Bioethics Public Policy Report: March 3, 2023
National
Responding to inquiries (and pressure) from Pro-Life organizations, Walgreens has stated that while it still intends to become a “certified” pharmacy for dispensing the chemical abortion pill mifepristone, it will not do so in states where the practice is illegal. In recent months, the Biden administration, under the auspices of the Food and Drug Administration, had cleared the way for retail pharmacies to offer chemical abortion. Walgreen’s full statement is available here.
The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) has been banned from attending the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ (ACOG) Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology conference in Baltimore. Dr. Christina Francis of AAPLOG stated, “This is a conference for physicians who are educating the next generation of OBGYNs. We’ve exhibited at this conference for the last 15 years.” She continued, “ACOG is showing yet again that they have no desire to build bridges with those of us who disagree even a little bit with them on their position on abortion. This is especially dangerous for medical students and residents. It normalizes intentional feticide as part of women’s healthcare, which we know that it is not.” Click here for more information.
State by State
Mississippi is the latest state to ban so-called gender affirming care for minors. Governor Tate Reeves (R) signed HB 1125, the Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures (REAP) Act, which prevents health care professionals from providing puberty-blocking drugs, cross sex hormones, and surgical mutilation procedures on children under age eighteen. Medical professionals who “knowingly provide” any of these interventions to minors face revocation of their medical license. The law passed the Mississippi House 78–30 and the Senate 33–15. In signing the bill, Reeves stated, “There is a dangerous movement spreading across America today being pushed onto our children through radical activists, social media, and online influencers.” He added that gender ideology “threatens our children’s innocence and threatens their health.” For further information, click here. The new law is available here. Other states that have banned or severely restricted so-called transitioning for children include Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah.
Conscience/Religious Liberty
Queen of Angels Catholic Store in Jacksonville, Florida is suing the city over a purported human rights ordinance that forces business to use people’s “preferred” pronouns. Store policy maintains that employees “may only use pronouns and titles that align with the biologically originating sex of the person being referenced, whether the individual is a coworker, customer or any member of the public.” Queen of Angels is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom.
International
The British government has instituted a new policy which bans almost all men who perceive themselves to be women from serving prison sentences in women’s jails. The policy states that a man who has intact male genitalia, or who has been convicted of a sexual crime or a violent offence such as murder, assault, or crimes against children, will serve his time in a male prison. Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab stated, “Safety has to come first in our prisons, and this new policy sets out a clear, common-sense approach to the housing of transgender prisoners.”
Latest “Bioethics on Air” Podcast
Episode 109: Redefining Death by Revising the UDDA. Neurologist Christopher DeCock, MD, joins Joe Zalot to discuss how proposed changes to the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) could change the legal definition of brain death.
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The National Catholic Bioethics Center website is a significant resource for bioethics information. NCBC bioethicists are also on call for consultation twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, at 215-877-2660.
