The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the
UK has been criticised for refusing to award diplomas in sexual and
reproductive health to pro-life doctors. The Abortion Act 1967 includes a
conscience clause that allows doctors to opt out of performing abortions; however,
there is no equivalent clause allowing opt-outs from methods of contraception
that destroy embryos. According to guidelines issued in April, the RCOG is
barring doctors who refuse to insert contraceptive coils or dispense
morning-after pills from graduating, from membership of the professional body,
and from specialty training.
An argument has broken out (again) over admissions criteria
to a faith-based school. The school is the Catholic London Oratory school, one
of the most oversubscribed schools in the country. While the school is allowed
to use faith-based criteria for admissions, the British Humanist Association
complained to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator that the criteria were
over-complicated and discriminatory. The Adjudicator has agreed; for example,
it has criticised the “church attendance by pupil” criterion for not specifying
exactly how much church attendance is required, and has also criticised
“Catholic commitment of parents” criteria for discriminating against single
parents. The school said in a statement, “The Adjudicator’s office has made
four rulings against this school in the past six years, the most recent of
which was again challenged successfully.”
The US government has just concluded a large-scale “National
Health Interview” with 33,000 adults, covering topics such as medical care,
vaccinations and tobacco use. There were also questions on sexuality; 1.6%
identified as homosexual, 0.7% as bisexual. This is slightly higher than the most
recent similar surveys in the UK from 2012, in which 1.1% of 545,000 people
said they were homosexual and 0.4% of 220,000 people said they were bisexual.
The recent decision by the US Supreme Court to allow some
corporations to opt out of part of “Obamacare” for reasons of conscience has
greatly annoyed many Democrats. A bill was introduced in the US Senate to amend
the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act in a way that would have effectively
reversed the Supreme Court’s decision. The bill was defeated after extensive
Republican filibustering but is likely to be reintroduced later this year. A
Republican senator said, “This is really stupid politics … Congress has never passed
a law that would restrict rather than expand religious freedoms under the First
Amendment.”
Another (partly) Christian film that is coming out this year
is “Unbroken”, directed by Angelina Jolie, which tells the true story of the
life of Louis Zamperini. Zamperini started life being bullied for being an
Italian-speaking child of immigrants in California; became an Olympic track
athlete in 1936 and (allegedly) climbed a flag pole and stole Hitler’s personal
flag; joined the US Air Force in World
War II; was shot down over the Pacific and survived 47 days in a life raft; was
captured by the Japanese and tormented by prison guards; and then became a
Christian after the war and set out to visit his POW guards to let them know he
had forgiven them and to preach the gospel. The film is due to be released in
both the US and the UK in Christmas week.
In technology news, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland was
sworn in last month with his hand on a Kindle (that had a copy of the Bible on
it), because no paper Bible was immediately available. It has raised questions
over whether digital Bibles are as ‘holy’ as paper Bibles.
And finally, a UK court has decided that a restaurant waiter
was telling the truth when he claims that he dreamed a set of winning lottery
numbers and pestered his boss to buy a ticket. He is now entitled to half of
the million-pound win. His case was helped by the less ethereal vision of CCTV,
which recorded the two of them filling in the ticket together.
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