The personhood amendment in Mississippi was rejected by voters.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/us/politics/votes-across-the-nation-could-serve-as-a-political-barometer.html The implications of this vote are not clear. As the New York Times article notes, the personhood amendment effort has split the pro-life movement. Some pro-life groups object to the personhood effort on strategic grounds. Richard M.
Here is a LifeNews report on a lawsuit that was filed by a dozen nurses whose jobs were threatened because they refused to assist in abortions. The suit, brought by lawyers from the Alliance Defense Fund, contends that the nurses’ rights under federal and state were violated by the hospital’s threats. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/11/01/hospital-told-nurses-assist-abortions-or-lose-your-job/ UPDATE: The court issued a temporary […]
My post a few months back also mentioned a NCBQ piece on diagnosing death using neurological criteria. The Autumn issue includes a review of what sounds like an interesting and relevant book. Jason T. Eberl reviews Russell DiSilvestro’s Human Capacities and Moral Status (NCBQ 11 [2011]: 596-98). According to the review, DiSilvestro departs from the […]
In a past post, I mentioned the dialogue between philosopher Fr. Martin Rhonheimer and his critics – or, perhaps one should say, one of the dialogues, or one aspect of the dialogue – namely, that concerning his ‘vital conflicts’ theory. In the Autumn 2011 issue of the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, there is more, dealing […]
Here is a link to an article in today’s New York Times on the personhood proposals pending in Mississippi, and being considered in several other states. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/us/politics/personhood-amendments-would-ban-nearly-all-abortions.html?_r=1 Richard M.
Here is the abstract of Sam Calhoun’s paper on Philadelphia abortion provider Kermit Gosnell, and a link to the abstract and paper. Sam presented a version of this paper at the University of Faculty for Life conference at Notre Dame in June 2011. “This article focuses on three of the atrocities committed by Philadelphia abortion […]
Here is a link to an essay by Michael Paulsen that was published today on the Public Discourse blog. http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2011/10/4149 After noting the practice of abortion for sex-selection, Paulsen discusses the prospect that a law banning abortion for reasons of sex selection might force the Supreme Court to confront the realities of its abortion case law. […]
Here is a link to a post on Wesley Smith’s blog about a position paper from the Dutch Physician’s Association seeking to expand the factors to be considered in assessing whether a patient’s suffering is “unbearable,” thus making the patient eligible for assisted suicide. According to the article to which Smith refers–“Until now, factors such as income […]
Changing Minds, Saving Lives
“Changing Minds, Saving Lives” is the title of a good essay by Nicholas DiFonzo (Rochester Institute of Technology) in the November 2011 of First Things. The essay is based on a talk that Nicholas delivered at the 2011 University Faculty for Life conference, whcih was held in June at the University of Notre Dame. The essay […]
The most recent issue of the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly (Vol. 11, no. 3; Autumn 2011) contains several articles that continue the discussion about the Phoenix abortion case and related matters. The issue contains articles by Rev. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, OP (Abortion in a Case of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension), Thomas A. Cavanaugh (Double-Effect Reasoning, […]