By Liz Townsend
Portuguese authorities succeeded in keeping the Dutch abortion ship out of their home ports, as the Borndiep sailed away September 10 after waiting for over two weeks in an attempt to perform abortions in violation of the country's laws, according to the Associated Press (AP).
The ship planned to dock at the port of Figueira da Foz August 28, take pregnant women on board, and return to international waters to perform "medical" (RU486) abortions on babies less than 6 1/2 weeks old, Reuters reported. The Portuguese government refused to allow the ship entry into the country, so the Borndiep remained in international waters without performing any abortions.
However, Rebecca Gomperts, the ship's founder and head of the Women on Waves Foundation, appeared on Portuguese television September 7 with step-by-step instructions on how to use a common over-the-counter medication to self-induce an abortion. Portuguese pro-life group Motherhood and Life filed a formal complaint with the government accusing Gomperts of "violating all the ethical norms of medicine" by encouraging women to misuse medication in a dangerous way, Agence France-Presse reported.
Medical groups also criticized Gomperts. The Northern Portugal Doctors Association told Diario de Noticias that she broke drug advertising laws, while Germano de Sousa of the national association of doctors said Gomperts' statements were "an incitement to an act considered to be a crime under Portugal's penal code," according to Agence France-Presse.
Pro-abortion members of the European Parliament have asked the European Union to sanction Portugal for restricting the right of people to travel freely, the AP reported. In a parliament debate September 15, however, other members said they supported Portugal's actions. "We feel the Portuguese government is entitled to refuse entry to a ship which would bring death," said Polish member Michal Tomasz Kaminski, according to the AP. "Unborn children have a right to life."
Singapore Allows Cloning for Deadly Research
The Singapore Parliament passed a law September 2 that bans the development of cloned human embryos beyond 14 days, while allowing unrestricted destructive research on younger embryos.
The bill imposes penalties of 100,000 Singapore dollars (about US $59,000) and up to 10 years of jail for anyone who creates a cloned embryo and allows the embryo to grow past 14 days or to be implanted into a woman's uterus until birth, known as "reproductive" cloning, according to Agence France-Presse.
However, using younger embryos for stem cell and other research will continue to be a legal, thriving industry in Singapore. Researchers harvest their cells, killing the embryos, and use them in so far futile searches for successful medical treatments.
Members of Parliament who supported the bill claimed that research using very young cloned embryos, often called "therapeutic" cloning, could contribute to cures for conditions from heart disease to Alzheimer's, Agence France-Presse reported. Member S. Iswaran told the news agency that "Singapore could also derive economic benefits from embryonic research for medical reasons."
For a new biotechnology industrial park being built by the government, "Singapore is offering a mix of tax breaks, grants and other incentives worth $1.3 billion - - and one of the world's most relaxed legal climates for research," according to Reuters. "This is fast turning Singapore into the world's capital for work on stem cells."
Singapore is now one of 30 countries that specifically ban "reproductive" cloning, Agence France-Presse reported. However, about half of these countries allow human cloning as long as the embryos are killed and used for research early in development.
German Nurse Charged with Killing 16 Patients
A nurse who worked in a hospital in Sonthofen, Germany, has admitted killing 16 patients out of "compassion," according to Agence France-Presse. Authorities are exhuming the bodies of 42 more patients to determine if there are more victims.
Identified only as Stefan L., the 25-year-old nurse has been charged with 15 counts of manslaughter, one count of attempted murder, and one count of "killing on request," Reuters reported.
Police discovered the killings when they began to investigate the disappearance of drugs from the Sonthofen hospital, according to the Associated Press (AP). They found unsealed vials of the missing medicine at Stefan L.'s home, and noticed a pattern between patient deaths and the nurse 's work schedule.
They arrested Stefan L. on July 29, and he quickly confessed to 10 of the deaths. Since then, he has given police information about six more victims. Police chief Albert Mueller told Agence France-Presse that the nurse has indicated "he may have killed even more people whose names he could not recall."
The victims, all between 60 and 89 years old, died between March 2003 and July 2004 from a combination of the sedative midazolam, the anesthetic etomidate, and the muscle relaxant lysthenon, according to the AP.