Analysis of recent decisions involving abortions.

Japan Turns Pro-Life: Recent Change in Reproductive Health Policy and Controversies over Prenatal Screening

Japan, known as a pro-choice country in terms of abortion, is currently facing the increase of “selective abortions” thanks to new prenatal screening. Efforts to restrict proliferation of new technology has not been successful and it is likely that Japan will turn pro-life by strictly enforcing the Maternity Protection Act (MPA), which prohibits abortions due to “fetal cause”.

Decisions of Value: Going Backstage; Comment on “Contextual Factors Influencing Cost and Quality Decisions in Health and Care: A Structured Evidence Review and Narrative Synthesis”

This commentary expands on two of the key themes briefly raised in the paper involving analysis of the evidence about key contextual influences on decisions of value. The first theme focuses on the need to explore in more detail what is called backstage decision-making looking at how actual decisions are made drawing on evidence from ethnographies about decision-making. These studies point to l...

Chromosomal Analysis of Couples with Repeated Spontaneous Abortions in Northeastern Iran

Background Cytogenetic study of reproductive wastage is an important aspect in determining the genetic background of early embryogenesis. Approximately 15 to 20% of all pregnancies in humans are terminated as recurrent spontaneous abortions (RSAs). The aim of this study was to detect chromosome abnormalities in couples with RSAs and to compare our results with those reported previously. Materia...

Abortion on demand in a post-Wade context: must the state pay the bills?

The legal issues involved with the application of the United States Supreme Court decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton (1973) are reveiwed, particularly the question of whether an indigent pregnant woman now has the right to abortion on demand at public expense. The 2 decisions, based on the Fourteenth Amendment, established that a woman, in consultation with her physician, must be free...

Influencing Decisions of Value in Health: A Response to Recent Commentaries