Senate Bill 2865, a controversial Reproductive Health bill, will progess to the amendment stage in the Philippines Congress. House Bill 4244 or the Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health And Population And Development Act Of 2011, is the House counterpart of the Senate bill.[Philippine Star] The latter includes provisions problematic with respect to freedom of conscience.
Category: Contraception
Prominent Masschusetts physicians advocate civil disobedience
A former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine and a professor at Harvard Medical school are urging that American physicians practice civil disobedience by refusing to obey laws that block access to abortion and contraception. “The unspoken assumption by state legislators seems to be that doctors will,” write Marcia Angell and Michael Greene,”. . . acquiesce with these new laws, that they are simply neutral agents who will comply with whatever the state orders.” They argue that physicians “have ethical commitments to patients that they cannot and should not be required by state law to set aside.” [USA Today]
New Guinea bishops object to compulsory condom distribution
Catholic Bishops in Papua New Guinea state that their schools will not comply with a government policy requiring the distribution of condoms to students. The Episcopal Conference is prepared to defend its decision in court should the government try to enforce the policy. [Zenit]
Scots women to get birth control pill direct from pharmacists
An Aberdeen pharmacy has become the first in the country to offer birth control pills directly from a specially trained pharmacist, thus avoiding the need to obtain prescriptions from physicians. The new scheme will be tested in a Boots the Chemist outlet, and will be available to women who are at least16 years of age. [Scotsman]
Catholic universities in U.S. split on contraception
The confrontation between the Catholic Church and the federal government in the United States on the subject of compulsory health insurance for contraceptives, surgical sterilization and embryocidal drugs and devices has exposed significant disunity among identifiably Catholic universities on the subject of contraception. Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded by the Jesuits, will end birth control coverage for employees in July. The announcement has caused controversy on campus. Contraceptive coverage continues to be provided by prominent Catholic universities like Georgetown, DePaul and Fordham. [Reuters] Belmont Abbey, which is suing the U.S. federal government because of the ‘preventive services mandate,’ provided contraceptive coverage for students until 2007. [Gaston Gazette]