Protection of Conscience Project News
Service, not Servitude
WND
A “conscience rights” rule implemented by the Trump administration that exempts physicians from providing “treatments” that violate religious faith such as abortion has been challenged by lawsuits in New York and California.
CNBC reported the city of San Francisco sued after alleging people could be deprived of health care treatments such as “assisted suicide” because of someone else’s beliefs. . . [Full Text]
Jewish Link
Rabbi Yosef P. Glassman, MD, of Bergenfield, has won a lawsuit to temporarily stop the New Jersey Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act that had been scheduled to take effect on August 16. The law would allow physicians, under certain conditions, to prescribe drugs to terminally ill patients for the sole purpose of ending their lives. But the battle has just begun.
In an email interview, Rabbi Dr. Glassman explained why he initiated the lawsuit. “I was motivated to act by the chilling prospect of being a part of the suicide process, which strongly conflicted with both my professional and religious values. I was fortunate enough to engage in meaningful discussions with several concerned Jewish community members on the topic, and I decided to take a firm position, being involved in the field of geriatrics. Some people who may oppose my action may say that I want dying patients to suffer, chas v’shalom. Quite the opposite—we as physicians have ample tools to alleviate the suffering for the living, even for the terminally ill, without the need to license suicide.” . . . [Full text]
News Hub
David Seymour, whose proposed assisted dying law is going through Parliament, has hit back at a National MP asking for institutions like hospices to have the right to conscientiously object.
Seymour, leader of the ACT Party, responded by saying his End of Life Choice Bill “doesn’t require any organisation to do anything other than the Ministry of Health”.
“You can’t really be exempted from something you’re not required to do in the first place, but that seems to be what they’re asking for,” he told Newshub. . . [Full text]
Eternity
The “Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019 – which decriminalises abortion in NSW – has a drafting error in it, according to Freedom For Faith‘s Michael Kellahan.
The drafting error makes the “conscientious objection” provision in the bill much less effective, despite being designed to protect medical practitioners who do not wish to be involved in abortion.
The effect is that the protection is not operative where the pregnant woman herself asks for a termination of the pregnancy. . . [Full text]
The Conversation
Western Australia may soon become the second Australian state to permit voluntary assisted dying, with the release on Tuesday of its Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2019.
As in Victoria, whose law is now just under two months old, the bill was the product of reviews by a parliamentary committee and ministerial expert panel. It’s expected to be debated in the Western Australian parliament in three weeks.
So how does what’s being proposed compare to the law in Victoria? . . . [Full text]