Dutch doctor says group will keep sending abortion pills to US women

France24 – AFP, 16 May 2022

Rebecca Gomperts, the founder of abortion-rights groups Women on Waves and
Aid Access, is seen in Amsterdam in September 2020 Remko de Waal ANP/AFP/File

Washington (AFP) – Rebecca Gomperts, a 55-year-old Dutch physician, has spent years fighting for women's access to abortion around the world. 

Made famous by her "abortion boat," as recounted in the 2014 documentary "Vessel," she and her Women on Waves group have anchored the ship in international waters off the coasts of Poland, Spain, Mexico and other countries, offering medical abortions to women otherwise unable to obtain them. 

But it is in the United States that interest has been surging in her other organization, Aid Access, which since 2018 has provided abortion pills over the internet. 

Behind the fast-rising demand is what appears -- based on a rare leak from the US Supreme Court -- to be the imminent end of federal protection for abortion rights. Once the court makes its decision official, probably next month, some 20 states are poised to ban or severely restrict abortions. 

"We're already seeing a huge increase in requests," Gomperts told AFP, saying some people were "panicking." 

"It's not only when this takes place; it has already made people aware how vulnerable they are." 

Aid Access, based in Austria, has been working with physicians to fill requests in the 20 US states where abortion pills can be legally prescribed by telemedicine. 

For requests from the other states, Gompert's group has exploited a legal loophole to send the pills from abroad. 

Demand was strong even before word of the high court's intentions leaked out. In a little more than a year (from October 2020 to December 2021), Aid Access says it received more than 45,000 requests from the United States. 

Reasons for the requests vary: the high cost of other abortion services, the cost and difficulty of traveling to distant abortion clinics, or the impossibility of doing so due to job or child-care demands. 

After filling out a questionnaire, women are instructed on how to take the pills at home. The price is adjusted depending on their ability to pay, and the pills are mailed from a pharmacy in India. Aid Access checks in with the women afterward. 

The most vulnerable

The pills are easy to find elsewhere on the internet, usually for a few hundred dollars. But those websites, also based outside the United States, are purely commercial and provide no medical support. 

For Gomperts, who in 2020 was listed as one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine, the fight for abortion rights is a matter of "social justice." 

"The biggest problem is that the women that are not literate, that cannot read and write, that have no access to internet -- the most impoverished group -- they will not be able to find these solutions," she said. 

Many of them would lack the resources to travel to a state where abortion remains legal. 

"These are the women that might be forced to give birth or that will take drastic measures to end their pregnancy."  

These pills -- mifepristone and misoprostol -- can be used in generally very safe
at-home abortions, experts say; this picture comes from the Plan C advocacy
group Elisa WELLS PLAN C/AFP/File

The certain result, Gomperts said, will be an increase in maternal mortality and morbidity. 

A safe method

According to a 2017 survey of several thousand women in the United States, 20 percent of those who had attempted an at-home abortion used the pills, 29 percent used other drugs, 38 percent used plant-based infusions and 20 percent tried physical methods (some used more than one method, so the total exceeds 100 percent). 

During recent demonstrations outside the Supreme Court, women protesters brandished a disturbing object, something that seemed an artifact from a long-ago era: metal clothes-hangers -- a symbol of highly risky abortions performed clandestinely. 

And yet, up to the 10th week of pregnancy, abortion pills are very safe, experts say. 

A demonstrator holds up a clothes hanger marked 'Never Again' during an abortion
rights rally May 3, 2022 outside the US Supreme Court Stefani Reynolds AFP/File

 Today they represent half of all abortions in the United States (in France, by way of comparison, the figure is 70 percent). And their use outside of any medical setting is a "very acceptable" option, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Two drugs are used: first a dose of mifepristone is taken to block the hormones that support a pregnancy; then, 24 to 48 hours later, misoprostol is taken to induce contractions. 

Complications that might require medical help -- an excessive flow of blood, an infection or an allergic reaction -- are rare. 

So, beyond the medical aspect, the real risk to at-home abortions is legal complications. 

The NGO If/When/How has counted 60 cases in which women who allegedly self-managed abortions, or people who assisted them, were arrested, charged or sentenced between 2000 and 2020. 

The group, which says it envisions "a future when all people can self-determine their reproductive lives free from discrimination, coercion or violence," helps find legal representation for such women. 

