by Grattan Brown, STD, and Stephen Blaha, MD—After the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization, there was confusion and fearmongering about whether pregnant women would receive care when life-threatening complications arose. But even before 1973, women never needed Roe to receive treatment for those complications. They did not need Roe when Roe was the law of the land. They do not need Roe now. The Catholic Church is one of the strongest opponents of

by Grattan Brown, STD, and Fr. Steve Rice, D.Min—In 2020, about 1,000,000 pregnancies ended in the loss of a child in the United States. There were about 21,000 stillbirths and, depending on the data source, 620,000 (CDC), 930,160 (Guttmacher) or more induced (elective) abortions, totaling 700,000-1,000,000+ pregnancies. What happened to the remains of those children? In early pregnancy loss, the embryonic body passes from the womb with the lining of the uterus and cannot be distinguished. But a

by Sophie Trist —A 2015 ruling by the Canadian Supreme Court in the case of Carter v. Canada paved the way for the country to legalize physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia in 2016. At first, the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program was strictly limited to competent adults with terminal medical conditions, which is bad enough. But in 2021, Canada passed the horrific Bill C7, which drastically expanded the eligibility for MAID, opening the door for disabled people and people with

by Jack Champagne —Vermont has signed bill S.74, amending the law euphemistically referred to as the Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act (Act 39), increasing the ease with which terminally ill patients can be provided the means to hasten the end of their lives. Act 39, enacted in 2013, previously required a multi-step process, in which a patient with a prognosis of 6 months to live or less would make two in-person visits to a prescribing physician and submit a request in writing for a

by Miles Gloetzner—Note: Identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved and maintain confidentiality.——————The family members stepped out of the room and paused by the door. Before they left, they told me they had spoken with Arthur about an "end-of-life option," and that he wanted to talk with me privately about his decision.I knew exactly what that meant, and a wave of mixed emotions hit me. My first thought was a pang of self-doubt: Had our care facility failed

by Sophie Trist —A 2015 ruling by the Canadian Supreme Court in the case of Carter v. Canada paved the way for the country to legalize physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia in 2016. At first, the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program was strictly limited to competent adults with terminal medical conditions, which is bad enough. But in 2021, Canada passed the horrific Bill C7, which drastically expanded the eligibility for MAID, opening the door for disabled people and people with

by John Whitehead —NOTE: This post discusses suicide and sexual and intimate partner violence.Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States; an estimated 47,646 suicides occurred in 2021. Although suicide affects the general US population — the national suicide rate has been on an upward trend for roughly 20 years — indigenous communities are affected most severely. Native American and Alaska Native communities have suicide rates dramatically higher than that of the general population

by Stephanie Hauer —Student suicides are devastating, and they’re becoming more common. Since the 1950s, the suicide rate among young adults has tripled; it is now the second leading cause of death for people ages 15-24. In a recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control, 8.9% of high school students reported a suicide attempt within the prior 12 months. Further, 18.8% reported that they had seriously considered attempting suicide during the previous 12 months. And in a 2018 study, 9% of coll

How do our words dehumanize? How can we rehumanize?

Protesters shouting pro-abortion slogans disrupted the Mass celebrated at Westminster Cathedral for the March for Life on 5 September.

by Sophie Trist —Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is deeply harmful to people with disabilities. Many “right to die” proponents scoff at disabled people’s concerns about assisted suicide, insisting that patients have full autonomy over whether and how to end their lives. But the truth is that for many disabled people, at the mercy of an often dehumanizing medical complex and predatory insurance companies or caregivers, this autonomy is a pipe dream. Because doctors hold overwhelmingly negative

by Kristina Artuković —People with a health condition, chronic illness or disability — even people like me, who have a child with a disability — are all too well acquainted with the concept of quality of life. These three words pop up constantly: in doctors’ offices, in literature on particular health issues, in everyday conversations. Like electrons around the core, they buzz around our intimate dealings with dependency, forming a tacit system that governs the way we conceptualize the fragility