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Guernsey approves abortion
THE LANCET
POLICY AND PEOPLE
Sweeping changes made to South Africa’s abortion law
S
outh Africa’s controversial Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Bill finally made it through the National Assembly last week despite a last-ditch attempt by the National Party to have it heavily amended. Previously, abortion has been available under only strictly limited criteria such as pregnancy resulting from incest or rape, or for women with psychiatric illness. Even then, it was difficult to work through all the bureaucracy surrounding consent. And for most women who experienced it, the lengthy process was unpleasant and humiliating.
The new Bill introduces what is virtually abortion on demand, and introduces categories under which abortion may be sanctioned. The first is during the first 12 weeks: all that will be necessary is for the pregnant woman to request termination; there are no other conditions. The second category covers pregnancy from 13 to 20 weeks, when abortion may be sanctioned on request by the woman, but only if one of four other criteria are satisfied. These are: if to continue the pregnancy would be a risk to the woman’s physical or men-
Guernsey approves abortion The tiny channel island of Guernsey became the last place in the British Isles to legalise abortion last week. By 34 votes to 20, the island’s parliament approved legislation allowing a pregnancy to be terminated up to the end of the 12th week, provided two doctors give their consent. This will replace an 86-year-old law that made abortion punishable by life imprisonment. Many amendments were brought during the debate but all were rejected or withdrawn. Around 150 women travel each year from Guernsey and neighbouring islands to obtain a legal abortion in the UK. Proposing the law, Sue Plant, president the Board of Health, said that the island had to confront the problem . “That is what this House has done today, and very nobly”, she added. Anti-abortion campaigner Nick Paluch disagreed: “This is a sad day for Guernsey—one worries that over a period of time some of the concerns we have been expressing over abortion on demand will start to happen”. The issue has provoked one of the most controversial debates seen in the island since World War II. In July, Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands, gave final approval to its abortion law, which permits a woman to choose by herself to have an abortion up to the end of the 10th week of pregnancy. Both islands’ laws now await Royal Assent by the Privy Council.
tal health; if there is a risk that the child would have a mental or physical handicap; if the pregnancy is a result of rape; or if the pregnancy would affect the woman’s social and economic circumstances. Opposition to the Bill was formidable, particularly from religious groups. The Catholic Church reminded its members that becoming involved in termination of pregnancy would result in automatic excommunication. Islamic groups threatened that any Moslems supporting abortion would have their names forwarded to religious leaders in the Middle East. Pro-Life groups put forward all the arguments that they could muster, and held protest meetings outside parliament and elsewhere. However, the Bill was passed by 209 votes to 89, largely because the African National Congress had instructed its members to vote for the Bill with a threat of disciplinary action if they did not. An earlier condition that doctors and health workers with a conscientious objection to abortion should be legally compelled to refer patients requesting abortion, was watered down to a requirement that a woman requesting abortion “shall be informed of her rights under this Act by the person concerned”. The Bill now has to go through the Senate, which is largely a formality, and will come into force on a date to be set by the State President. N C Lee
Philip Jeune
Australians provide deliverance on the Internet
T
he computer programme “SelfDeliverance”, which was used in the world’s first legal medically assisted suicide is now on the Internet: http://www.taunet.net.au/deliverance/. The programme is freeware, available “to allow other developers to modify the programme”. According to Philip Nitschke, the Northern Territory doctor who assisted the suicide and helped develop the programme, the purpose of placing it on the Internet is to demystify notions of “computer death” and also to expedite the legal processes doctors and patients from other states must undergo before they can make use of the Northern Territory Rights of the Terminally Ill Act. Self-Deliverance was designed by Nitschke and computer programmer
1304
Des Carne. The programme is interactive, and confirms a patient’s sentience and intentions three times. A click on “yes” the third time activates a syringe driver and a sequential delivery of thiopentone sodium, pentobarbitone sodium, and pancuronium. Initially a simple “press button” option was offered, but, says Nitschke, “that caused a furor of concern . . . someone might accidentally trip . . . so we developed this interactive lap-top computer set-up. It also removes the doctor from the patient’s personal space . . . they don’t really want him there”. According to Nitschke there have been many misunderstandings but the use of “SelfDeliverance” makes sense only where it is lawful and subject to scrutiny.
Canada’s tobacco sales to minors tackled
C
anada’s three main tobacco manufacturers have launched a Can$1 million (US$750 000) campaign to stamp out cigarette sales to minors. Operation I D will alert vendors to the current prohibition on cigarettes sales to minors and require that youths produce proper photographic identification before they are sold cigarettes. Under current federal legislation, fines of up to $50 000 are issued to retailers selling cigarettes to anyone under 18 (except for Ontario, British Columbia, and the four Atlantic provinces, where the age limit is 19). Antismoking groups dismissed the new campaign as a “cynical” attempt on the part of the tobacco industry to pre-empt government regulations as promised later this year.
