Spanish Parliament Approves Bill to Legalize Euthanasia

Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. – February 12, 2020

The Spanish parliament has approved a proposed law by the new Socialist-led government to legalize euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.

On Tuesday, the controversial measure passed in parliament by 201 votes to 140, meaning the bill must now go to a parliamentary health committee for debate and then will head to the Senate before returning to the lower house for a final vote.

In Tuesday’s vote, parliament was predictably split, with generally leftist or libertarian parties such as PSOE, United We Can (UP), Citizens, ERC, JxCat, EH Bildu, New Canary Islands, Compromís and Más País all favoring the measure and the conservative PP, Vox and UPN opposing.

While there is no fixed calendar for this process, Health Minister Salvador Illa said he hoped to see the euthanasia law enacted by June.

The new bill, which has been hotly contested by the Catholic Church and other pro-life groups, requires the informed consent of the patient as well as the favorable judgment of two independent doctors and an evaluation commission.

According to the proposal, only those with a serious, chronic, and disabling illness or an incurable disease with a limited life expectancy can apply to be euthanized, whether in a hospital or at home.

Church leaders have denounced the “ideological and semantic euphemisms” behind the measure, while decrying the labeling of the bill’s opponents as “retrograde, intransigent, and contrary to individual freedom and progress.”

https://www.breitbart.com

Midshipmen Establish Study Group for Satanic Temple Beliefs at US Naval Academy

Caitlin M. Kenney – November 1, 2019

WASHINGTON — Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy who have beliefs associated with The Satanic Temple now have a study group available to them, according to the military institution.

A space for a study group at the academy, located in Annapolis, Md., was requested by students with “beliefs aligned with those practiced by The Satanic Temple” so they could gather and share their views, according to a statement issued Thursday by Cmdr. Alana Garas, a Naval Academy spokeswoman.

An internal email sent out to the student body Oct. 8 stated “satanic services” would be starting at the academy, Garas said. However, the announcement was not reviewed or approved by the school’s command chaplain nor did it represent the U.S. Naval Academy’s Command Religious Program, according to Garas.

But the student’s request was for a space to conduct a study group, not to hold satanic services, according to Garas.

“The USNA Command Religious Program provides for the exercise of diverse beliefs. Arrangements were being made to provide the Midshipmen with a designated place to assemble as chaplains facilitate for the beliefs of all service members, a responsibility outlined by Navy instructions,” Garas said in the statement.

https://www.military.com

Rutgers student told not to quote Bible in essay because of ‘separation of church and state’

– January 2, 2010

After quoting a popular Bible verse to back up his assertion about the tenets of Christianity in his college essay, a student at Rutgers University-New Brunswick says he was told to avoid quoting Bible verses in academic papers because of the “separation of church and state” and the potential to offend non-Christians.

Political science student and Campus Reform correspondent Peter Cordi was assigned an autobiographical paper in his “Intro to Gender, Race, and Sexuality” class last semester. In his paper, Cordi referenced a personal friend of his who struggles with his own homosexual identity, especially given the views of the individual’s mother. Cordi wrote about how his friend’s mother cites her Christain religion and beliefs to justify her opinion of people who identify as gay.

Cordi is a Christain who disagrees with his friends’ mother’s views toward members of the LGBT community and quoted scripture from the Bible to support his position. Cordi quoted the popular verse John 3:16 from the Bible: “For God so loved the WORLD that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

In grading Cordi’s paper, Professor Kathe Sandler included her remarks next to Cordi’s use of the quote, telling the student that his use of a quote from the Bible was inappropriate.

https://campusreform.org