It fears the trend toward criminalizing abortion will be greatly aggravated if the Supreme Court rules as expected. 

Such a ruling, said Gomperts, "instills fear in people, and especially in health-care providers -- and that is the biggest impact."

Afghan girls try building ventilator from used car parts

Yahoo – AFP, Usman SHARIFI, April 15, 2020

The home-built ventilator could be copied for as little as $300 (AFP Photo/
Ahmad Idres Naderi)

A team of robot-designing girls in Afghanistan is trying to build a low-cost medical ventilator from car parts, as health authorities look to boost critical-care capabilities for coronavirus patients in the impoverished country.

If the teenagers succeed and can get government approval for their prototype, they say it could be replicated for as little as $300, where normally ventilators sell for around $30,000.

"The team is working with local health specialists, as well as experts from Harvard University, to produce the prototype based on a design by Massachusetts Institute of Technology," said Roya Mahboob, who runs an Afghan tech company and sponsors the team of five girls, aged 14-17.

They are part of a bigger group of high-achieving high school girls known as the "Afghan Dreamers", from the western city of Herat, where coronavirus is on the rise after thousands of people returned from neighbouring Iran as it experienced a spike in cases.

The girls made headlines in 2017 after being denied visas to take part in a robotics competition in Washington -- before President Donald Trump intervened and they were allowed to travel.

They are taking engine and battery parts from a Toyota Corolla -- ubiquitious on the streets of Afghanistan -- to produce a prototype they started designing after the Herat governor called for more ventilators as coronavirus cases rose.

Central to the ventilator is a self-inflating plastic sac known as an Ambu bag that medical staff use to help patients breathe. The girls' prototype uses a mechanical system to operate the bag automatically and accurately.

"The complicated part is how to adjust the timing and pressure of pumping, as different patients require different volume and pressure of air based on their age and the severity of their condition," Somaya Farooqi, the team's 17-year-old captain, told AFP.

With a population of 35 million, Afghanistan only has about 300 ventilators.

Wahidullah Mayar, a spokesman for Afghanistan's health ministry, said officials have asked specialists and engineers to help the team.

"We appreciate and encourage these hardworking girls, our sisters, for their efforts to produce ventilators," Mayar said.

Any ventilator prototype would have to be approved by the World Health Organization and the Afghan health ministry before the team could start producing more devices, Mayar said.

As of Wednesday, Afghan officials had reported at least 784 coronavirus cases and 24 deaths across the country. The true number of cases is feared to be much higher, as only limited testing kits are available.

Organon poised to make a come back as a company name

DutchNews, March 12, 2020 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The corporate name Organon is being brought back to life in the Netherlands, with the decision by brand owner MSD to name its women’s health spin-off Organon & Co. 

In addition, MSD may split into two independent companies in the Netherlands – MSD and Organon & Co. This, the parent company says, would allow them to ‘react even more quickly’ to specific patient needs and developments in the market after the spinoff. 

The name Organon, a pharmaceuticals company based in Oss, dates back to 1923 and disappeared as a company name in 2007 when it was taken over by Schering Plough. In 2009, Schering Plough merged with Merck to form MSD. Organon’s best known product is the contraceptive pill, which still carries its name today. 

‘Organon remains a strong brand and a brand that many people know,’ said Ben Lucas, managing director of MSD in Nederland. ‘We are really pleased that we may be able to use the name again. It is a brand that belongs in the Netherlands and in Oss.’ 

The new look Organon will have a workforce of up to 1,000 people,and some 1,200 to 1,500 of Dutch MSD staff will be transferred to the new company. MSD also has locations in Haarlem, Boxmeer and De Bilt. 

The new name will be used once the spin-off is completed in the first half of next year.

Nepal makes first arrest over 'menstruation huts' after woman dies

Yahoo – AFP, December 6, 2019

Many communities in Nepal view menstruating women as impure and in some
remote areas they are forced to sleep in a hut away from the home, following a
centuries-old tradition known as "chhaupadi" (AFP Photo/PRAKASH MATHEMA)

Nepali police have detained the brother-in-law of a woman who died in a 'menstruation hut' in what is believed to be the first arrest over the outlawed tradition, officials said Friday.

Many communities in Nepal view menstruating women as impure and in some remote areas they are forced to sleep in a hut away from the home, following a centuries-old tradition known as "chhaupadi".

The practice leads to the death of women every year due to smoke inhalation, snake bites and even attack by animals.

