Bioethics Public Policy Report: June 18, 2024
STATE By State
The State of Massachusetts is launching a “first-in-the-nation" effort to attack and discredit crisis pregnancy centers. The Department of Public Health said that it will begin its “education campaign” to combat “the dangers and potential harm” posed by these centers which offer support to especially vulnerable women facing desperate situations with their pregnancies. For further information, click here and here.
In Indiana, a state court will be reviewing the State’s near-total abortion ban and evaluating whether there should be an expanded exception for “health risks.” For further information, click here.
A parental rights law went into effect in the State of Washington that will require schools to inform parents of what is happening to their children at school and give them the power to opt out of any assignments relating to sexuality. Critics say that the measure could be harmful to children by restricting their access to birth control, referrals for abortions, or counseling for gender identity issues, sexual assault, or domestic violence, even though the law does not restrict access to anything. For further information, click here.
South Dakota state Senator Michael Walsh lost his primary bid after being responsible for killing a bill that would have required age-verification for pornographic websites. His challenger, Greg Blanc, won 55% of the vote, while Senator Walsh garnered only 39%. For further information, click here.
New York State has failed to pass a Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) Act for the fifth time in a row. The MAiD Act would have allowed terminally patients over the age of 18 with a “decision-making capacity” to request lethal injections. For further information, click here.
Federal Courts
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the case of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (AHM) challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulations of the chemical abortion drug, mifepristone. The decision was rendered on the basis of the Court’s constitutional standing doctrine, which requires that the plaintiff have a concrete and particularized injury-in-fact, citing that the AHM has no such injury because it does not, itself, prescribe mifepristone. This decision was not decided on the merits of the case regarding the regulation itself. For further information, click here and here.
Two Texas university professors are suing the federal government over recently promulgated Title IX regulations that would require them to give excused absences for students seeking abortions. For further information, click here.
A federal judge in North Carolina removed restrictions on chemical abortion, which required three in-person doctor visits prior to prescription of the abortion drugs. Any North Carolina healthcare provider may now prescribe chemical abortion for at-home use, and there is no longer any reporting requirement for nonfatal complications resulting from the use of the drug. For further information, click here and here.
In the Northern District of Texas, a federal court found that the Biden administration’s Title IX regulations were a violation of federal law. The regulations redefine “sex discrimination” to include discrimination on the basis of “gender identity,” which would require universities to allow biological males identifying as women into bathrooms, living quarters, and locker rooms intended for biological females, and vice versa. For further information, click here.
Southwest Airlines is appealing a decision after a court rendered a judgment against them for firing one of its employees for sending controversial pro-life messages to her union leader. The employee sent the messages after the leader used dues and fees to have the union participate in the Women’s March in January 2017, which was notably pro-abortion. For further information, click here.
A Michigan Catholic parish is appealing in federal court for its right to hire employees who abide by Catholic teachings. Under the Michigan civil rights statute, “sex” now includes “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” which would require Catholic churches to hire those living lifestyles incompatible with Catholic teaching on human sexuality. For further information, click here.
NATIONAL
The “Right to Contraception Act” failed to garner enough votes to move forward in the Senate. The Act would have created a federal “right” to contraception that would have had ramifications for religious freedom and protections against sex-change surgeries for minors. For further information, click here.
While Republican legislators have taken out language restricting the chemical abortion drug mifepristone from the FDA’s spending bill, they have used pro-life language in the “Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.” The Act will include the Hyde Amendment, thereby restricting the use of federal taxpayer dollars to be used for abortion. For further information, click here and here.
Bills attempting to secure a “right” to in vitro fertilization (IVF) from both Republican and Democrat senators failed to pass in the Senate. Bishops in the United States have called on Catholics to contact their legislators to ask them not to support IVF, since it is opposed to Catholic teaching. For further information, click here.
Dr. Eithan Haim has been indicted by the Biden administration for blowing the whistle on illegal transgender procedures continuing to take place on minors at Texas Children’s Hospital. The administration claims that Dr. Haim violated HIPAA. For further information, click here.
Conscience/religious liberty
A Los Angeles County fire captain was granted a partial religious exemption from raising a “progress pride” flag. He will not be required to raise the flag himself, but he will be required to ensure that his subordinates do so. The Thomas More Society is applying for preliminary and permanent injunctions on behalf of the captain. For further information, click here.
Two Vermont families have sued the State of Vermont for revoking their foster parent licenses for their views on gender ideology. For further information, click here.
The University of Notre Dame School of Law filed an amicus brief in support of a federal lawsuit against the State of New Jersey in Mendham Methodist Church v. Morris County. The lawsuit is challenging the State’s exclusion of religious houses of worship from a state historic grant program. For further information, click here.
international
The World Health Assembly passed the controversial International Health Regulation amendments. The World Health Organization’s pandemic treaty will be voted on in July. For further information, click here.
The Scottish parliament has advanced a bill that would create abortion clinic buffer zones prohibiting silent prayer outside of abortion clinics. 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.