University Faculty for LifeAt the Public Discourse website, here is a report by Matthew Schmitz on a very troubling conscience proposal that will be considered by the Council of Europe on October 7, 2010. http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2010/10/1762 The report states: “The central feature of the resolution is a call for enforcement against conscientious objectors who refuse to perform or make referrals for abortion.” Update: […]
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has indicated that there will be a conscience vote on a proposal to legalize euthanasia. Gillard, though, is conflicted on the issue and has voiced concerns about whether adequate safeguards can be crafted. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/julia-gillard-conflicted-on-euthanasia-but-open-to-debating-the-issue/story-fn59niix-1225929500111 Gillard’s concerns were addressed by Jan Bernheim, a Belgian professor and right to die advocate who think […]
Virginia Ironside, a British journalist and novelist, has created a stir with her comments on a BBC program in which she advocates killing a child to end her suffering and also supports abortion as an act of kindness when the baby will be born with disabilities. Here is some background. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1317400/Virginia-Ironside-sparks-BBC-outrage-Id-suffocate-child-end-suffering.html See also http://lifenews.com/int1661.html Here is Wesley […]
The National Association of African-American Studies will conduct its annual conference in Baton Rouge in February 2011. The conference is an excellent opportunity for young scholars and students not only to present research on the life issues, but also to connect with colleagues from a wide variety of disciplines and to have their work considered […]
Attention, colleagues! The “University Faculty for Life Scholarly Achievement Award in Creative Writing, Literary Criticism, or Research” is now seeking submissions to be evaluated for next year’s award. Complete guidelines are available on the UFL website (clik on the “Student Awards” link). An abbreviated format of the award flyer is available.UFL Scholarly Achievement Award flyer
I thought the recent Time magazine cover story on “How the first nine months shape the rest of your life” http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2020815,00.html was quite interesting. I don’t know anything about the field of fetal origins discussed in the article. I was struck, though, by the assumption that the life of a human being begins ninth months prior to […]
The Call for Papers for the 2011 University Faculty for Life annual meeting/conference was just issued. (See the ad on page 72 of the October 2010 issue of First Things.) The 2011 conference will be at the University of Notre Dame on June 10-11, 2011. The keynote speaker and the recipient of the Smith Award for […]
Here is a link to John Keown’s review of Rita Joseph’s book “Human Rights and the Unborn Child.” http://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/247662/international-human-rights-law-and-unborn-child-john-keown Here is a link to the book. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/9004175601/ref=nosim/nationalreviewon As Professor Keown points out, advocates of abortion rights have been trying to develop a recognition of a right to abortion in international law. (See the article by Richard Wilkins and Jacob […]
Bill Saunders has a good analysis of this issue. See http://www.fed-soc.org/publications/pubid.1966/pub_detail.asp Richard M.
Wesley Smith has an interesting post entitled “Mothers Refusing Prenatal Testing to Protect Babies with Down.” http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2010/09/19/mothers-refusing-prenatal-testing-to-protect-babies-with-down/ Smith’s post focuses on a recent article in the New York Times by Amy Julia Becker on “Why Prenatal Testing Harms as Much as it Helps.” http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/deciding-not-to-screen-for-down-syndrome/ Becker’s reflection is particularly poignant. She talks about how prenatal testing is often […]