Bioethics Public Policy Report: February 13, 2024
STATE By State
Senior fellow for the Catholic Association Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie warns that the proposed amendment to the Florida state constitution could “deny women all sorts of protections that they have against unscrupulous and bad actors out there in the abortion landscape” if passed. The purpose of the Florida amendment is to allow abortion in cases where it is necessary “to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider,” which she notes is very vague, leaving “health” and “health care provider” undefined. For further information, click here.
Bishops Burbidge and Knestout of the Dioceses of Arlington and Richmond, respectively, have warned against the dangers of Virginia’s newly introduced assisted suicide bill, which they said could result in “deadly harm” and “makes the most vulnerable even more vulnerable.” One or both houses of Virginia’s legislature could advance the bill further within the next week. For further information, click here.
In Missouri and Mississippi, republicans are trying to block ballot initiatives that would amend their respective states’ constitutions to provide a state constitutional right to abortion, which would undo the states’ strong pro-life laws. In Mississippi, the state’s house of representatives has advanced a bill that would specifically block ballot initiatives on the matter of abortion, which is part of a larger process to regulate ballot initiative processes which was struck down by the Supreme Court of the United States in 2021. Missouri is seeking to amend their ballot initiative process by requiring a simple majority in 82 of their 163 house districts. For further information, click here.
In Maryland, Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, Washington Archbishop Cardinal Wilton Gregory, and Wilmington Bishop William Koenig wrote an open letter to denounce the advance of a bill in the Maryland General Assembly for assisted suicide. The bishops said that it was “deeply illogical” for the legislature to introduce such a bill at a time where the suicide rate is skyrocketing, as it would only facilitate the issue. The bill was introduced in both the state house and senate in mid-January. For further information, click here.
Pennsylvania’s supreme court reopened a previously dismissed case regarding Pennsylvania’s Abortion Control Act, which prohibits the use of public state funds for abortions, finding that the law “discriminates against those women who choose to exercise their fundamental right to terminate a pregnancy.” The decision did not invalidate Pennsylvania’s law, but it did remand the case to a lower court for further review, leaving the door open to the invalidation of the law. For further information, click here.
A Missouri woman is fighting to change the State’s law on frozen human embryo custody with the help of Rep. Adam Schwadron (R). Under a Missouri state court ruling in 2015, frozen embryos conceived via in vitro fertilization are considered marital property, only being usable if both spouses agreed following divorce. For further information, click here.
Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that he would be taking legal action following reports that Planned Parenthood was engaged in trafficking minors across state lines to obtain abortions without parental consent, in direct violation of Missouri law. For further information, click here.
Federal Courts
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. Food and Drug Administration on March 26 this year. The suit resulted after the Biden administration’s FDA removed restrictions previously in place for the prescription of mifepristone, the first of two pills involved in chemical abortion which cuts off progesterone to the unborn child, starving them to death. President Biden’s FDA rescinded an in-person prescription requirement for mifepristone, stating that it would be a “burden on the health care delivery system.” The Fifth Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling in August 2023 requiring the FDA to reimpose pre-2016 restrictions on the drug pending the appeal to the Supreme Court. For further information, click here.
Six pro-life activists were convicted for violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act on January 30. The federal government characterized the group, who were engaged in prayer the whole time, as “engaged in a conspiracy to prevent the clinic employees from providing, and patients from receiving, reproductive health services” in a press release following the decision. The six will be sentenced on July 2, and they could face up to 10 years in prison and $260,000 in fines. For further information, click here.
NATIONAL
Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, introduced a bill that would protect Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds for pro-life pregnancy centers. The bill comes after the Biden administration attempted to disallow the use of such funds for pregnancy centers through federal regulations this past October. For further information, click here.
international
The Constitutional Court of Ecuador has decriminalized euthanasia after a woman suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) filed a lawsuit. The court found that the law against euthanasia was “contrary to the right to free development of personality” under Ecuador’s constitution. Founder and national director of Familia Ecuador, Martha Cecilia Villafuerte, noted that pro-euthanasia advocates took advantage of a hard case to push their agenda through. For further information, click here.
Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Nigeria described the situation of the Church persecuted in Nigeria as a genocide at the International Religious Freedom Summit. He noted that the “extermination” of Christians in the country was being done “systematically,” with members of the Nigerian government being complicit. For further information, click here.
Of Note
Fertility rates rose in Texas by 2% after the passage of the heartbeat bill, which was enacted in 2021 and survived several legal challenges before the overturn of Roe by Dobbs. Researchers say that the success of the bill could predict what will come of several other States’ pro-life laws in the wake of Dobbs. 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.