Protection of Conscience Project News
Service, not Servitude
USA Today
Alabama’s governor signed into law legislation that requires some sexual offenders to be chemically castrated before being released on parole.
Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed the bill Monday. It applies to sex offenders eligible for parole after being convicted of crimes involving children under 13. . . . [Full text]
Pacific Daily News
The administration is looking into recruiting a doctor to provide abortions here, said Jayne Flores, director of the Bureau of Women’s Affairs.
Flores said she will be having a closed-door meeting with Department of Public Health and Social Services officials this week to address the issue.
They’ll meet “to talk about a plan to recruit a doctor,” Flores said.
The meeting is in response to the fact that no abortions have been reported since Dr. William Freeman retired last year in May. For years, Guam had two abortion providers in Freeman and Dr. Edmund Griley. Both retired.
No other doctor on island advertises that service. . . [Full text]
UCA News
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has blamed the Catholic Church for the rapid growth in the country’s population in recent years.
The Philippines is the 13th most populous country in the world, between Mexico and Ethiopia, with a growth rate of 1.72 percent between 2010 and 2015.
It is the second most populous country in Southeast Asia behind Indonesia and has the highest population-growth rate in the region. . . [Full text]
Medscape
CHICAGO — Delegates voted overwhelmingly to affirm the current policy opposing physician-assisted dying here at the American Medical Association (AMA) 2019 Annual Meeting.
After impassioned testimony from both sides at last year’s meeting, the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs was asked to further examine the issue.
“The AMA House of Delegates concluded that established guidance in the Code of Medical Ethics supports shared decisions that respect the deeply held beliefs of physicians and their patients with respect to assisted suicide,” said AMA President Barbara McAneny, MD. . . [Full text]
American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, American Academy of Neurology
The Globe and Mail
In the last moments before Bob Blackwood died, the doctor paused and, in front of a hushed crowd of operating-room staff, thanked Mr. Blackwood for the gift he was about to give.
It was the summer of 2017 and Mr. Blackwood, a 63-year-old former lawyer with a rare and excruciating neurological disorder, was about to become the first patient in Quebec’s eastern townships to donate his organs after receiving a medically assisted death.
“[The doctor] said he hoped that this was something they’ll be able to do more in the future to help save lives,” said Heather Ross, Mr. Blackwood’s widow. “It was just lovely how he put it.” . . . [Full text]