Elizabeth Finkel
Vol 348 • November 9, 1996
POLICY AND PEOPLE
Sweeping changes made to South Africa’s abortion law
S
outh Africa’s controversial Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Bill finally made it through the National Assembly last week despite a last-ditch attempt by the National Party to have it heavily amended. Previously, abortion has been available under only strictly limited criteria such as pregnancy resulting from incest or rape, or for women with psychiatric illness. Even then, it was difficult to work through all the bureaucracy surrounding consent. And for most women who experienced it, the lengthy process was unpleasant and humiliating.
The new Bill introduces what is virtually abortion on demand, and introduces categories under which abortion may be sanctioned. The first is during the first 12 weeks: all that will be necessary is for the pregnant woman to request termination; there are no other conditions. The second category covers pregnancy from 13 to 20 weeks, when abortion may be sanctioned on request by the woman, but only if one of four other criteria are satisfied. These are: if to continue the pregnancy would be a risk to the woman’s physical or men-
Guernsey approves abortion The tiny channel island of Guernsey became the last place in the British Isles to legalise abortion last week. By 34 votes to 20, the island’s parliament approved legislation allowing a pregnancy to be terminated up to the end of the 12th week, provided two doctors give their consent. This will replace an 86-year-old law that made abortion punishable by life imprisonment. Many amendments were brought during the debate but all were rejected or withdrawn. Around 150 women travel each year from Guernsey and neighbouring islands to obtain a legal abortion in the UK. Proposing the law, Sue Plant, president the Board of Health, said that the island had to confront the problem . “That is what this House has done today, and very nobly”, she added. Anti-abortion campaigner Nick Paluch disagreed: “This is a sad day for Guernsey—one worries that over a period of time some of the concerns we have been expressing over abortion on demand will start to happen”. The issue has provoked one of the most controversial debates seen in the island since World War II. In July, Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands, gave final approval to its abortion law, which permits a woman to choose by herself to have an abortion up to the end of the 10th week of pregnancy. Both islands’ laws now await Royal Assent by the Privy Council.
tal health; if there is a risk that the child would have a mental or physical handicap; if the pregnancy is a result of rape; or if the pregnancy would affect the woman’s social and economic circumstances. Opposition to the Bill was formidable, particularly from religious groups. The Catholic Church reminded its members that becoming involved in termination of pregnancy would result in automatic excommunication. Islamic groups threatened that any Moslems supporting abortion would have their names forwarded to religious leaders in the Middle East. Pro-Life groups put forward all the arguments that they could muster, and held protest meetings outside parliament and elsewhere. However, the Bill was passed by 209 votes to 89, largely because the African National Congress had instructed its members to vote for the Bill with a threat of disciplinary action if they did not. An earlier condition that doctors and health workers with a conscientious objection to abortion should be legally compelled to refer patients requesting abortion, was watered down to a requirement that a woman requesting abortion “shall be informed of her rights under this Act by the person concerned”. The Bill now has to go through the Senate, which is largely a formality, and will come into force on a date to be set by the State President. N C Lee
Philip Jeune
Australians provide deliverance on the Internet
T
he computer programme “SelfDeliverance”, which was used in the world’s first legal medically assisted suicide is now on the Internet: http://www.taunet.net.au/deliverance/. The programme is freeware, available “to allow other developers to modify the programme”. According to Philip Nitschke, the Northern Territory doctor who assisted the suicide and helped develop the programme, the purpose of placing it on the Internet is to demystify notions of “computer death” and also to expedite the legal processes doctors and patients from other states must undergo before they can make use of the Northern Territory Rights of the Terminally Ill Act. Self-Deliverance was designed by Nitschke and computer programmer
1304
Des Carne. The programme is interactive, and confirms a patient’s sentience and intentions three times. A click on “yes” the third time activates a syringe driver and a sequential delivery of thiopentone sodium, pentobarbitone sodium, and pancuronium. Initially a simple “press button” option was offered, but, says Nitschke, “that caused a furor of concern . . . someone might accidentally trip . . . so we developed this interactive lap-top computer set-up. It also removes the doctor from the patient’s personal space . . . they don’t really want him there”. According to Nitschke there have been many misunderstandings but the use of “SelfDeliverance” makes sense only where it is lawful and subject to scrutiny.
Canada’s tobacco sales to minors tackled
C
anada’s three main tobacco manufacturers have launched a Can$1 million (US$750 000) campaign to stamp out cigarette sales to minors. Operation I D will alert vendors to the current prohibition on cigarettes sales to minors and require that youths produce proper photographic identification before they are sold cigarettes. Under current federal legislation, fines of up to $50 000 are issued to retailers selling cigarettes to anyone under 18 (except for Ontario, British Columbia, and the four Atlantic provinces, where the age limit is 19). Antismoking groups dismissed the new campaign as a “cynical” attempt on the part of the tobacco industry to pre-empt government regulations as promised later this year.
Elizabeth Finkel
Vol 348 • November 9, 1996