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 Catholic Register
Having lost twice in court, the battle for conscience rights for health care workers in Ontario is now a political battle.
“We feel we really need legislation,” said Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada executive director Deacon Larry Worthen. “It’s basically for us a call to action.”
The latest setback came May 15 when the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling upheld a College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) requirement that doctors in the province must give referral for medical services such as assisted dying and abortion that conflict with their moral or religious beliefs. . . [Full text]