Obamacare and religious liberty

 A corporate conscience?

The Economist

S.M.

WHEN the Citizens United decision came down in 2010, 80% of Americans were unhappy to learn that political speech by corporations was protected under the first amendment. Three years later an effort to undermine Obamacare by expanding the constitutional rights of corporations is quietly gaining ground in the courts. The campaign, summarised here, includes some 73 cases challenging the law’s requirement that health-insurance plans provided by large employers include coverage for birth control. (A limited exemption—which Republicans are trying to expand—applies to religious organisations.) This contraceptive mandate, detractors say, presents organisations owned by religious individuals opposed to certain forms of birth control with a dilemma: abandon their beliefs or pay a hefty fine of up to $100 per employee per day.

Conestoga Wood Specialties, a cabinet manufacturer with 950 employees in Pennsylvania, is one of the plaintiffs challenging the mandate. Conestoga is owned and run by the Hahns, a Mennonite family that considers two forms of birth control—the emergency contraceptives known as Plan B and ella—to be the sinful taking of embryonic life. The family has objected to Obamacare’s mandate on constitutional grounds and under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a 1993 law requiring that “substantial burdens” on religious exercise be justified by a compelling state interest. . .[Read more]

Hearings on Quebec Bill 52: Quebec Society of Palliative Care Physicians

Dr. Patrick Vinay, Dr. Michelle Dallaire

Wednesday, 2 October 2013 – Vol. 43 N° 41

Note: The following translation is the product of a first run through Google Translate.  In most cases it is  sufficient to identify statements of interest, but more careful translation is  required to properly understand the text.  Translation block numbers (T#) have been assigned by the Project as references to facilitate analysis and discussion.

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Caution: raw machine translation
(version non révisée)
Unrevised version
(Onze heures huit minutes)
Le Président (M. Bergman) : À l’ordre, s’il vous plaît! Alors, collègues, ayant constaté le quorum, je déclare la séance de la Commission de la santé et des services sociaux ouverte. La commission est réunie afin de poursuivre les consultations particulières et les auditions publiques sur le projet de loi n° 52, Loi concernant les soins de fin de vie. 001 The Chairman (Mr. Bergman): Order, please! So, colleagues, noting a quorum, I declare the meeting of the Board of Health and Social Services opened. The Committee met to continue the special consultations and public hearings on Bill 52, An Act respecting the end-of-life.
Mme la secrétaire, y a-t-il des remplacements? 002
La Secrétaire : Non, M. le Président. 003
Le Président (M. Bergman) : Alors, collègues, on reçoit maintenant la Société québécoise des médecins de soins palliatifs. Dr Vinay, Dr Dallaire, bienvenue. Vous avez 15 minutes pour faire votre présentation, suivie d’un échange avec les membres de la commission. Donnez-nous vos noms, vos titres. Et les prochaines 15 minutes, c’est à vous. Et bienvenue encore à l’Assemblée nationale. 004 So, colleagues, is now receiving the Quebec Society of Palliative Care Physicians. Dr Vinay, Dr. Dallaire, welcome. You have 15 minutes to make your presentation, followed by a discussion with the members of the commission. Give us your name, your title. And the next 15 minutes, it’s up to you. And welcome back to the National Assembly.
M. Vinay (Patrick) : Alors, je suis le Dr Patrick Vinay. Et je suis actuellement le président de la Société québécoise des médecins de soins palliatifs. 005 Mr. Vinay (Patrick): So, I’m Dr. Patrick Vinay. And I am currently the president of the Quebec Society of Palliative Care Physicians.
Mme Dallaire (Michelle) : Michelle Dallaire. Alors, je suis aussi médecin en soins palliatifs depuis plus de 15 ans. Je fais des soins palliatifs à domicile dans la région de Saint-Hyacinthe depuis deux ans. Et, avant ça, j’ai travaillé pendant une quinzaine d’années à l’Hôpital Notre-Dame du CHUM. 006 Ms. Dallaire (Michelle): Michelle Dallaire. So, I’m also a palliative care physician for over 15 years. I palliative home care in the region of Saint-Hyacinthe for two years. And before that, I worked for fifteen years at Notre Dame du CHUM Hospital.

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Quebec’s Charter of Values: Preliminaries to the Charter

Implications of state sovereignty over education, religion and
ethics

 Sean Murphy*

 Introduction

It appears from Quebec government policy documents describing its proposed Charter of Values (the precise language of which has yet to be released) that it considers physicians and other health care workers to be state functionaries because they are engaged in the delivery of “public” health care.  As state functionaries, they will be forbidden to wear noticeable religious symbols or clothing, unless local authorities exempt them from this restriction.

However, no exemptions will be allowed to parts of the Charter that will impose secularism and restrict accommodation of religious beliefs.  These are central government policies that are to be enacted through the Charter of Values and related legislation.  This gives rise to an important question.

Will the government of Quebec – sooner or later –  use its Charter of Values to suppress freedom of conscience and religion among health care workers?

An answer to the question is suggested by a review of the Quebec government’s continuing efforts to establish state hegemony in the moral and ethical education of children. . .  Full Text

 

Quebec’s Charter of Values: government policy document

Parce que nos valeurs, on y croit | Because we believe in our values

Document d’orientation | Policy Document

Orientations gouvernmentales en matière d’encadrement des demandes d’accommodement religieux, d’affirmation des valeurs de la société Québécoise ainsi que du caractère laïque des institutions de l’état Governmental guidelines for managing applications for religious accommodation, affirmation of the values ​​of Quebec society and the secular nature of the state institutions

Full Translation

Quebec’s Charter of Values: Outline of government proposals and rationale

Parce que nos valeurs, on y croit  |   Because we believe in our values

Propositions gouvernementales |   Governmental propositions

Mot de Bernard Drainville | A word from Bernard Drainville

Au Québec, la question des accommodements religieux n’est toujours pas réglée. Dans son discours inaugural, la première ministre, Mme Pauline Marois, rappelait que les questions soulevées par la « crise » des accommodements raisonnables étaient encore en suspens. Le gouvernement a pris l’engagement ferme de les clarifier. Les propositions que nous vous soumettons respectent cet engagement. In Quebec, the issue of religious accommodation is still not resolved. In her inaugural speech, Prime Minister Pauline Marois recalled that the issues raised by the “crisis” of reasonable accommodations were outstanding. The government has a firm commitment to clarify them. The proposals we submit meet this commitment.

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