of grief after abortion1 makes harrowing reading. Grief and pain followed these women down through the years and sometimes decades. Their accounts, as well as the numerous qualitative studies into women's experiences after Abortion, and (...) the anecdotal observations coming from post-abortion care services5 are evidence that abortion leaves a significant mark on some women. (shrink)

Pike, Gregory K Organisations agitating for legal euthanasia often use the term 'dignity'. They have discovered that it is more effective to avoid the words euthanasia or suicide and instead try to get 'dignity' somewhere in their name. Thus we have Dying with Dignity Victoria, Death with Dignity Oregon, and the Dying with Dignity Bill in Tasmania.

Pike, Gregory K On May the 10th this year, the Director of Southern Cross Bioethics Institute, Dr Greg Pike, was invited to participate in a public debate organised by the St James Ethics Centre in Sydney, as part of their IQ2 series of debates. The subject of this debate was "All drugs should be legalised", and Dr Pike spoke against the motion. The debate was aired on ABC radio national and televised on ABC2. The transcript of his address follows - (...) the main talk was followed by a brief additional section titled "Drugs and Human Rights". (shrink)

Pike, Gregory K The various levels at which misunderstanding exist with regards to stem cell research are discussed. The mismatch that exists between public perception and reality with regards to the same is highlighted.

Pike, Gregory K Eugenics is not usually a topic for polite conversation. The first thought that typically springs to mind is Hitler's euthanasia programme, the master race and the attempted extermination of the Jews. However, an examination of the social history of eugenics reveals that in practice it operated in many other contexts, and its conceptual meaning is much broader. And while that social history has usually been confined to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the core ideas in (...) eugenics have been part of dreams about the human condition for millennia. It is therefore not surprising to find various modern practices, some driven by new technology, subsumed under the rubric of eugenics. Eugenics as an idea is certainly resilient, even if at times it has been elusive. Indeed, perhaps it is resilient because it is elusive. In summary, eugenics is powerful yet poorly understood. Because it appeals to utopian dreams of a better future, where humans can be freed from their 'biological slavery', as Margaret Sanger put it, it remains pervasive even if cryptic. The new eugenics is sanitised, framed as autonomous choice, and unlike the ill-informed version of the 20s and 30s or the nasty Nazi variety. But it is nonetheless potent and its various manifestations are expressions of powerful ideas that remain firmly embedded in the collective human consciousness. (shrink)

Pike, Gregory K The Dutch government is debating extending its euthanasia scheme to 70 year old who wish to receive a lethal injection at the hands of specially trained 'suicide assistants' who wish to end their lives as there is nothing left for them to do. The government has been forced to consider the concept following a signature campaign by over 100,000 individuals for the same.