News in :90 – Oct. 15, 2019

France’s lower house of parliament is expected to approve a bill that would give single women and lesbian couples legal access to in vitro fertilization, egg freezing and fertility medication.

French law currently allows in vitro fertilization and related procedures only for infertile heterosexual couples. The health care system would cover the cost of the assisted reproduction procedures for all women under 43.

Many ineligible French women travel abroad to undergo IVF treatment, as it has not yet been legalized in the country. Sandrine Rudnicki, 38, a single woman who lives near Orleans in central France, went to Denmark for IVF treatment and now is the mother of a 10-month-old daughter, Emilia. She said she’s “delighted” in-vitro fertilization is set to become legal for women like her because she feels like her family of two is “not accepted” under the current situation.

President Donald Trump strongly condemned a graphic and violent parody video that depicts a likeness of him shooting and stabbing opponents and members of the News Media, the White House said Monday. The video, which drew widespread condemnation, was played during a conference held by conservative supporters of the President at his Miami Golf resort last week.

It depicts a gruesome scene inside a “Church of Fake News” in which a figure whose face has been replaced with an image of Trump goes on a shooting rampage, targeting a long list of political rivals, including Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, former president Barack Obama and numerous news organizations.

The World Press Institute and the University of St. Thomas are presenting a public forum on “Reporting in an Anti-Media World” Tuesday evening.

The Forum will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 15th at the O’Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium. It will bring together local and international journalists to answer questions about restrictions and barriers to press freedom and the role of ethics in the modern world, according to the event’s press release.

“Press freedom and journalistic ethics are such crucial topics in today’s media landscape,” Professor Mark Neuzil, panel moderator and chair of the Department of Emerging Media said. “We hope both the journalists and the members of the community can learn from the discussion.”

McKenzie Hickey can be reached at hick1888@stthomas.edu.