Category: Reproductive Rights

French gynaecologist ignites row over refusal to treat trans woman

A French gynaecologist has provoked a national controversy by refusing to examine a transgender patient on the grounds that he is only qualified to treat “real women”.
“I have no expertise to deal with men, even if they have shaved their beards and tell my secretary they have become women,” Dr Victor Acharian wrote in response to a negative online review posted by the patient he rejected.
LGBT groups across Europe have condemned the gynaecologist and one has lodged a police complaint.
Acharian later apologised on French radio. “I reacted excessively out of anger because I felt that I was being attacked unfairly,” he said. “My words were clumsy and I apologise to the trans community, which may have felt offended or hurt.”
He said he had offered to refer the trans patient to a specialist who could provide appropriate medical care, but the patient had shouted, “You’re transphobic!” before storming out of his consulting room.

Source: French gynaecologist ignites row over refusal to treat trans woman

British Journal Of Midwifery – Trans and non-binary experiences of maternity services: cautioning against acting without evidence

The ITEMS study was commissioned to generate knowledge about the needs of trans and non-binary maternity service users. This article argues that the framing of the study is one sided and lacks conceptual clarity. The report fails to engage with relevant literature, particularly literature that takes a different perspective from that of the authors. The survey study is methodologically flawed, with clear issues in relation to sampling strategy and internal reliability. The claimed findings in the report are not always consistent with the data, and recommendations are made that are not supported by the study’s own findings. Despite these issues, the report was used as the basis for a planned intervention in the NHS, at significant cost. This was only stopped as a result of concerns raised by clinicians. This highlights why carefully considered, evidence-based policy planning is important.

Source: British Journal Of Midwifery – Trans and non-binary experiences of maternity services: cautioning against acting without evidence

Women exposed to cancer from breast implants prepare for class action

A manufacturer of breast implants that has been linked to cancer will face thousands of women in a class action.

Shine Lawyers has brought the action against Allergen four years after its products were recalled because of a link between the implants and a likelihood of developing lymphatic cancer.

It was reported that one in every 2,500–3,000 women with the breast implants will develop breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) within eight years of the insertion.

Source: Women exposed to cancer from breast implants prepare for class action

Social media, birth plans giving parents ’unreasonable expectations

Submissions to NSW’s landmark birth trauma inquiry, which begins on Monday, reveal disagreement between those who work in the delivery room about how distress during birth occurs, with one medical college concerned the inquiry’s language unfairly characterises doctors as deliberately causing suffering.

Triggered by complaints made by 30 mothers about maternity services at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital, the NSW Legislative Council’s birth trauma inquiry is the first of its kind in Australia.

It will investigate the prevalence of trauma as a result of “inappropriate, disrespectful or abusive treatment … also referred to as ‘obstetric violence’” and whether it has roots in birth practices, with a particular focus on instrumental births and the availability of trauma-informed care.

The prevalence of birth trauma is difficult to quantify. A Western Sydney University study of more than 8000 women’s experiences published last year found one in 10 said they had or may have had a birth experience that amounted to “obstetric violence”.

In a defensive submission to the inquiry, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) criticised the use of the term “obstetric violence”, calling for it to be changed.

In contrast, the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association’s submission alleged obstetric violence and birth trauma were major problems in the maternity system, citing a July survey of its members which found 80 per cent felt unable to successfully advocate for women in their care and 90 per cent had been at a birth they felt may have been traumatic.

Its submission also included multiple anonymous quotes from nurses and midwives about doctors’ behaviour in the delivery room, with one alleging they had “personally restrained doctors hands when they were about to do a vaginal examination without consent”, while a second criticised “fearmongering language” used when doctors advised women to be induced.

“Informed consent is not often gained as there is only one side of the information being portrayed,” the second member said.

Source: 12ft | Social media, birth plans giving parents ’unreasonable expectations

NSW birth trauma inquiry identifies critical conversation pregnant women don’t have | The Australian

Medical bodies, advocacy groups and academics have called for women to be “empowered with information”, with figures suggesting one in three women undergo birth trauma after pregnancy.

The widespread issue is being probed in a landmark NSW inquiry that has received more than 4000 submissions.

