null / Credit: Chodyra Mike 1/Shutterstock.Washington D.C., Apr 13, 2023 / 11:20 am (CNA).The Biden administration plans to issue an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court allowed a Texas judge s ruling to severely restrict abortion pill access. The appeals court Wednesday night temporarily suspended the judge s ruling to invalidate the U.S. Food and Drug Administration s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. The decision will, however, leave in place restrictions that will severely limit the abortion drug s distribution.The three-judge panel from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana granted a partial stay of Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk s Friday ruling. It also reinstated mifepristone restrictions lifted by the FDA after 2016.This means that the abortion pill mifepristone remains legal for the time being, and pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens can continue to dispense prescriptions.The drug will no longer be permitte.
null / Video Creative/Shutterstock.Denver, Colo., Apr 14, 2023 / 11:12 am (CNA).The Canadian government has released new recommended standards and advice for medical doctors concerning physician-assisted suicide that critics say do nothing to protect vulnerable patients from premature death.The new guidelines allow for "virtual" physician-assisted suicide, advise doctors not to notify family members when a patient requests suicide, and require medical professionals who object to physician-assisted suicide to refer patients to others who are willing to participate in their suicides.Health Canada released on March 27 the "Model Practice Standard for Medical Assistance in Dying," as guidance for the practice of assisted suicide, made legal in 2016 and known as medical aid in dying (MAiD). More than 31,000 people have already died by legal euthanasia in Canada. In an accompanying statement, Canada s national health department said the standards are designed to &quo
Former U.S. postal worker Gerald Groff believes his religious freedom was violated when he was reprimanded for refusing to work on Sundays. / First Liberty InstituteWashington D.C., Apr 12, 2023 / 14:30 pm (CNA).The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments next Tuesday, April 18, in Groff v. Dejoy, a case involving a Christian former postal worker that has major implications for religious liberty rights in the U.S.What is the case about? In 2019, Gerald Groff resigned from his position with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) after years of allegedly being harassed, targeted, and disciplined for refusing to work Sundays so that he could abide by the Third Commandment, to "keep holy the sabbath day."Groff then sued USPS for violating his religious rights. After his claims were denied by both a Pennsylvania district court and the 3rd Circuit Court, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) agreed to take up his appeal on Jan. 13. He is being represented by the First Liberty
Classroom in a Catholic school. / Wuttichai jantarak/ShutterstockSt. Louis, Mo., Apr 12, 2023 / 15:30 pm (CNA).A statewide board in Oklahoma voted Tuesday to reject a proposal brought by the Oklahoma Catholic Conference to create a virtual, religious charter school, which would be the first of its kind in the nation if it is ultimately approved. The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted unanimously on Tuesday to disapprove an application, first presented in February, to create St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, pending revisions.The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, which aims to run the online school in partnership with the Diocese of Tulsa, will have the opportunity to resubmit its application after addressing the board s concerns, and the board will have 30 days to approve or deny the revised application. Brett Farley, executive director of the Oklahoma Catholic Conference and a board member for the proposed school, told CNA it is "more oft.
null / Pexels|Photo by Vidal Balielo Jr.Washington D.C., Apr 12, 2023 / 15:00 pm (CNA).Legal abortions in the United States decreased by more than 6% in the first six months that followed the U.S. Supreme Court s decision overturning the nearly 50 years of abortion precedent set in Roe v. Wade, according to a report from the pro-abortion nonprofit Society of Family Planning. The average number of monthly abortions decreased from 82,270 in the two months before Roe v. Wade was overturned to 77,073 in the six months that followed the decision. This is a monthly decrease of about 5,377 abortions, which is about 32,260 fewer abortions over six months.Although the number of abortions fluctuated month to month, every month that followed the Supreme Court decision had fewer abortions than April 2022. The national abortion rate fell from 13.2 per 1,000 women who are of reproductive age in April to 12.3 per 1,000 over the six-month period after the decision.States that ba.