NewsWatch

WMA: Euthanasia Isn’t Ethical Healthcare

OneNewsNow.com, 10/31/19, “WMA: Euthanasia Isn’t Ethical Healthcare” [Excerpts]: Some medical groups are unhappy with the World Medical Association and its position on doctor-assisted suicide, and the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition says the subsequent split is probably for the best.

In spite of intense pressure, the WMA has reaffirmed its position against medical professionals helping patients kill themselves. Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is pleased with the development.

The document also protects the conscience rights of physicians who object to the practice, which is important because doctors are being pressured into participating. Still, not all doctor groups are pleased.

“The Dutch Medical Association and the Canadian Medical Associations have both left the World Medical Association because they feel that the World Medical Association doesn’t represent them,” the Coalition head tells OneNewsNow. “Maybe the best thing for the World Medical Association is to have these groups leave because they were only pressuring them to do something which was wrong.”

The American Medical Association this year likewise reaffirmed its position against doctors helping their patients kill themselves, in spite of heavy pressure to change their policy.”

(http://bit.ly/2pl4tnS)

Adaption From An Engineering Perspective

Icr.org, 10/29/19, “Exploring Adaptation from an Engineering Perspective” [Excerpts]: For more than a century, biologists have appealed to Darwinian natural selection to explain how living organisms adapt to different environments. But research over the last several decades has consistently dethroned Darwin’s view of natural selection. Rather than corroborating the concept that environments mold creatures through “survival of the fittest,” the research supports the astonishing idea that to a great extent creatures actively sense their environments and adapt accordingly. 

Recent discoveries indicate that something radical and impressive is happening. Adaptation is a result of brilliant biological engineering rather than trial-and-error death and survival, which flips the mechanism of adaptation completely on its head. This approach views biological adaptation as primarily occurring through internal mechanisms (the ability to actively sense the environment and adapt) rather than external influence [natural selection].

Here are just two examples of what studies have shown:

1) Darwin’s famous finches rapidly adapted their beak shapes by sensing the environment rather than strictly through inherited genetic changes. 2) Clutches of eggs for various reptiles sense environmental temperature and sand content and produce different ratios of male and female. The changes occur after the eggs are laid and are not a result of mutations. Specific sensors for this process were discovered in 2015.

(http://bit.ly/2q7dYa4)

Surrendering To The State

WorldMag.com, 10/24/19, “Surrendering to the state” [Excerpts]: When state officials demanded U.S. foster agencies place children with same-sex couples, Catholic agencies refused. Bethany Christian Services, an evangelical organization with offices in 35 states, did not.

Finding homes isn’t always easy, and state and local governments often contract with private agencies, including Christian groups, to recruit foster care families.

But earlier this year, the Christian groups faced a government ultimatum: accept applications from same-sex couples for foster care and foster care adoption or lose the legal right to conduct foster care in Michigan. The Catholic group refused. Bethany complied.

St. Vincent fought the Michigan mandate, citing the Catholic group’s religious beliefs.... On Sept. 26, a Michigan court ruled in the agency’s favor:

Will Thompson, who had served on the [Mississippi] Bethany board for years, said.... “Our whole point was that we’re not going to be defined by the culture,” he said. “We’re going to be defined by what we feel are Biblical principles having to do with family, marriage, and child-rearing.”

Other local board members agreed, and they unanimously decided they didn’t want to continue an official affiliation with Bethany. Officials from the national headquarters in Michigan agreed to release the Mississippi branch.

(http://bit.ly/2WtxPwa