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Blogs Comment On Appeals Court Ruling On Virginia Abortion Ban, German Abortion Law, Other Topics

The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries.~ "Another Abortion Case Developing," Lyle Denniston, SCOTUSblog: The decision by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit to uphold Virginia"s 2003 law banning what abortion-rights opponents call "partial-birth" abortion -- known medically as intact dilation and extraction -- could send a new abortion-rights case to the U.S. Supreme Court, Denniston writes. He continues that if the case, Richmond Medical Center v. Herring, is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, it could be a "sequel" to the court"s 2007 ruling in Gonzales v. Carhart, which upheld a federal ban on the procedure. Denniston notes that the 4th Circuit Court panel twice struck down the Virginia law. A "key factor" in those rulings was that the state law "differs in some significant respects from the federal ban," he writes. Denniston continues that the full appeals court in its opinion said that the Virginia law "is "somewhat different" from the federal ban, but still "provides sufficient clarity as to what conduct is prohibited to enable a doctor of reasonable intelligence to avoid criminal liability under it."" According to Denniston, "The most significant difference between the Virginia ban and the federal ban is that, under the Virginia law, a doctor who intends to perform an abortion that does not violate the law, but the fetus accidentally is delivered intact to a significant degree, and if the mother"s life is not at stake, the doctor has committed a crime" (Denniston, SCOTUSblog, 6/24).~ "More Restrictive Law on Late-Term Abortions Comes to Germany," Anna Wilkowska-Landowska, RH Reality Check: Pregnant German women seeking abortions after the first trimester of pregnancy "will face stringent consultations and will be required to undergo a waiting period of at least three days before a physician can make a final decision allowing the abortion" under a new German law, Wilkowska-Landowska writes. According to a 1995 German law, an abortion performed during the first three months of pregnancy is considered an unlawful act but not a punishable offense if a pregnant woman first visits a counseling center, though the woman is not required to give a reason for seeking the procedure. German law allows abortion after 20 weeks" gestation if there is a risk to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman. In May, the lower house of the German parliament enacted a law requiring women seeking the procedure after the first trimester to wait at least three days before a physician can make the decision to perform an abortion. Women also must undergo a psychological evaluation. In addition, parliamentarians voted to increase "consultations and support for families with handicapped children considering termination," Wilkowska-Landowska writes. She continues that the medical and psychological consultation requirements are aimed at reducing the number of abortions performed after the first trimester. According to Wilkowska-Landowska, church representatives and lawmakers began discussions on the issue in 2005,when it was reported that the number of abortions performed later in pregnancy were increasing (Wilkowska-Landowska, RH Reality Check, 6/25).~ "Jon Stewart and Mike Huckabee on Abortion," Jim Wallis, Sojourners" "God"s Politics": Wallis writes that he was surprised to see that The Daily Show handled a discussion on abortion between host Jon Stewart and former Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee with such "nuance and respect" for the topic. According to Wallis, although Stewart and Huckabee "didn"t solve the issue, ... the depth of their dialogue and their respect for the other"s core values and opinions was clear." Wallis writes they "never quite reached common ground, but their dialogue was a great example of the type of civil discourse our country needs to be engaged in." Wallis also includes video clips of the interview (Wallis, "God"s Politics," Sojourners, 6/24).~ "George Tiller: Health Care P
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International Diabetes Federation Launch Landmark Action Plan To Tackle Rising Diabetes Epidemic In Africa

The International Diabetes Federation African Region (IDF Africa) launched a critical action plan today to address the escalating threat that diabetes poses to the region. The plan identifies three key areas of action: government, primary healthcare and the community, defining a clear step-based strategy for tackling diabetes and implementing the UN Resolution on diabetes in Africa. IDF Africa is now calling for immediate adoption and implementation of the action plan, to tackle a disease which if not addressed soon has potential to threaten the viability of many African economies.1

News of the day

Injection Reverses Heart-Attack Damage

Injured heart tissue normally can"t regrow, but researchers at Children"s Hospital Boston have now laid the groundwork for regenerating heart tissue after a heart attack, in patients with heart failure, or in children with congenital heart defects. In the July 24 issue of Cell, they show that a growth factor called neuregulin1 (NRG1), which is involved in the initial development of the heart and nervous system, can spur heart-muscle growth and recovery of cardiac function when injected systemically into animals after a heart attack.

Mindblind Eyes: An Absence Of Spontaneous Theory Of Mind In Asperger Syndrome

Highly intelligent adults with Asperger Syndrome still have difficulties in day-to-day social interaction. These difficulties may be explained by "mindblindness", the idea that they are unable to predict what other people will do by thinking about their mental states, that is, their knowledge and beliefs. If this is true then why do people with Asperger syndrome pass all the standard tests of mental state attribution? Is the theory wrong or are the tests insensitive? This study reports evidence from eye movements, that adults with Asperger Syndrome do not spontaneously anticipate another person"s behaviour on the basis of that person"s mental state. This is in stark contrast with typical adults, and even young toddlers. So the mindblindness theory also holds for highly intelligent people with Asperger syndrome. At the same time we acknowledge their successful compensatory learning. This suffices for slow and deliberate thinking about other people"s thoughts, but is not the same as the spontaneous and automatic ability to attribute inner thoughts, and it may be the lack of this spontaneous ability that is at the heart of the everyday social impairments still evident in highly intelligent adults with Asperger Syndrome. Birkbeck College