- D. Vincent Twomey, SVD* | . . . conscience is assumed to be a purely subjective thing, a personal preference . . .that is fundamentally irrational. . . The sincerity of those who hold a subjective view of conscience is not in doubt. But is it enough? More importantly, what is wrong about that all-pervasive contemporary understanding of conscience? For the rest of this paper, I will concentrate on such a misunderstanding in the hope of clarifying what conscience in fact is. . . Full Text
Category: Religion
Catholics, Baptists Come Together Over Conscience-Rights Bill
National Catholic Register
Archbishop William Lori and Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention are united by the belief that Congress must act to help preserve freedom of religion and conscience.
WASHINGTON — Catholic and Baptist leaders are collaborating to ask national legislators to support a bill that would offer conscience protections to health-care workers across the country.
“While Catholics and Southern Baptists espouse different theological views, we are united by the belief that Congress must act to help preserve our freedom of religion and conscience,” Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore and Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention wrote in a June 21 letter to members of Congress. . . [Full story]
Conscientious objection a controversial issue in Italy’s abortion regime
RTE News European Blog
It may come as a surprise, but a relatively liberal abortion regime has existed in Italy since 1978. . . . The law provides for abortion up to 12 weeks into the pregnancy, and up to 23 weeks if there are foetal abnormalities. . . But Law 194 is back in the news in Italy, and the reason may resonate with the debate in Ireland.
The law permits medical personnel to refuse to carry out abortions on conscientious grounds.
The numbers who are now doing so have risen so dramatically that groups in favour of the availability of abortion say the phenomenon is forcing Italian women to seek terminations abroad, or even to submit to illegal abortions in Italy. . . .[read on]
More Italian doctors refusing to carry out abortions
Catholic Civil Rights League notes threat to freedom of conscience in Quebec euthanasia bill
The Catholic Civil Rights League has issued a news release concerning the euthanasia bill introduced by the Quebec government. In addition to expressing the League’s opposition to euthanasia, the release warned that the bill threatens freedom of conscience for health care workers opposed to euthanasia.
Also of concern to the League, while this proposed legislation allows doctors to refuse to participate in euthanasia requests, it implies that they must participate in a process referring the request to a more willing provider. There appears to be no provision for the religious and conscientious rights of other members of the health care team. As we have seen on the question of abortion, legalization can lead to pressure on health care workers to participate in activities they find morally objectionable.