By John Danaher In 2017, the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) decided to clamp down on the importation of child sex dolls into the UK. In doing so, they faced a problem. There was no established legal rule that explicitly banned the purchase and sale of these items. Consequently, the CPS had to get creative. They […]
Latest articles
The challenge of HIV decriminalisation
By Matthew Weait Ever since the discovery of HIV and its modes of transmission there has been a debate about the circumstances in which it is legitimate to criminalise those who pass on the virus to others, or who expose others to the risk of its acquisition. For some, these behaviours are no different from […]
I Donated My Eggs During Medical School – And I’d Do It Again
By Anna Harvey It’s summer, so I only have one layer of clothing to push aside to pinch a chunk of skin on my stomach, and choose a spot to inject myself for the first time. But I’m not a newly diagnosed diabetic; nor am I injecting hormones to prime my body to carry a […]
After death let men donate sperm to infertile people
By Nathan Hodson and Joshua Parker Of all the revolutionary advances provided by artificial reproductive techniques, few would have imagined that it would allow men to have their sperm removed after death and used to successfully produce offspring. Yet recent cases show that it is possible and apparently safe. In these cases it is the […]
New Developments In Assisted Reproduction
By Georgia Scott Progress Educational Trust (PET)’s annual conference was held at Amnesty International headquarters in December 2019. This one-day event titled “Reality Check: A Realistic Look at Assisted Reproduction” explored the limitations of the evidence base for interventions in assisted reproductive technology (ART). We Need To Talk About Add-Ons Assisted hatching, endometrial scratching and […]
Women’s concerns about telling their partner that they have HPV
By Kirsty Bennett and Laura Marlow In England and other countries, a new way of looking at cervical screening samples called primary HPV testing is being introduced. Women attending cervical screening programmes where primary HPV testing is used will be told that they are either HPV positive or HPV negative. HPV (human papillomavirus) is a […]
Capacity-based decision-making for transgender adolescents
This blog by Timothy F. Murphy is part of a series on ethical and legal perspectives in sexual and reproductive health. Readers may be interested in the companion piece ‘Transgender children: limits on consent to permanent interventions‘ by Heather Brunskell-Evans. Academics, clinicians, and trans people have focused a great deal of attention recently on so-called […]
Transgender children: limits on consent to permanent interventions
This blog by Heather Brunskell-Evans is part of a series on ethical and legal perspectives in sexual and reproductive health. Be sure to check out the companion piece ‘Capacity-based decision-making for transgender adolescents’ by Timothy F. Murphy. When we talk about ‘transgender children’, we are referring to those children allegedly born with an innate transgender identity […]
Adverse effects of Male Contraception: How Much is Too Much?
By Carmen Abbe and Alison Roxby A clinical trial on a novel male contraceptive was recently terminated early due to participant side effects, or adverse events. Yet it is well known that many contraceptives used by women cause significant adverse effects. Our recent paper in BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health sought to better appreciate the […]
What do we know about sexual and reproductive health among recently incarcerated youth?
by Elizabeth Barnert, Ava Sun, Laura Abram, and Paul J Chung Rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among incarcerated youth are 10 times higher than the general adolescent population. One-third of incarcerated girls in the United States report having been pregnant. Clearly young people who have contact with the juvenile justice system are in great […]