Bioethics Public Policy Report: February 27, 2024
STATE By State
Alabama’s supreme court has ruled that frozen embryos are children under state law in a ruling of 8-1 of the judges, deciding that the State’s law, the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, applies to children “regardless of their location,” since it is “sweeping and unqualified.” Within this sweep, the court said, were “children, born and unborn, without limitation.” For further information, click here.
Tennessee’s House advanced a bill proposed by Republican Rep. Jason Zachary that would ban obtaining abortions for minors without parental consent, which could encompass driving a minor out-of-state to procure an abortion. The bill now needs to advance in the full House and Senate chambers and be signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee. Tennessee already bans abortions throughout pregnancy, except in situations where it is necessary to save the mother’s life. For further information, click here.
Federal Courts
Last week, an Indiana Catholic husband and wife filed a petition to the Supreme Court after the State of Indiana removed their son from their home because they tried to treat his “transgender identity” as a mental health problem rather than “affirm” the behavior. In their petition, they note that the State found that they were “fit” parents and that there was no evidence of abuse, but nevertheless they removed their son “over an ideological dispute.” For further information, click here.
Republican Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador filed a petition to the Supreme Court to stop the Biden administration from using the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) to force Idaho emergency rooms to perform abortions in violation of the State’s laws prohibiting abortion. The administration claims that Idaho’s law is in conflict with EMTALA on these grounds. For further information, click here.
NATIONAL
Rep. Chris Roy, R-Texas, and several other House Republicans are calling for an investigation into the five late-term aborted babies discovered by pro-life activists discovered in Washington D.C. in March 2022. The reason for the investigation is to determine whether the abortionists had violated federal law in performing partial-birth abortions. The Biden administration has taken no affirmative steps to investigate the matter. For further information, click here.
Catholic Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) bill, the T the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act, overwhelmingly passed in the House by a vote of 414-11. The Act reauthorizes the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), and it will thereby “expand successful anti-trafficking programs to bolster the fight against modern-day slavery.” For further information, click here.
international
Hong Kong is under threat of further restrictions on religious freedom due to the proposed Article 23, which would expand the national security law of 2020, allowing the government to suppress political dissidents. It would add new prohibitions against external interference in Hong Kong, supporting external intelligence organizations, electronic and computer activities without lawful authority that endangers national security, and general sabotage activities, which critics fear would be used by the Chinese Communist Party against Christian missionaries from foreign countries. For further information, click here.
Greece legalized same-sex marriage, being the first confessional Orthodox Christian country to do so. It passed the legislature by a vote of 176 out of 300, with 76 rejecting the proposal, two abstaining, and several others absent. For further information, click here.
Of Note
The American College of Pediatricians released a report acknowledging that “gender-affirming care” for disturbed youths generates “no demonstrable, long-term benefit” to their mental health. The report stated that “social transition, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones” did not significantly improve the mental health of those adolescents prescribed these treatments. For further information, click here.
The USCCB released a document explaining chemical abortion in Q and A format. To read it, click here. For further information, click here.
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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.
Justin Corman
Justin Corman is a guest editor at the NCBC, and a student at Ave Maria School of Law.