Parbati Buda Rawat, 21, was found dead on Sunday morning in the western Accham district in a smoke-filled hut because of a fire she had lit to keep warm.

"We arrested the brother-in law of the victim yesterday for investigation after suspecting his involvement in forcing the deceased to stay in chhaupadi shed," local police official Janak Bahadur Shahi told AFP.

"I believe this is the first arrest in such a case."

If convicted, the man will serve a three-month jail sentence and be fined 3,000 rupees ($27) under a law introduced last year against anyone caught imposing chhaupadi.

"It is positive to see the police act proactively and it will help discourage people from following the tradition. But there is a long way to go to end it," said Radha Poudel, an activist working against chhaupadi.

Rawat's death is at least the third this year. Two more women have died of smoke inhalation in menstruation huts in neighbouring districts.

However, Poudel said that many deaths go unreported and authorities often sympathise with family members in reported cases.

Chhaupadi was outlawed in 2005 but is still enforced in parts of Nepal, particularly in remote and conservative western regions.

It is linked to Hinduism and considers women untouchable during menstruation and after childbirth.

Women are banished from the home, barred from touching food, religious icons, cattle and men, and forced to sleep in basic huts known as chhau goth.

Babies born on floor as Zimbabwe's health system totters

Yahoo – AFP, Ish MAFUNDIKWA, with Zinyange AUNTONY in Bulawayo, December 4, 2019

Where a child is born: Esther Gwena, 69, who acts as a midwife but has no
training, lays down sheets in her rundown apartment -- a makeshift maternity
unit (AFP Photo/Jekesai NJIKIZANA)

Harare (AFP) - The floor is dusty, the walls filthy and the furniture decrepit, but for two weeks last month a tiny flat in a Harare township was transformed into a maternity clinic where scores of babies were born.

Its owner, 69-year-old Esther Gwena, says she helped to deliver 250 infants as Zimbabwe's health sector tottered -- a feat that earned comparisons to Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of modern nursing.

Hundreds of junior medics at state hospitals began a strike three months ago because their salaries -- less than $200 a month -- are not enough to live on in a country gripped by 500 percent inflation.

Nurses are only working two days a week.

Those who can't afford private care -- the majority of the 14 million people reeling under an economic crisis compounded by acute food shortages -- suffer at home or seek help from people like Gwena.

Senior doctors, in a letter last week, said state hospitals had become a "death trap" and warned of a "slow genocide".

Gwena, a widow and member of the local Apostolic Faith sect, is a self-taught midwife.

When the health services strike peaked last month, she came to the rescue.

In need: Monica Bepu, 33, heavily pregnant with her second 

child, sits on a bench in the passage outside Esther Gwena's 

two-room flat in Harare (AFP Photo/Jekesai NJIKIZANA)

'I had to do something'

"A man came to me and said there were two women in advanced labour at (a nearby clinic) but the place was closed because the nurses were on strike," she told AFP in her two-room flat in Mbare township.

She rushed there and found that one of the women had a baby which had died.

"I took the other one to my place, where I helped her. The baby survived. From that time, I knew I had to do something," she said.

Word that she was helping deliver babies for free spread quickly.

The state-owned television ZBC described her as "a modern Zimbabwean version of Florence Nightingale" and First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa visited Gwena and donated food, detergents and blankets.

A funeral services company chipped in with a mobile water tank and pitched a tent outside to serve as a waiting room for women before they went into advanced labour.

"I helped to deliver 250 babies ... (they) are alive and kicking and at home with their mothers," Gwena said.

Two weeks later, the government asked her to stop after a nearby maternity clinic reopened.

Winnie Denhere, 35, cradled her two-day-old baby boy outside the clinic, where she had taken him for an immunisation injection.

"Everything went very well, she didn't ask us for money," she said, speaking of Gwena, who brought her child into the world.

A moment for prayer: Gwena belongs to an Apostolic religious sect where she 

says she got her calling to take up midwifery. She says she has delivered as 

many as 250 children (AFP Photo/Jekesai NJIKIZANA)

'People dying'

But while some laud Gwena as a selfless do-gooder, doctors worry that she exposed herself, the mothers, the babies to infection.

"We need to do something about our facilities so no one goes to her," Harare's director of medical services Prosper Chonzi, said.

Medicines have been in short supply and broken machines go unrepaired.

The government has fired 448 junior doctors for striking.

