Category: News

A question of conscience: In doing the bidding of their political masters, how far are Hong Kong police willing to go?

Hong Kong Free Press

Keiran Colvert

Here’s a question for every officer in the Hong Kong police – if the Hong Kong government asked you to shoot to kill to clear protesters from the streets would you do it? This might sound like a far-fetched scenario in Hong Kong – a place which has, until now, been dramatically different from Mainland China in terms of citizen’s rights and the rule of law. Having witnessed the grim scenes unfolding in Admiralty yesterday, and given that two people are currently in intensive care as a result of the police action, this question, unfortunately, may become all too relevant for people serving in the Hong Kong police. . . [Full text]

Maine effectively legalizes assisted suicide

CNN Politics

Eli Watkins

Washington (CNN)Some terminally ill patients in Maine will have the legal option to pursue medically assisted suicide after Democratic Gov. Janet Mills approved a bill on Wednesday permitting it.

Once the new law takes effect, Maine will join seven other states and the District of Columbia in allowing medical aid in dying.

The legislation says mentally competent patients over age 18 with terminal diseases that, “within reasonable medical judgment, produce death within 6 months” can request life-ending medication. . . .[Full text]

American Medical Association: Call It ‘Physician-Assisted Suicide,’ Not ‘Aid-in-Dying’

CNS News

Patrick  Goodenough

CNSNews.com) – Advocates of assisted suicide are dismayed that the largest association of physicians in the U.S. has decided to continue using the term “physician-assisted suicide” rather than euphemisms such as “medical aid-in-dying.”

Meeting in Chicago on Monday, the American Medical Association, by a vote of 360-190, adopted a report by its Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) recommending that the term “physician-assisted suicide” continue to be used.

Significantly, the AMA also voted to reaffirm its Code of Medical Ethics’ current policy on assisted suicide – the view that allowing doctors to help patients to die “is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer.” That vote was 392-162. . . [Full text]

Alabama governor signs law requiring chemical castration for some sex offender parolees

USA Today

Elinor Aspegren

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]

Administration looking into bringing doctor to Guam to provide abortions

Pacific Daily News

Jasmine Stole Weiss

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]