Bioethics Public Policy Report: May 28, 2025
STATE By State
A Florida appeals court struck down a state law that allows minors to obtain abortions without parental consent. The court found that the law violated the parents’ Due Process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, citing Florida’s parental rights law. For further information, click here.
In South Carolina, the state supreme court upheld the state’s heartbeat law, which prohibits abortion after six weeks. The decision found that the law “bans abortion — unless an exception applies — when electrical impulses are first detectable as a ‘sound’ with diagnostic medical technology.” For further information, click here.
In Georgia, a pregnant woman who suffered brain death was kept on life support to keep the unborn child alive, with the hospital citing to the LIFE Act as its reason for doing so. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr issued a clarification on the law, stating that the pro-life law would not apply in a case like this such that the hospital or family members of the woman would be prosecuted. Ethicist Joe Zalot of the National Catholic Bioethics Center also stated that removing life support “without the direct intent to kill her unborn child” would not constitute a direct abortion under these circumstances. For further information, click here and here.
In Missouri, a referendum will be on the ballot in 2026 to repeal the abortion amendment to the state constitution which was enacted during the national elections in November of 2024. Instead, if the referendum passes by a majority of voters in 2026, abortion will again be rendered illegal in the state. The referendum was passed through HJR 73, which will go to Gov. Mike Kehoe’s desk to sign, though it will appear on the ballot even if he does not sign the bill. For further information, click here.
In Delaware, Gov. Matt Meyer signed into law House Bill 140, the Ron Silverio/Heather Block End-of-Life Options Act, which makes physician-assisted suicide legal in the state. The law will go into effect January 1, 2026, or whenever final regulations are created for the law. For further information, click here.
In New Jersey, the state appeals court rejected a challenge to the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act, passed in 2022 right before the overturn of Roe v. Wade, citing that the law was properly passed in the state. The challengers had asserted that the law was improperly rushed through the legislative process at the end of the legislative session and that it sought to create a constitutional right to abortion through ordinary legislation. For further information, click here.
In Illinois, the Senate Executive Committee passed a bill that, if further passed and signed into law, would allow pharmacists to dispense ulipristal acetate, known as Ella, without a prescription. Ella is an emergency contraception, and a recent study showed that it could serve as a substitute for the chemical abortion drug mifepristone. To track the bill, click here. For further information, click here and here.
Federal Courts
The Alliance Defending Freedom, representing California pro-life pregnancy centers, has filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the centers’ right to inform patients of abortion pill reversal via progesterone. The appeal comes after the federal district court denied the centers’ motion to enjoin censorship under California state law, which considers advertisements of such treatments to be fraudulent. For further information, click here.
A Colorado Christian camp has sued Colorado for its licensing requirements that include a requirement allowing access to facilities such as bathrooms, dorms, and the like according to a person’s gender identity. The camp, which had initially asked for an exemption from the regulations, is suing on the basis that the regulations violate their religious beliefs. For further information, click here.
A New York federal court ruled in favor of a Christian photographer from a law that requires “equal access to publicly available goods and services” based on sexual orientation. The photographer had objected to photographing a same-sex wedding on religious grounds, and the court found that her services were “expressive activity protected by the First Amendment.” For further information, click here.
A federal court judge in Louisiana struck down Biden-era regulations regarding the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which would have required employers to provide employees with accommodations for abortion. For further information, click here.
national
The House of Representatives is moving to repeal the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act in a bill sponsored by Rep. Chip Roy of Texas. The Senate version of the bill was introduced by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah. The move comes after the Biden administration utilized the FACE Act to prosecute pro-life activists after the leak of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision in May of 2022, which would go on to overturn Roe v. Wade. To track the bills, click here and here. For further information, click here.
The reconciliation budget bill passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 215–214, and now it goes to the Senate. Called President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” among other things, it will defund Planned Parenthood and end reimbursements for transgender drugs or surgeries prescribed to minors, all while advancing pro-family policies. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a statement applauding the efforts of getting the bill passed. To read the bishops’ statement, click here. For more information on the budget reconciliation process, click here. For further information, click here.
·U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review the regulation and labeling of the chemical abortion drug mifepristone. The review comes following a study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center which found that more than one in ten women suffered from serious health complications from its usage. To read the study, click here. For further information, click here.
·The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is investigating a hospital for potential violations of the conscience rights of ultrasound technicians in abortion procedures. HHS stated that the investigation “is part of a larger effort to strengthen enforcement of laws protecting conscience and religious exercise.” For further information, click here.
President Trump named Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, and Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana to the Religious Liberty Commission established on May 1. For further information, click here.
Gas stations are beginning to carry levonorgestrel, termed the “morning-after” pill, across the country. The move comes as pro-life states have been limiting access to abortion, which resulted in abortion clinics in pro-life states closing down. The abortion clinics also provided contraception. For further information, click here.
international
In Australia, Catholic Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart is promoting the “Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity,” which sets forth fundamental Christian ethics regarding human sexuality. To read the interdenominational document, click here. For further information, click here.
In Italy, the Constitutional Court found that civilly married lesbians who had a child by in vitro fertilization (IVF) could both be legally recognized as the parents, even though one of them is not the biological mother. For further information, click here.
of note
Pope Leo replaced Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who turned 80 years old on April 20, with Cardinal Baldassare Reina to head the Pontifical Theological Institute John Paul II for Marriage and the Family. For further information, click here.
Pope Leo also gave an address recently pointing out the unique problems faced by the youth today. He pointed out “the isolation caused by rampant relational models increasingly marked by superficiality, individualism and emotional instability; the spread of patterns of thought weakened by relativism; and the prevalence of rhythms and lifestyles in which there is not enough room for listening, reflection and dialogue, at school, in the family, and sometimes among peers themselves, with consequent loneliness.” To read the address, click here.
The USCCB issued an updated preface to “Create in Me a Pure Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography.” The update comes at the tenth anniversary of the document, and it addresses the matter of pornography with respect to increasing social isolation and the rise of artificial intelligence. To read the updated version, click here. For further information, click here.
The Charlottle Lozier Institute compiled a report that suggest that abortion rates continue to rise following the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. For further information, click here.
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The National Catholic Bioethics Center website is a significant resource for bioethics information. NCBC bioethicists are also on call for consultation twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, at 215-877-2660.
Justin Corman
Justin Corman is a guest editor at the NCBC, and a student at Ave Maria School of Law.