The Australasian Birth Trauma Association co-founder Amy Dawes said while one-in-five women underwent an unplanned caesarean, and one-in-four births resulted in an instrumental delivery, women often weren’t equipped with that knowledge prior to going into labour.

Speaking to the committee on Monday, Ms Dawes used her own experience of being diagnosed with “life-altering” injuries due to the use of forceps during birth. She said it illustrated the importance of preparing women for all eventualities that could happen during birth.

Committee chair and upper house MP Emma Hurst said the volume of submissions indicated the importance and widespread issue of birth trauma.

Source: NSW birth trauma inquiry identifies critical conversation pregnant women don’t have | The Australian

Getting Your Period in the Middle Ages | Getty News

In medieval Europe, menstruation was connected to humoral theory: the belief that the body is made of four major humors or fluids, one of which was blood.

If you had too much of one of the humors, early Western medicine believed, it lead to disease. Bloodletting was a common cure for a variety of diseases, and an attempt to get the body’s humors back in balance by getting rid of “excess” blood.

So, the reasoning followed, menstruation—the monthly release of “excess” blood—was a sign of illness. And therefore, everyone who had a period was in some way diseased. Thanks, Doc.

Many believed that anyone who was currently menstruating could make people near them sick. And menstrual blood itself was thought to dull mirrors and even kill crops.

What Did People Do before Pads and Tampons?

The short answer is that most people with periods (sic) used cloth rags as a kind of DIY sanitary pad. Linen was a particularly good material for that purpose. But there’s also evidence that some people used a particularly absorbent type of bog moss.

Source: Getting Your Period in the Middle Ages | Getty News

There’s a Name for Insisting That Your Way is The Only Way

Exporting queer theory is just the latest example of Western cultural imperialism.

Bringing infant formula into Africa: an example of cultural imperialism that has killed millions of babies

Beginning in 1997, and for the next 12 years, WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS, embarked on a Prevention of Mother to Child HIV Programme,  with the goal of eventually rolling it out to hundreds of thousands of mothers in the poorest countries in the world. Their goal was to persuade mothers to abandon breastfeeding in favour of formula.   They invoked maternal human rights  with their position that mothers had the right to choose to formula feed in order to save their babies from breastfeeding associated transmission of the HIV virus. Not only was there no existing evidence to underpin the theory that formula would be healthier;  on the contrary, it was already known that formula feeding in environments without clean water and a readily available medical system (not to mention mothers who could read and follow written instructions) could lead to greatly increased risks of infant morbidity and mortality, but even more astounding was that these agencies never intended to monitor the health outcomes of their global initiative. Even today it is unknown how many babies were saved from HIV infection through not being breastfed, or how many died because breastfeeding was withheld from them.

Even the concept of human rights can be a cultural imposition on societies that don’t share Western values.

In fact, in developing countries, where mothers do not expect to feed their babies in any other way but at the breast, a new suggestion that there should be a choice (i.e. a choice not to breastfeed) constitutes not a choice, but an iatrogenic intervention. An ethical medical intervention must provide some benefit. But in areas where infant mortality is already high, it is unethical to introduce a choice not to breastfeed.

Queer theory meets sexed reality: La Leche League as a case study 

La Leche League International (LLLI) is a women founded/mother led support group for women wanting to breastfeed their babies.

But as LLLI has now leapt onto the Rainbow Trail created by queer theory, they now are telling Leaders (who are all voluntary breastfeeding supporters who have birthed and breastfed their own children) that they need to prioritize the wants of men with lactophilia (a sex fetish based on breast milk) and women who think they are men (so have deliberately removed their breasts and have lost the capability to breastfeed)  over the actual needs of babies through their policy on inclusivity that all Leaders are required to swear fealty to if they wish to remain Leaders.

The use of “a variety of terms” in place of the universal mother is a form of coerced speech that promotes the imposition of queer theory and gender ideology as a manifestation of cultural imperialism.

In addition to creating confusing messaging for women, LLL is possibly endangering its volunteer Leaders. At least 41% of countries where LGBTQ+ people are criminalized have an LLL presence.

