Bioethics Public Policy Report: July 16
STATE By State
A measure has been added to the Nevada ballot this November that would begin the process of enshrining a “right” to abortion under the state constitution. The measure will have to be voted on both in 2024 and 2026 to be added to the constitution. For further information, click here.
The City of Baltimore, Maryland, is trying to change a ballot measure that would give $1,000 to new parents, stating that it would violate state law and the city charter to do so. This $1,000 bonus would be on either the birth or adoption of a new child. For further information, click here.
The Kansas supreme court struck down two pro-life laws. One prohibited dilation and evacuation abortions, and the other pertained to safety measures that had been in place on the abortion industry. For further information, click here.
The New York City Department of Health is proposing to throw out regulations formerly in place that required abortion facilities to treat dead babies aborted after 24 weeks as human remains. The proposed change reads, “Disposition as human remains would remain available upon request by those who desire burial or cremation.” For further information, click here.
Secretary of the State of Arkansas, John Thurston, disqualified a ballot initiative to enshrine a “right” to abortion in the state constitution. In response, the group, Arkansans for Limited Government, is challenging Secretary Thurston’s authority to do so. For further information, click here.
Federal Courts
Vandals associated with the militant, extremist pro-abortion group, Jane’s Revenge, reached a settlement with Heartbeat of Miami, a pro-life pregnancy center in Hialeah, Florida. The vandals had spray painted messages threatening the safety of the pregnancy center nine days after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision was issued. For further information, click here.
Pro-life advocate Paul Vaughn was formally sentenced to three years of supervised release after being convicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Though Vaughn avoided prison time, the Thomas More Society is seeking to appeal the conviction on his behalf to challenge the constitutionality of the FACE Act. For further information, click here.
NATIONAL
Since the beginning of July, the Biden administration has switched its stance on sex-change surgeries for children twice. The administration now says that sex-change surgeries “are typically reserved for adults,” but that “families should have the freedom to make the medical decisions that they and their doctors determine are best for them.” For further information, click here.
Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in North Carolina has disavowed a presentation given there suggesting that National Right to Life was a “terrorist” organization. National Right to Life, a 60-year-old movement, consistently has denounced the use of any violence against anyone. For further information, click here.
Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced the Preventing Forced Abortions Act of 2024, which would prevent surrogate mothers from being forced by federal court orders to obtain abortions. For further information, click here.
international
The Italian government is seeking to pass a bill to give €1,000 a month to women who decline to get abortions. This comes a month after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was able to remove “safe and legal abortion” from the final statement of the G7 summit held in Italy. For further information, click here.
In Pakistan, a Christian named Ahsan Raja Masih was sentenced to death for violating the anti-blasphemy laws in place there. Catholic bishops and the whole Christian community in Pakistan are contesting the verdict. For further information, click here.
OF NOTE
Bishops Robert E. Barron and Kevin C. Rhoades wrote an op-ed warning of the danger of federal agencies who distort the truth and threaten religious freedom through gender ideology. For further information, click here.
The Catholic Bishops of Minnesota released pastoral guidance on the recreational use of marijuana, titled Living in the Real. The guidance condemns recreational use as immoral and offers rationale for why it is so. For further information, click here.
Pope Francis sent a message to the “AI Ethics for Peace” meeting in Hiroshima reiterating what he said at the G7 summit last month, where he emphasized the need “to ensure and safeguard a space for proper human control over the choices made by artificial intelligence programs,” stating that “human dignity itself depends on it.” 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.