A petition with 13 signatures has been tabled in the Parliament of Victoria, Australia, supporting Dr. Mark Hobbart of Victoria, who refused to refer a couple for sex-selective abortion. [Sunraysia Daily]
Belgian Senate committee approves euthanasia for children
A committee of the Belgian Senate has voted 13-4 to approve a bill to authorize euthanasia for children suffering “unbearable physical pain from a serious physical illness without prospect of improvement.” Supporters of the proposal assert that restriction of the present law to adults is “discriminatory.” 16 Belgian paediatricians had written to two national newspapers supporting the bill. [CNN]
U.S. Supreme Court to hear appeal on federal birth control mandate
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases concerning the controversial federal regulation that compels businesses employing more than 50 people to provide health insurance for birth control and surgical sterilization, even if the business owners object to doing so for reasons of conscience. In one case (Hobby Lobby) the lower court supported the plaintiff’s position; in the other (Conestoga Wood Specialties) the lower court supported the federal government. [Washington Post]
Objection to euthanasia reported to be minority position in Belgium
Reports from Belgium suggest that objection to euthanasia has become a minority position in the country, and that increasing acceptance of the practice has led to its normalization, evidenced by the development of “new rituals” like a “last supper,” final manicures and other forms of advance preparation. One marker of this is the report that a Catholic priest was present and administered the sacrament of the sick to two deaf twins who were lethally injected because they were going blind; their family was described as devoutly Catholic. For those opposed to euthanasia, increasing acceptance of the procedure demonstrates the existence of a slippery slope. Those who support it believe the phenomenon reflects a natural (and positive) evolution of morality. [National Post, 22 Nov., 24 Nov.]
Quebec’s latest niqab panic
National Post
Never having witnessed fascism taking hold, I wouldn’t claim to know it to see it. But whenever commentators have likened the Parti Québécois’ proposed “secularism charter” to the early drumbeats of some historically dire intolerance, my first instinct has been to scoff.
It’s certainly stupid and unfair to threaten public servants with unemployment if they don’t forsake certain religious customs, all to solve a problem that no one except the pollsters seems able to quantify. It’s certainly disturbing that any political party would stoop so low in search of support, and all the more so that the PQ seems to be finding it down there.
But whatever the polls say, Montreal seems more cosmopolitan every time I visit. Despite reports of an uptick in anti-Muslim confrontations, surely it’s a fantastically unlikely breeding ground for any sort of widespread, street-level discrimination.
Surely. But events recently took a shivery turn: A week ago, a woman spotted two daycare workers, dressed in niqabs, marshalling their young charges through the streets of Verdun, in southwest Montreal. And as one does nowadays, she snapped a photo and posted it to Facebook.
Thousands of people saw it. And not all of the commentary was polite. [Full text]