Bioethics Public Policy Report: July 7, 2026
State by State
Following the decision rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court in Chiles v. Salazar and an appeal in an Oregon state court in Canepa v. Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists, the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists has notified the court that it has withdrawn its disciplinary action against a Catholic counselor who did not affirm his client’s same-sex relationship due to his religious beliefs. NCBC submitted an amicus brief for Chiles v. Salazar, which can be found here. For further information, click here.
Federal Courts
The Supreme Court has upheld state laws that bar biological males from competing in women’s sports, with the majority decision stating that the state laws violated neither the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment nor Title IX. Significantly, the majority cited the biological differences between men and women as relevant to whether the laws were reasonable. To read the opinion, click here. For further information, click here.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) for making false and unsubstantiated claims to parents and guardians about sex-rejecting surgeries and procedures for minors, such as that such surgeries and procedures are “lifesaving.” NCBC submitted a public comment to the FTC identifying related sources of misinformation, which can be found here. For further information, click here.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne against New York, where the sisters have challenged a state law requiring biological men and women to be housed together for their hospice care program. For further information, click here.
Catholic Charities of Ingham, Eaton & Clinton Counties has filed a lawsuit against Michigan alleging discriminatory policies that deny it state funding based on its views on the sanctity of human life. For further information, click here.
National
The DOJ has referred Major League Baseball to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for investigation following allegations of religious discrimination against San Francisco Giants players for writing Bible verses on “Pride Night” caps they were forced to wear. For further information, click here.
The DOJ’s Religious Liberty Commission released its draft report with recommendations for strengthening Americans’ religious freedoms. To read the draft report, click here. For further information, click here.
International
Canada’s Combatting Hate Act was passed by a vote of 45–13 which, among other things, removes a longstanding exemption for good-faith religious practice. For further information, click here.
Homeschooling parents in Brazil were sentenced to 50 days in prison for “intellectual neglect” for failing to include gender ideology in their daughters’ curriculum. For further information, click here.
In the United Kingdom, there are plans to reintroduce the assisted suicide bill, entitled the “Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill,” to the British Parliament. Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool expressed his deep disappointment on the reports of the plans to reintroduce the bill. For further information, click here and here.
The Netherlands released a report indicating that a child under the age of 12 was euthanized last year, just two years following recent changes to Dutch law on assisted suicide. There will be an investigation into the legality of the case. For further information, click here.
In Spain, a bill passed in the lower house of the legislature that, if signed into law, would ban “conversion therapy.” Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of Orihuela-Alicante has denounced the bill as “persecution” of Catholics who struggle with same-sex attraction attempting to live chastely. For further information, click here.
Of Note
In an audience with the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation, Pope Leo XIV stated, “No doctor should ever allow himself, on the basis of laboratory algorithms, to decide on the life of an embryo or of an elderly person,” emphasizing that “[m]edicine must never become a servant of programmed death.” For further information, click here.
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