June 4, 2014
(BBC) – With figures showing that many people around the world die painfully due to scarce access to morphine, the World Health Organization is calling for improvements to end of life care. But even when pain medication is available, the … Read More
May 5, 2014
(USA Today) – How people approach death and near-death experiences can vary widely among cultures. Belief systems affect whether a patient asks to die at home or in the hospital, whether an individual will make decisions about final care alone … Read More
April 18, 2014
(Time) – Sure, it’s easy to dismiss people who think they can somehow cheat death with a laptop. But Terasem is a potent symbol of a modern way of life where the digital world and the emotional one have become … Read More
January 28, 2014
This year the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on at least two cases that weigh constitutional and statutory law against religious or moral beliefs. Both involve challenges to the Obamacare provision that requires for-profit companies to offer health insurance policies … Read More
January 13, 2014
The Justice Department has argued that the nuns’ group is already exempt from providing birth control under the ACA, as long as it certifies its standing as a religious nonprofit. But the Little Sisters of the Poor, represented by the … Read More
January 6, 2014
The U.S. government asked the Supreme Court on Friday not to allow Roman Catholic-affiliated groups a temporary exemption from a part of the Obamacare healthcare law that requires employers to provide insurance policies covering contraception. On Tuesday night, Justice Sonia … Read More
January 2, 2014
The Obama administration was temporarily blocked by a U.S. Supreme Court justice from forcing an order of Catholic nuns to comply with a federal requirement to provide free contraceptive coverage for employees. Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s two-sentence order will last at … Read More
December 19, 2013
With Christmas all but a week away, what better way for scientists to spend the holiday season than researching modern day cases of virgin birth? As it turns out, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found … Read More
December 10, 2013
In a health crisis, patients and families may turn to a member of the hospital staff who offers help beyond the physical aspects of medical treatment: the chaplain. With growing recognition of the role of spirituality in health care, hospital … Read More
December 10, 2013
Hospitals that serve one in six Americans adhere to Catholic doctrine that threatens the lives of patients, the American Civil Liberties Union claims in a court case filed on behalf of a Michigan woman. The ACLU is suing the U.S. … Read More
December 3, 2013
The lawsuit comes in the midst of a wave of high-profile mergers between Catholic hospitals and secular systems. The partnerships have raised questions about how care will be delivered at institutions guided by religious directives, particularly in rural areas like … Read More
October 29, 2013
Pediatricians and child abuse agencies should step in when parents’ religious beliefs keep kids from getting necessary medical care, doctors said Monday. In a policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Bioethics also said states should repeal any … Read More
October 3, 2013
Saudi Arabia is beefing up its surveillance of a deadly coronavirus in advance of Muslims’ annual pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, which is set to begin on 13 October. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS) has infected 135 people, killing … Read More
September 23, 2013
Pope Francis offered an olive branch of sorts to the doctrine-minded, conservative wing of the Catholic Church on Friday as he denounced abortions as a symptom of today’s “throw-away culture” and encouraged Catholic doctors to refuse to perform them. Francis … Read More
September 20, 2013
Pope Francis said the Catholic Church must shake off an obsession with teachings on abortion, contraception and homosexuality and become more merciful or risk the collapse of its entire moral edifice “like a house of cards”. In a dramatically blunt … Read More
August 13, 2013
As the University of Texas prepares to open its medical school in Austin in 2016, it is negotiating the delicate agreements between public university and the religiously-affiliated healthcare provider who will train its doctors. (Modern Health Care)
August 8, 2013
Still almost three-quarters of American predict that by 2050, “artificial arms and legs will perform better than natural ones.” A substantial majority also believe that by that point we’ll have cures for most forms of cancer. And fully 25 percent … Read More
July 29, 2013
What should we think when a scientist claims to have found a cell in the human body with miraculous powers that no one before has ever seen and almost no one else can even find trying to follow his directions … Read More
June 13, 2013
It is mostly secular voices who have expressed their thoughts and concerns on nanotechnology until now, but there is a lot of evidence that public views on it will be shaped by religious beliefs. For example, a 2009 survey found … Read More
June 5, 2013
The Catholic Church in America has been fined for dismissing a pregnant unmarried teacher who had used IVF. The case is seen as a barometer on the degree to which religious organisations in the United States can regulate employees’ lives. … Read More
May 8, 2013
People with advanced cancer tend to get more aggressive care at the end of life and spend more time in the intensive care unit if they receive spiritual support from their religious communities, according to a new study. (Reuters)
May 1, 2013
A major survey of religious opinion shows that large majorities of believers are in favour of legalising assisted dying. The poll, carried out by YouGov for the Westminster Faith Debates and involving nearly 4,500 people, reveals that only among Muslims … Read More
April 15, 2013
Clerics here greeted stem-cell researchers in an unusual conference at which the Catholic Church sought to show what the cardinal who organized the meeting called the “necessary union between science and faith.” Hundreds of scientists, including 2012 Nobel laureate John … Read More
April 15, 2013
Many of us have friends and relatives who have born children via IVF. But the process as described by the couples who have been through the complicated and expensive procedures, can be more than a little dismaying. (Forbes)
April 10, 2013
The Vatican on Thursday will organize a conference to promote adult stem cell research as an alternative to research using destroyed human embryos, which is considered by the Roman Catholic Church as deeply unethical and less effective. (AFP)
