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SCOTUS Nominee Gorsuch – A Look ahead

Posted: February 1, 2017
By: Elyse M. Smith

Last night, President Trump nominated 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. A graduate of Columbia, Harvard Law and Oxford, Gorsuch studied under the preeminent moral philosopher John Finnis. His firm grounding in sound legal reasoning and the natural law means he will not concern himself with the outcome of a case but rather with the reasoning and logic behind it. That won’t be popular with those who like to use the courts to achieve their desired ends. Let the circus begin. Read

Redefining “Sex” in the Transgender Debate

Posted: September 8, 2016
By: Margaret Datiles Watts, J.D.

On August 23, doctors, hospitals and five states filed a lawsuit against the government, challenging a new regulation implementing Obama’s Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The new rule requires physicians who accept federal funds to perform transgender surgeries on children and adults, even if doing so conflicts with a physician’s professional medical judgement or belief that such a procedure would be harmful, dangerous or not in the best interests of a patient’s health. Read

Little Sisters, Big Rights And The Supreme Court

Posted: December 3, 2015
By: Margaret Datiles Watts, J.D.

On November 6, the Supreme Court announced that it will hear the case of The Little Sisters of the Poor, the fourth legal challenge to Obamacare heard by the Court since Obamacare was passed. Why is this case significant? The Court will finally take up a key constitutional question that it did not touch in the Hobby Lobby case: Does the government have a “compelling interest” in ensuring that American employers pay full coverage for contraception and abortion drugs for their employees? Read

Broad Threats to Liberties In Light of SSM Decision

Posted: June 29, 2015
By: Margaret Datiles Watts, J.D.

On Friday, June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage across the nation by a slim 5-4 vote in the case, Obergefell v. Hodges. I offer below a simple breakdown of the ruling and its implications. What Did The … Read

Problems Brewing for Pro-lifers in Illinois – An ethical assessment of SB 1564

Posted: May 11, 2015
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

The Illinois General Assembly is considering a bill that will have grave effects on the freedom of conscience of Catholic hospitals and pro-life healthcare workers. Senate Bill 1564, which passed the Illinois Senate in April and is now before the … Read

The HHS Mandate and the Problem of Assessing Material Cooperation

Posted: January 31, 2014
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

Is it legitimate for business owners who want to provide health insurance to their employees to comply with the odious contraception mandate of the Affordable Care Act (hereafter simply “mandate”)? Answering this question requires two stages of moral analysis. The … Read

Relativism or Relativity: Religious Freedom and the Family

Posted: August 27, 2012
By: William E. May

In Relativism or Relativity: Religious Freedom and the Family Professor Shivanandan illuminates the debate about religion and the public square by throwing a searching light on antithetical understandings of human freedom, particularly religious freedom. A popular understanding is that freedom … Read

When Medical Care Gets Expensive: Economic Considerations in the Removal of Life Support

Posted: November 18, 2010
By: Administrator

WASHINGTON, D.C., NOV. 17, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is a question on bioethics asked by a ZENIT reader and answered by the fellows of the Culture of Life Foundation. Q: Is it ever legitimate to remove or withhold life-sustaining procedures from … Read

When is civil disobedience against abortion laws legitimate?

Posted: August 31, 2009
By: Editor

Speaking about laws that legalize abortion, Pope John Paul II states flatly in Evangelium Vitae that “there is a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection” (no. 73, emphasis in text). It is clear from the context … Read

Obama and the Bush Conscience Regulations

Posted: March 28, 2009
By: Administrator

PRO-CHOICE NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN ABORTIONS Take Action Most are aware that the Obama administration has taken aim at conscience regulations passed in the waning days of the Bush administration protecting health care workers from participating in abortions and sterilizations. … Read