Catholic midwives can be forced to supervise abortions
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom today rejected the right to conscience claims of Mary Doogan and Connie Wood. Doogan and Wood are midwives who “are practicing Roman Catholics who believe that human life is sacred from the moment of conception and that termination of pregnancy is a grave offence against human life.” Doogan and […]
Supreme Court refuses to review decision invalidating Arizona abortion restriction
On Monday December 15, 2014, the Supreme Court refused to review a Ninth Circuit ruling that held unconstitutional an Arizona “law that requires abortionists to use federal standards in administering chemical abortions.” http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2014/12/supreme-court-declines-to-review-decision-blocking-enforcement-of-arizona-abortion-law-but-other-appeals-courts-have-upheld-similar-law/#.VJBBXNjjjcs The FDA protocol, which was developed in 2000, calls for RU-486 to be used only in the first seven weeks of pregnancy. Since that time, […]
Saunders and Burke on the fate of the Texas abortion law
Here is a link to a good article by Bill Saunders and Denise Burke describing recent developments in cases challenging aspects of the Texas abortion law. The Supreme Court recently prevented the implementation of two parts of the Texas law–the requirement that doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at local hospitals and the requirement that abortion clinics […]
“The Disappearing ‘Undue Burden’ Standard for Abortion Rights”
That’s the title of a recent comment by Jeffrey Toobin in the New Yorker. See http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/disappearing-undue-burden-standard-abortion-rights Toobin describes the “undue burden” standard as the Justice O’Connor’s “most important triumph during her long and consequential tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court” and laments the prospect of the test’s impending demise. Toobin wrongly states that O’Connor’s views roughly mirrored those of […]
amicus brief filed by pro-life organizations in pregnancy discrimination case
Here is a link to a good post by Tom Berg about an amicus brief filed by pro-life organizations in an important case involving pregnancy discrimination. University Faculty for Life was one of the pro-life organizations that joined the brief. Counsel included UFL President Teresa Collett. Tom Berg’s post contains a link to the brief. […]
Mississippi abortion case
On July 29, 2014, a divided panel of the Fifth Circuit affirmed an injunction preventing enforcement of Mississippi’s law requiring that abortionists have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Here is a link to a National Right to Life News story on the case. See http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2014/07/how-and-where-an-appeals-panel-decision-to-strike-down-law-that-would-have-closed-mississippis-last-abortion-clinic-went-wrong/#.U9paA9jjjcs Judge Emilio Garza’s dissent is a persuasive account of the errors […]
more on Hobby Lobby
Here is a link to a story from LifeNews, http://www.lifenews.com/2014/06/30/supreme-court-rules-obama-admin-cant-make-hobby-lobby-obey-pro-abortion-hhs-mandate/ , and a commentary I did for Aleteia.http://www.lifenews.com/2014/06/30/supreme-court-rules-obama-admin-cant-make-hobby-lobby-obey-pro-abortion-hhs-mandate/ As I explain in more detail in the commentary, “Hobby Lobby is an important, although a limited, victory for religious liberty. The decision is also a decisive rebuke to the Obama Administration’s exceedingly narrow view of religious […]
Quebec approves euthanasia
Here is LifeNews story reporting on Quebec’s recent approval of voluntary euthanasia. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/06/05/quebec-approves-bill-legalizing-euthanasia-on-demand/ Here is a link to commentary by Wesley Smith, http://www.lifesitenews.com/author/wesley_smith/ . Richard M.
Roe at 40: The Controversy Continues
The Washington & Lee Law Review just published the papers from the “Roe at 40” conference held at W & L on November 7, 2013. Much of the funding for this conference came from University Faculty for Life (UFL). The conference was largely made possible through the efforts of Sam Calhoun (who is a member of […]
Cardinal Burke’s excellent speech to the Rome Life Forum
Here is a link to an excellent speech given by Cardinal Raymond Burke to the Rome Life Forum on May 3, 2014. The speech is largely a reflection on Pope Saint John Paul II’s great encyclical Evangelium Vitae. http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/cardinal-burke-s-address-to-international-pro-life-conference-in-rome-may-3rd Richard M.