Senior doctors last week also stopped work in protest over the sacking of junior colleagues. Dozens marched in Harare on Monday.

"People dying has become the order of the day in our hospitals," said the vice-president of the Senior Hospital Doctors Association Raphael Magota.

He told AFP machines were breaking down and that intensive care units were only able to treat two or three people "due to lack of equipment".

A senior doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the situation has become untenable.

Gwena collects water in a bucket as she prepares for a long day (AFP Photo/

Jekesai NJIKIZANA)

"There is no public health in Zimbabwe at the moment; everything has come to a standstill," he said.

Even the scarce equipment is often not right.

"One needs gloves that fit just right when performing delicate operations, but we get old gloves that are too big," said another doctor.

A UN special rapporteur on food security, Hilal Elver, last week spoke of "disturbing information" that public hospitals had exhausted food stocks, forcing them to seek humanitarian aid and that medical equipment in some cases was "no longer operational".

In the second largest city of Bulawayo, Zimbabweans living abroad are helping in a small way by crowdfunding and sending money back home to offer health care for the vulnerable.

One such initiative is Citizwean Clinic, which opened its doors last month and attended to hundreds of patients in the first five days -- providing free consultation and drugs.

"We go to the hospital these days it's bad, there are no doctors. We heard that there were doctors here," said hypertensive patient Elina Dzingire, 63.

"We've really been helped here," she told AFP from the clinic in the city's Cowdray Park township.

Health Minister Obadiah Moyo admitted the situation in hospitals is constrained but says the government will soon advertise the posts left vacant by the sacked doctors.

Japan store to replace staff 'period badges' after uproar

Yahoo – AFP, November 29, 2019

One of Daimaru's upscale department stores in the western city of Osaka adopted
'period badges' proposed by female employees (AFP Photo/Kazuhiro NOGI)

Tokyo (AFP) - A Japanese department store has scrapped a "period badge" for employees that let colleagues know they were menstruating, after the policy sparked an internet storm, a spokeswoman said Friday.

One of Daimaru's upscale department stores in the western city of Osaka began the programme last month, adopting an idea proposed by female employees.

The voluntary badges were intended to alert colleagues to the idea that coworkers with severe menstrual pains -- or other period-related needs -- might require longer breaks or extra help lifting heavy objects.

But after local media reported the policy, prompting outrage on Twitter, several customers rang the store to question the merit of what is now dubbed a "period badge".

"We are not scrapping the programme itself because it is strictly for internal communication, among those who work here," a company spokeswoman told AFP.

But she said the store will use something other than the badge.

"Most of our staff are women and staff members support this programme. We will continue in a better way," she said.

The idea came as the luxury store prepared to launch a new section for products related to female hygiene on a floor dedicated to young women's fashion.

During its planning, staff openly discussed their experiences with periods and ways to improve the work environment.

To launch the section, the store worked with "Seiri-chan", a comic-book character whose name means "Ms. Period", which has been made into a new movie.

The store then created a badge that announced the start of the section's opening from November 22 on one side, with the pink character on the other.

"There was a time when speaking openly about periods just did not happen. Now we can do this," the Daimaru spokeswoman said.

"Everyone experiences periods differently. Through discussions, we believe this can lead to greater understanding of our experiences," she said.

Women with heart failure benefit from lower drug doses: research

DutchNews, August 23, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Women with heart failure might need lower doses of drugs and beta blockers than men, according to a report by Groningen University researchers and published in The Lancet. 

The researchers looked at the standard doses of medicines for heart failures across two large patient groups – 2,500 from Europe and 4,000 from Asia. They found that despite differences in age, weight and bmi, both European and Asian women could be successfully treated with half the recommended doses of the drugs. 

Giving them more than 50% only increased the side effects, the researchers said. 

The research also brings into question what the true optimal medical therapy is for women versus men, the report’s authors said. 

Lead researcher Bernadet Santema told broadcaster NOS doctors are becoming more aware that the sexes need to have different treatments at times.

‘Traditionally, 75% to 80% of people in drugs trials are men,’ she said. ‘Here in Groningen, we do a lot of cardiology trials and we see the same.’

‘If you look back, it is remarkable that science has paid such little attention to the differences between men and women, when they are obvious for all to see,’ UMCG cardiology professor Adriaan Voors said in a press release. 

‘Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs come from the most minor questions. The results we are finding could apply across far more fields.’