Source: There’s a Name for Insisting That Your Way is The Only Way

NSW Supreme Court clarifies ‘exceptional reason’ to justify discharge of adoption order | Australasian Lawyer

An independent social worker reviewed several psychiatric assessments that have been made concerning Clare and found that the Joneses were not well-placed to provide care for Clare. As a result, by the time Clare was in early adolescence, she “no longer expected to be parented,” and her early marriage “represented the best option for independent survival, in the absence of family support.”

The social worker said it is difficult to assess the extent to which discharge of the adoption order might assist Clare. However, the social worker also noted that Clare sought to control her circumstances and has had an “intense preoccupation regarding the circumstances and impacts of her adoption.” The social worker thinks that the discharge of the order of adoption may have a positive psychological benefit for Clare, reflecting something over which she may have agency. On the other hand, the social worker said a failure to discharge the order might have a negative impact, amplifying her sense of powerlessness.

The NSW Supreme Court noted that under the Adoption Act, the court may discharge an adoption order if it was obtained by fraud, duress or any other improper, or if “there is some other exceptional reason why the adoption order should be discharged.” The phrase “exceptional reason” is not defined in the act.

Source: NSW Supreme Court clarifies ‘exceptional reason’ to justify discharge of adoption order | Australasian Lawyer

‘Women locked in Greece baby factory jail’

At least one surrogate mother from Georgia involved in the birth of a newborn baby to an Australian couple this month spent the bulk of her pregnancy in a dark flat, under prison-like conditions and ordered by her handler not to leave or talk to anybody.

“They have empty faces,’’ said one neighbour who lives next door, describing the young women, all of whom are pregnant or recovering from giving birth and believed to be from rural areas of Georgia.

The grim lives of these young women, some still teenagers, have been exposed with the eight-month investigation and extensive police raid of the Mediterranean Fertility Clinic in Chania, Crete this month.

While two Australian families have been able to take their newborns from the hospital and are finalising documents to allow them to obtain an Australian passport to fly home, the future of the surrogates – the victims in this extraordinary story – is unclear.

The women were housed in 14 different apartment blocks around Chania, and paid €200-€600 ($300-$1000) a month for expenses. A baby bonus – usually another €2000-€6000 – was paid upon delivery of a healthy baby. The total payments of around $10,000-$20,000 were promoted as a chance for surrogates to financially “get ahead” in their own country, but after having one baby they would be under pressure to become a surrogate again.

The intended parents, meanwhile, would face costs for the “altruistic surrogacy program” of more than $150,000 and in some cases more than $200,000.

Source: Subscribe to The Australian | Newspaper home delivery, website, iPad, iPhone & Android apps

UK’s first successful womb transplant – key questions answered

[W]hile the procedure may have life-transforming potential for some women, there are ethical considerations to take into account.

Since the first successful womb transplants in 2012, around 100 procedures have now been performed around the world, leading to the birth of around 50 babies. Teams in Sweden and the US have been particularly successful in pioneering the technique.

Womb transplantation involves serious surgery and significant recovery time, but so do many other types of surgery that are designed not to save life, but to enhance its quality. However, most other non-life-saving surgeries do not involve a living donor undergoing a highly invasive procedure with a long recovery period.

There is also some evidence that women who undergo hysterectomy – even where it doesn’t trigger menopause – can experience depression as a result.

Of course, counselling can help warn potential donors about these risks and ensure their consent is well-informed. But it cannot remove risk, and consent alone is not enough to make a procedure ethical.

Another type of safety concern might arise around the supply of wombs for transplantation. There are alarming reports of organ black markets and vulnerable people being trafficked for their organs, including in the UK. Once womb transplantation becomes more widespread, similar concerns might arise in relation to wombs.

Less dramatically, as womb transplantation becomes more commonplace, women might feel under subtle pressure to donate to eligible family members (many of the transplants to date have involved family members). They may even put this pressure on themselves.

The UK’s first womb transplant was not publicly funded: a charity covered some of the £25,000 cost and surgeons donated their time. However, as the procedure becomes more mainstream, there may well be calls to provide it on the NHS, including (when the technique is sufficiently developed) for trans women patients, and this will undoubtedly be controversial.

Source: UK’s first successful womb transplant – key questions answered