Protection of Conscience Project News
Service, not Servitude
The Irish Independent
A leading bishop has called on doctors, nurses, teachers and pharmaceutical workers to “resist” the new abortion regime.
He urged such professionals to “stick together” in their resistance to the new law.
Bishop Kevin Doran said the Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill, which is before the Seanad this week, has no moral force and must be resisted. “Catholics have no obligation whatsoever to obey this law,” he told the Irish Independent. . . [Full text]
The Irish Times
Catholics cannot be forced to obey laws which go against the basic principles of their faith, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said. . .
Concerning the Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill, which goes before the Seanad this week, Archbishop Martin said, “There’s a clear Catholic teaching that if legislation is against the basic principles of faith of people that they can’t be forced to carry it out. ” . . . [Full text]
Times Daily
HONOLULU (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union demanded Thursday that a Hawaii retirement home stop discriminating against non-Catholic residents and allow them to take advantage of the state’s new medically assisted suicide law if they wish.
The ACLU of Hawaii sent a letter to the executive director of the Kahala Nui home after receiving an anonymous tip that the home had notified residents they would not be permitted to exercise the provisions of the law, which takes effect in January. . . [Full text]
America
Is discrimination always wrong?
To listen to the current national debate on the topic, it would appear to be so. Virtually all international human-rights covenants categorically reject discrimination on the basis of race, religion and gender. Even contemporary professional philosophers tend to treat discrimination as an unalloyed evil. The University of Chicago’s Brian Leiter has led a very public philosophical campaign to eliminate religious exemptions to anti-discrimination laws and to declare unethical religious practices that appear to be discriminatory, especially in the area of gender and sexual orientation.
But our crusade against discrimination seems to rest on a fundamental confusion. There is a difference between discriminating against someone because of the group to which he or she belongs and discriminating against someone on the basis of his or her actions. . . . [Full text]
The Catholic Register
An Ontario campaign to pressure politicians over the protection of health care conscience rights is “democracy in action,” said an organizer.
The Coalition of HealthCARE has so far collected 19,000 names and e-mail addresses in its “Call for Conscience Campaign.” That does not include results from the Archdiocese of Toronto.
The non-partisan campaign was launched to oppose and raise awareness about regulations that force doctors to refer for assisted suicide and euthanasia against their moral convictions.
By the end of March, people who have signed up during the campaign should receive instructions about how to e-mail all the candidates in their ridings in the run-up to Ontario’s June 7 provincial election. . . [Full text]