“The Trouble with Futile Care Theory”
That’s the title of a post by Wesley Smith. http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2012/05/12/the-trouble-with-futile-care-theory/ The post and another comment by Smith (to which he links) focuses on the very troubling Rasouli case from Canada. Here’s a comment from Smith: “Futile Care Theory is only the first step toward a coming duty to die. Think of Futile Care Theory as ad hoc health […]
Supplement to Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought published
Along with Joe Varacalli and Michael Coulter, I had the privilege of co-editing the 3rd volume of the Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Science, and Social Policy. The original 2 volumes were published in 2007 (Steve Krason was the 4th co-editor of those volumes). Here are a couple of links to volume 3. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780810882669 and http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Catholic-Social-Thought-Science/dp/0810882663/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1 […]
Georgia bans assisted suicide
Georgia has now banned assisted suicide. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/05/01/georgia-bans-assisted-suicide-after-final-exit-network-flouted-law/ Georgia’s law banning advertising for assisted suicide had been held unconstitutional by the Georgia Supreme Court on First Amendment grounds. This new law bans the practice of assisted suicide, and according to the Lifenews article, makes Georgia the 39th state with such a criminal prohibition. Richard M.
Georgia bans abortions based on fetal pain
Here is a Lifenews story on recent developments in Georgia. Georgia is the latest state to enact a ban on abortions to avoid fetal pain. Here is the opening sentence: “Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia delighted pro-life advocates today by signing a law that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the […]
The US ought to ban sex-selection abortions
Here’s a good piece by Rebecca Taylor calling for the US to ban sex-selection abortions. Here is the conclusion of the article: “And it is time for sex selection in the U.S. to end. At the minimum we need federal legislation like PRENDA that would make aborting a fetus based on gender a crime. And […]
Teresa Collett defending Pain-Capable Child Protection Acts
Here is a good article on the Public Discourse website by Teresa Collett (president of University Faculty for Life) defending Pain-Capable Child Protection Acts. http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2012/04/5176 Teresa explains: “These laws are premised on the idea that an unborn child’s capacity to feel pain, independent of fetal viability, is sufficient to establish the humanity of the child and […]
good article by Wesley Smith on the bigotry against the disabled
Here is a link to a recent post on Wesley Smith’s blog. Smith links to an article he recently published in the Human Life Review on “the unrepentant bigotry” against people with profound disabilities. http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2012/04/18/that-unrepentant-bigotry/ Here are the closing paragraphs of the article: “Activists and their supporters who struggle against racism and other forms of discriminatory […]
“The Constitutional Right Not to Kill”
That’s the title of a new article (link to an abstract below) by Mark Rienzi (Catholic U). Rienzi argues that there is a federal due process right not to be forced to kill. The right arises in a variety of contexts–military operations, capital punishment, assisted suicide, abortion, and self-defense or defense of others. Rienzi doesn’t enter […]
“Murder not the answer to Alzheimer’s”
That’s the title of a recent post by Wesley Smith.http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2012/04/04/murder-not-the-answer-to-alzheimers/ Smith was commenting on a good article by David Brooks who discussed a recent murder-suicide. Charles Snelling, who in December had published a moving article about caring for his wife who had Alzheimer’s, murdered his wife and then committed suicide. It is difficult to comment on such a […]
Argentine Supreme Court abortion decision
Here is a link to a C-Fam story on a recent abortion decision from the Supreme Court of Argentine. The Court found that there was a constitutional right to abortion in the case of rape. This conclusion was based on international law, although not the type of international law actually embodied in a treaty. Rather, the decision was […]