COLUMBUS, Ohio – Citing the prospect of a more favourable Supreme Court, Ohio legislators have passed a ban on abortions once an unborn child’s heartbeat can be detected.

It’s a question that elicits conflicting opinions from constitutional lawyers who oppose euthanasia and assisted-suicide. They are divided on whether passing Bill C-14 without further amendments is preferable to no bill at all. The Supreme Court has given the government until June 6 to pass a law.

OTTAWA – Pro-life MPs are accepting that the battle against assisted suicide is one that can’t be won, but are looking at ways they can help implement protections for vulnerable people.

WASHINGTON – The American religious nonprofits challenging their participation in the contraceptive mandate under the Affordable Care Act agreed with a U.S. Supreme Court proposal that such coverage be provided through an alternative health care plan without involving the religious employers in a legal brief filed with the court.

The Supreme Court ruling that legalized assisted suicide last year didn’t just find a technical problem in the wording of the Criminal Code. It said that Canadians have a right to ask for and receive state-sanctioned aid in killing themselves under certain circumstances.

VANCOUVER - Vancouver physicians have carried out Canada’s first known case of assisted suicide outside of Quebec.

The federal government has been given four more months to come up with new laws and regulations to govern the practice of doctor-assisted suicide.

OTTAWA - The Criminal Code, the Supreme Court and even the Pope uphold that a parent is entitled within reasonable limits to spank a child. But on the heels of a call by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to prohibit spanking, the Liberal government has promised to amend the Criminal Code to abolish a parent’s right to physically discipline children.

OTTAWA - As Ottawa petitions the Supreme Court for a six-month extension to draft an assisted suicide law, Quebec has implemented its controversial euthanasia legislation pending a decision by the province’s Court of Appeal.

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered a Ten Commandments monument removed from the state Capitol grounds June 30, three years after its installation sparked a religious feud.

CANTERBURY, England - Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Anglican Communion, has expressed deep concern about the stress that the Episcopal Church’s vote on gay marriage might cause to some in the 80 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion.

MANILA, Philippines - The predominantly Catholic Philippines, a former U.S. colony for 50 years, is not likely to recognize same-sex marriage despite its legalization in the United States.

WASHINGTON - In a landmark ruling, a divided Supreme Court June 26 said same-sex marriage is constitutional nationwide.

OTTAWA - For the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada, there is no debate about euthanasia and assisted suicide.

OTTAWA - As the federal government prepares to begin consultations in order to draft euthanasia and assisted suicide legislation, the archbishop of Ottawa issued a pastoral letter that called on people to support a culture of life.