Weekend reading, 5/20/16: on Zika, tolerance, and a Canadian problem

Every Friday, I serve up three of my favorite posts from other blogs for you to read over the weekend, after you’ve caught up on Leaven for the Loaf. Have a good weekend!

Wall Street Journal: “Sisters Act Two: Back in the Habit” (wsj.com)

“As HHS works out the technical details of a new accommodation, its political instinct will be to enforce militant cultural liberalism….so why not crush the Little Sisters and their old-fashioned morals now?But better, not least for the temper of U.S. politics, to abide by America’s tradition of religious pluralism. HHS and the White House admit a more tolerant solution is possible.” Read the rest of the post.

Simcha Fisher: “That death may march in the shade” (aleteia.com)

(Editor’s note: I featured this earlier on Leaven’s Facebook page, but this post is worth sharing again.) 

“Sara Mujica of Danbury, CT is seventeen and pregnant. A pretty common story. What is unusual about her, at least in the U.S., is that she has Zika virus. She caught it in Honduras, where she travelled to visit her boyfriend. She started showing symptoms of the disease just after she found out she was pregnant….She says: ‘I have Decided to keep my Baby , Because it’s what God has given to me & I am taking Full Responsibility Of MY Actions &  I do NOT believe in Abortion so I would never do that.’

“The Giant Internet Hand of Spanking sprang into action and declared that Mujica is an opportunist, a liar, a cheat, a fraudster, a hypocrite, and of course a slut and a whore….Most of all, she should get an abortion. She must get an abortion. They could easily forgive her for all her missteps, as long as she makes the only responsible choice now.” Read the full post.

Margaret Dore: Canada has a problem as it tries to codify assisted suicide (alexschadenberg.blogspot.ca)

(Editor’s note: After a pro-assisted-suicide decision by Canada’s Supreme Court, the nation’s lawmakers are attempting to make laws to codify the decision. Dore,  an attorney and anti-euthanasia activist, warns that what’s under consideration violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.)

“People who sign up for assisted suicide or euthanasia do not necessarily intend to go through with it. Maybe it was somebody else’s idea, maybe they were ambivalent or maybe they signed up ‘just in case’ things get bad. A patient can also change his or her mind. There are many people, including heirs, who can benefit from a patient’s death. If the patient was tricked, objected or struggled, who would know? [This] bill is a response to the Canadian Supreme Court decision, Carter v. Canada, which envisioned a ‘carefully designed and monitored system of safeguards.’ The bill has no such system.” Read the rest of the post.