Period pain: menstruation related to nine days of lost productivity a year, claim researchers

DutchNews, July 5, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos

Researchers at Radboudumc claim that women effectively lose almost nine days of productivity each year due to the effects of their periods. 

The research, published in the online journal BMJ Open, is based on self-reporting from 32,748 women responding to a survey through social media. 

Most of the women, aged 15 to 45, said their periods lasted for five days, about a third had seen a GP due to the level of symptoms and almost 15% had consulted a gynaecologist. 

One in seven said they took leave from school or work during their periods, and the average number of sick days was one a year. The women reported lower productivity on more than 23 days a year ‘which results in an annual loss of productivity of 9 days per woman per year,’ the study claimed. 

Some of this productivity loss, the researchers hypothesised, might be because women are under pressure to carry on working rather than taking necessary time off. 

They added, however, that this ‘observational’ study could have been influenced by the manner of finding participants as ‘women who experience symptoms may be more inclined to participate in such a study’ and their responses were also not objectively assessed. 

But the team, headed by Mark Schoep, warned that openness was key, adding that ‘discussions about menstruation-related symptoms may still be rather taboo.’

Global life expectancy up 5.5 years since 2000: WHO

Yahoo – AFP, Nina LARSON, April 4, 2019

While most people who die in rich countries are old, nearly one in three deaths
in poorer countries are children under five (AFP Photo/GREG BAKER)

Geneva (AFP) - Global life expectancy grew by 5.5 years between 2000 and 2016, the World Health Organization said Thursday, warning though that unequal income and access to healthcare translates into far shorter lives for many.

The UN health agency also stressed significant gender differences in life expectancy worldwide.

On average, a child born in 2016 can expect to live 72 years, up from 66.5 in 2000, according to the annual World Health Statistics report.

The first 16 years of the century saw dramatic drops in deaths among children under five, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where progress has been made against malaria, measles and other communicable diseases, WHO said.

Life expectancy has also increased thanks to advances against HIV/AIDS, which ravaged much of Africa in the 1990s.

But despite progress in poorer countries, WHO said there remained significant life expectancy gaps between developed and developing nations.

People in low-income countries live 18 fewer years on average than those in high-income nations, statistics showed.

In Lesotho, for instance, people on average live to be just 52, or 53 in the Central African Republic 53 years of age, compared to over 83 for Switzerland and over 84 in Japan.

While most people who die in rich countries are old, nearly one in three deaths in poorer countries are children under five, WHO said.

'Shocking differences'

For the first time, WHO broke down its global health statistics by sex, clearly showing that females have better longevity prospects than males.

Life expectancy for people in full health and in less than full health (AFP 

Photo/Jonathan WALTER)

At birth, babies are more likely to be male than female, with some 73 million boys expected to be born this year, compared to 68 million girls, WHO said.

But due to greater biological frailty and riskier behaviours, mortality rates tend to be higher among boys and men, and the ratio shifts as the population ages.

At a global scale, girls born in 2016 are expected to live to the age of 74.2, while and boys on average will make it to 69.8 years, the report showed.

One reason why women appear to live longer is that they tend to be better about using available healthcare.

In countries facing HIV epidemics, for instance, women are far more likely to take HIV tests and access antiretroviral therapies than their male counterparts. Female TB patients are also more likely to seek treatment, WHO said.

It is therefore perhaps not surprising that the gap between men's and women's life expectancy is narrowest in places where women lack access to health services.

In low-income countries with scarcer services, one in 41 women die from maternal causes, compared to one in 3,300 women in high-income countries.

These are "shocking differences", WHO's head of data and analytics, Samira Asma, told reporters.

Overall, the statistics showed that life expectancy has risen in most countries, including significant jumps in places like Eritrea, where people on average are now expected to live 22 years longer than the 43 years predicted in 2000.

In Syria, meanwhile, which has been ravaged by eight years of conflict, life expectancy dropped by a decade, from 73 years in 2000 to 63.8 years in 2016.

People in the United States have meanwhile seen their life expectancy slip from 79 years in 2014 to 78.5 years two years later, the WHO numbers showed.

Asma said the drop was in part driven by the obesity epidemic.

Related Article:

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…

Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?

The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].

Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”

A third of women can’t function normally during their period: survey

DutchNews, March 15, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com 

One third of women can’t function normally during their period, a survey by the Radboud teaching hospital in Nijmegen among 42,000 women has found. 

