STATE By State

• In Florida, Amendment 4, which would have created a state constitutional right to abortion, failed to receive the requisite percentage of votes to pass. Meanwhile, two other states likewise rejected similar ballot initiatives, whereas seven approved. For further information, click here and here. 

• Four states likewise voted against legalization of marijuana and psychedelics by ballot initiatives. Catholic bishops had been voicing opposition to the proposed amendments to the state constitutions. For further information, click here. 

• In West Virginia, a ballot initiative to ban physician-assisted suicide passed by a thin margin. This makes West Virginia the first state to ban physician-assisted suicide on a constitutional level. For further information, click here. 

• Three states, California, Colorado, and Hawaii, have voted to remove the existing definition of marriage as between one man and one woman from their respective state constitutions. The move is largely symbolic, since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex “marriage” in 2015 on substantive due process grounds. For further information, click here. 

• The Ohio state senate has passed a bill that would restrict bathroom usage in schools to the basis of biological sex. If signed, students identifying as transgender will not be permitted to use bathrooms designated for the opposite sex. For further information, click here. 

 Federal Courts

• A Catholic woman who refused to take a vaccine for COVID-19 and was subsequently fired received a $12.7 million award in court for religious discrimination. The woman, whose objection was based upon the use of certain fetal cell lines related to abortion, was awarded $2.7 million in actual damages and $10 million in punitive damages for the unlawful discharge. For further information, click here. 

national

• President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he plans to roll back on the Biden-Harris administration’s pro-transgender policies. While he has placed special emphasis on stopping “the chemical, physical and emotional mutilation of our youth,” his plan includes ending all federally funded programs in support of transgender procedures at all ages. For further information, click here. 

international

• The Catholic Church in Argentina is celebrating a ruling against surrogacy by the country’s supreme court. The court rejected a bid by a homosexual couple to declare themselves the parents over and above the birth mother. For further information, click here. 

• A recent report suggests that there have been over 400 violations of the rules regarding legal euthanasia in Canada over the past several years. The Canadian Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program is subject to certain regulations that involve criminal penalties if not observed. For further information, click here. 

• The bishops of Mexico are voicing opposition against proposed legislation which would further eliminate protections for unborn life in the womb in Mexico City while calling on the authorities to end the violence in southern Mexico. For further information, click here and here. 

• In Nicaragua, the president of the country’s bishops’ conference was expelled after accusing a local leader of sacrilege for intentionally disturbing the celebration of the Mass. The current political regime in Nicaragua has been expressly anti-Catholic, severely reducing the number of clergy in the country. For further information, click here. 

• In England, a controversial assisted suicide bill was published, with Parliament to vote on it on November 29. Catholic bishops are urging the faithful to voice opposition to the bill as an attack on the dignity of human life. 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 is a guest editor at the NCBC, and a student at Ave Maria School of Law.