The reality is that the second national security law has severed connections between people in Hong Kong and the outside world.
Read more >>The Crisis of Honesty in Hong Kong’s Governance – and why we must value our democracy
Category: Ethics
Is the proposed change to assisted dying legislation really about denying choice? Looking afresh at the harm principle
Esther Rantzen is one of a number of well-known and well-regarded celebrities who have publicly declared their support for a change in the law on assisted dying. When a celebrity makes a pronouncement, many people stop and take notice even if the celebrity is not making any new arguments. Celebrity is persuasive. Esther Rantzen says that she appreciates all the arguments against assisted dying. Nevertheless, she thinks that people should be given a choice about how and when they want to die. In particular, she wants to spare her family from the painful memories of a bad death. She observes that, after all, we give dogs a painless death. Given the current prohibition on assisted dying under English law she has decided that if her treatment for stage four lung cancer does not improve her condition she may just ‘buzz off to Zurich.’
Read more >>Charlie Gard, Alfie Evans and Indi Gregory: finding the hope
Indi Gregory was not simply another tragic case of a very poorly infant nor the latest case of another contentious end-of-life court case, though her case was the latest in a line of cases where courts sided with doctors against the wishes of parents. Indi was a beloved child, and everyone involved in her care wanted the best for her. The problem was they disagreed on what was best. Unfortunately, it is likely that there will be similar cases in the future which is why it is fruitful to reflect on attitudes and principles underlying decision making in these heart-breaking cases.
Read more >>The family – the basic building block of society (part two)
In the first part I wrote about the situation of families that do have children. However, have you thought recently about how old the population looks when you go out onto the street? This is not just because people are living longer. Where are the prams, pushchairs and babies? Pope Francis has talked about how we are moving towards a “demographic winter”.
Read more >>Crisis of Faith in Justice: A British Catholic’s Courageous Struggle for Freedom in Hong Kong Trial
A devoted Catholic and British citizen finds himself on trial under China’s sweeping national security law in Hong Kong, all for standing up for the promises made by the UK.
Read more >>Transparency, capacity and the nature of palliative care – the case of Sudiksha Thirumalesh
In the majority of cases patients and their families trust their doctors. However, there is a growing number of high-profile cases hitting the media where patients, and especially the parents of very young and very poorly infants, simply do not agree with their doctors. Significantly, these cases are where the life of the patient is at stake and doctors believe that it is better to withdraw or withhold treatment and allow the patient to die ‘with dignity’.
Read more >>Human Rights – on the 75th Anniversary of the UN Declaration
“Following the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10th December 2023, Bishop Stephen Wright from the Department for Social Justice of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales issued a brief explanation of the Christian origins of human rights and a reflection on the state of human rights at the current time. Bishop Stephen writes:
Read more >>Property, prudence and rent controls
According to the Catechism: “Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it” (paragraph 1806). Some would argue that it is the pre-eminent virtue necessary in those areas of public policy that pertain to economic issues.
Read more >>When the AI tool has a name and the embryo a number
CHLOE is not only a popular girls name. CHLOE is also the name of a new AI-based decision support tool in use in a handful of fertility clinics. Developed by the Israeli company Fairtility, “Cultivating Human Life through Optimal Embryos” (CHLOE) has been promoted as a tool to, in the words of the company, help improve IVF outcomes by helping to determine the likelihood of an embryo becoming a viable pregnancy. CHLOE is used to monitor and analyse embryos so that embryologists can make ‘better decisions’ on which embryos to implant. The AI tool has been clinically tested on over 50,000 embryos and works by grading and giving a score to an embryo based on an algorithm. The AI tool has a name, CHLOE, the human being at his or her early stage has a number, is analysed, graded, and given a score for quality.
Read more >>The right to life as the foundation of all rights
This article is an abridged version of a speech delivered at the annual dinner of the Pro-Life Campaign in Dublin in 2023
75 years ago, in 1948, as the world emerged from the horrors of the Holocaust and the second of two World Wars, enlightened leaders crafted two hugely important international documents, the Convention on the Crime of Genocide and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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