Half of women who experience problems related to menstruation don’t talk about it, head researcher and gynaecologist Bertho Nieboer said.

‘They hide the fact that they have not been able to do certain things because of period pain, for instance. That means a condition may go untreated,’ he told broadcaster NOS.  A painful condition like endometriosis, or tissue growth outside the uterus, could go undetected and cause infertility, he warned. 

The most frequently mentioned problems by women are severe stomach ache, psychological problems, tiredness and back ache, Nieboer said. 

It is important women discuss the problem, gynaecologist Joke Schutte said. ‘You really don’t have to bring up your period pain at every birthday party you go to but if you are really suffering then that is not normal and you need to speak out,’ the broadcaster quotes her as saying. 

The survey, the biggest of its kind, may not represent all women in the Netherlands because it was conducted online and this may have caused selection bias. In other words those not experiencing problems less likely to participate in a survey, but it gives a good indication of the scale of the problems, the researchers said.

Supreme Court blocks Louisiana abortion law

Yahoo – AFP, February 8, 2019

The case was considered a test for the Supreme Court to the right under
President Donald Trump (AFP Photo/MANDEL NGAN)

Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a Louisiana law that critics say would limit access to abortion in the southern state.

The decision was made by a narrow majority -- 5 votes to 4 -- with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the court's progressive justices to block the legislation, which would have taken effect Friday.

It was considered a test for the high court, swung to the right under President Donald Trump.

The law would require doctors at Louisiana's abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at a hospital less than 50 kilometers (30 miles) away.

According to pro-choice advocates, that is too restrictive -- leaving only one doctor able to perform the procedure in the whole state.

But the state of Louisiana argued that due to risks of complications, it was vital to be able to transfer patients to neighboring hospitals.

That convinced an appeals court, which after years of hearings, allowed the law to finally come into force this week.

But those challenging it filed an emergency brief in the Supreme Court asking for it to block the law as they sought an appeal.

They argued that even if they were to win later, the impact of the law coming into effect would be irreversible and closed clinics would not be able to reopen.

In doing so, they highlighted a similar law in Texas that the Supreme Court in 2016 found to be unconstitutional.

The law was backed by conservative judges Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh -- both picked by President Donald Trump.

Two years ago, Chief Justice Roberts voted to uphold the law in Texas. But with his vote on Thursday, he brought new balance to the court.

Irish woman who fought Dutch hospital secrecy dies of cancer

DutchNews, January 1, 2019

Adrienne Cullen, the Irish woman who campaigned for transparency in hospital care after she was left with terminal cervical cancer thanks to a Dutch medical error has died at the age of 58. 

Her husband Peter Cluskey issued a statement on Twitter saying that his wife had been ‘appallingly treated’ and that this had made her a ‘formidable warrior’. 

@AdrienneCullen died at the Netherlands Cancer Institute @hetAVL at 10.15 am today. To those who have been so loyal and generous - particularly @UCC and @osheaucc for her honorary doctorate - a million thanks. She was appallingly treated +and it made her a formidable warrior. RIP pic.twitter.com/Fv0vKiMtMI

— Peter Cluskey (@petercluskey) December 31, 2018

Adrienne first underwent tests in the Netherlands in 2011 but it was not until two years later that a review of old pathology results showed that she had cancer. By 2015 her cancer had spread and, because of the delays, was classed terminal. 

She was offered €500,000 compensation by Utrecht’s UMCU teaching hospital on condition she sign a gagging order, which she refused to do, and began campaigning for more transparency about medical errors. 

The hospital eventually settled with Adrienne and her husband for €545,000, the highest medical negligence award ever made in the Netherlands. 

Lecture

In April this year, she was able to give a lecture at the hospital calling for the victims of medical errors to be heard, alongside the doctor responsible for her misdiagnosis. An Adrienne Cullen lecture is now part of the university calendar. 

Early in December she was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Cork. Her book about her experiences ‘Deny, Dismiss, Dehumanize : What Happened When I went to Hospital’ will be published shortly. Adrienne’s impact was such in the Netherlands that public broadcaster NOS and the NRC newspaper are among the media outlets to carry an obituary.

'Staying silent was not an Option for Adrienne Cullen' 1960-2018
NRC obituary by Frederiek Weeda:https://t.co/Nq7dulOvbE

— Peter Cluskey (@petercluskey) December 31, 2018