Stunting a Child's Growth on Purpose

The issue question in this case could be stated as follows: "Were Ashley's best interests served by the stunting surgery?"

Here's the story:

• AP: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070105/ap_on_he_me/stunted_daughter
• BBC (contains comments as well as a brief story): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6230045.stm

Insurance Payments to the Unborn

A recent story from Alberta, Canada. The essential (and confusing) facts are as follows:

• Woman gets into a car accident while pregnant.
• Her fetus/future daughter suffers severe injuries in the crash, which was the woman's fault.
• Alberta law allows children to sue their parents for damage caused during pregnancy. So, the woman sues herself in order to recover benefits for her daughter. The woman wins, meaning she loses and her insurance company must pay benefits to the winner (the mother, acting on behalf of her daughter).
• The insurance company pays out benefits to the child.

Banning Smoking Around Minors

Several laws have been passed recently that restrict smoking around children in enclosed spaces (cars, sometimes even homes). This law took effect in early 2007. Here's a story on other smoking bans around the nation.