Bioethics Public Policy Report: September 15, 2026
State by State
Maine’s supreme court upheld a custody order preventing a mother from taking her daughter to church with her due to the father’s objections. The court ruled that, since parental rights are shared between the parents, the court did not err in ruling in favor of the father. The mother plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. For further information, click here and here.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has sued Mayday Health, a New York abortion activist organization, for advertising chemical abortion drugs in the state, alleging a violation of the state’s Consumer Protection Act. For further information, click here.
A Catholic group has launched a campaign against Virginia’s radical Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment in advance of elections this November where Virginians will decide whether to adopt the amendment to the state’s constitution. For further information, click here.
Federal Courts
A student has petitioned to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Locke v. Davey, a 2004 decision which allowed states to restrict state-funded scholarship programs for religious studies. For further information, click here.
A federal district court judge in Texas paused Texas and Florida’s lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) until December 1 or whenever the FDA finishes its review of the chemical abortion drug mifepristone, whichever comes first. For further information, click here.
Cardinal Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago, joined with Catholic nuns and a pharmacist, has filed suit against Illinois to block enforcement of the “End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients” Act, which requires healthcare providers to inform terminally ill patients of how they can kill themselves via physician-assisted suicide. For further information, click here.
The Supreme Court denied an emergency petition by a Catholic mother who sought to enjoin a school to allow her child to attend school while she challenges the state’s vaccination requirements. Earlier this year, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a similar challenge to state law. For further information, click here.
National
Religious leaders met with the U.S. Department of Justice to discuss strategies for protecting houses of worship across the nation, following a rise in attacks on churches and religious practitioners. For further information, click here.
international
France’s Constitutional Council has carved out conscience protections for Catholic pharmacists and hospitals that object to the nation’s new assisted suicide law. For further information, click here.
In light of recent attempts to expand surrogacy, Poland’s bishops have issued a statement condemning the practice as “evil and incompatible with the Christian faith and morality,” calling on legislators to prevent the practice in the nation. For further information, click here.
The Catholic Church is weighing legal challenges against another Indian state’s anti-conversion law, as similar laws have been enacted in various states throughout the nation. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a statement calling for India to be held accountable for its violations of religious liberty. For further information, click here and here.
Of Note
Pope Leo XIV has warned of the dangers of entrusting matters concerning human life to artificial intelligence and called “for rigorous controls and sometimes even for a slowdown in the adoption of AI” to ensure the good of the human family. For further information, click here.
The Vatican has named Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly a member of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life. For further information, click here.
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