The Advocate
Adam Holmes
Tasmanians will not be able to claim “conscientious objector” status should they require a mandatory vaccination for work in healthcare settings, Premier Peter Gutwein has confirmed. . . continue reading
Category: Australia
Catholic doctors cannot refuse COVID-19 vaccines on moral or religious grounds in Tasmania
The Examiner
Isabel Bird
Conservative catholic doctors, nurses and other health workers who oppose mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations on moral or “conscience grounds” will not be allowed to refuse the vaccine in Tasmania.
The state government, and other jurisdictions, are making vaccinations mandatory for all health workers in the public and private healthcare systems, leading the Catholic Medical Association of Australia (CMAA) to call for the right to a “conscientious objection to vaccination”.
The association says vaccines can be rejected on moral grounds, and because of a lack of research, testing and knowledge about future side effects, but this in comparison to the views of Catholic Church head Pope Francis who has urged people to get vaccinated, saying that vaccines “bring hope to end the pandemic, but only if they are available to all”. . . . continue reading
Bill Undermines Conscientious Objection to VAD
CQ Today
Duncan Evans
Conscientious objection to voluntary assisted dying (VAD) may not be an option for Queenslanders if the state government’s bill to legalise VAD is passed in its present form, a leading healthcare provider has warned.
In a media statement released last week, Mater Board Chair Francis Sullivan AO said the proposed legislation would force Mater to allow assisted dying to take place at its facilities in direct contradiction to the moral ethos upon which the healthcare provider delivers patient care to Queenslanders.
“The proposed law will also compel Mater and other not-for-profit providers to allow doctors who are not known to our hospitals to enter our facilities to administer lethal doses to our patients,” Mr Sullivan said. . . . continue reading
Tasmania third state to approve euthanasia
The Canberra Times
Australian Associated Press
Tasmania will become the third Australian jurisdiction to legalise voluntary assisted dying after the legislation passed the state’s upper house.
Legislative Council members supported the End of Life Choices (Voluntary Assisted Dying) Bill late on Tuesday night, approving amendments from the lower house.
The lower house had backed the bill in a 16-6 vote in early March, with Premier Peter Gutwein among a handful of Liberals to support it.
The upper house, where the legislation was introduced by Independent Mike Gaffney, had already passed the bill unanimously late last year. . . continue reading
A Source of Hope Yet a Test of Faith; Can Health Practitioners Conscientiously Object to the COVID-19 Vaccines?
Lexology
Barry Wilson, William Harris
The rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations is presenting many difficulties and issues including for health practitioners who have a conscientious objection to the vaccination or administering it on the basis of personal beliefs.
Religious views
One issue that is not unique to COVID-19 vaccinations is their usage of cell lines from aborted foetuses. Australia is deploying the Pfizer and AstraZenca vaccines with the latter developed with the assistance of foetal cell lines. Notably, these cell lines are not the ‘original’ cell lines from the aborted foetuses but are genetically modified cells and the foetal cells used in developing the vaccine are reportedly not present in the final product. . . continue reading