Free Republic

Assisted dying cases would no longer have to be signed off by the High Court under changes suggested by the bill's supporters. The proposed law currently says a High Court judge must check each person is eligible and has not been coerced into making the decision to die. But BBC News has been told Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the bill, will suggest replacing this with a panel of experts who would oversee applications. It comes after concerns were raised over the court's capacity to hear each individual case.

She then decided to cite the Ten Commandments, and the lack of a specific reference to abortion, to defend it “It’s not mentioned in the Big Ten, I’m just gonna say. In the Big Ten, it is not mentioned… Cause I figure, God was pretty clear. Here’s the stuff that will make your life better on earth. Don’t lie, cause you don’t want people lying to you. Don’t mess with somebody’s wife, cause you’re going to be made if they’re messing with yours. Just, you know, common sense stuff

Over four in 10 American Christians believe the Bible is “ambiguous” on abortion, according to the Cultural Research Center of Arizona Christian University.The findings, released Tuesday, are part of the CRC's American Worldview Inventory 2020 survey.Conducted by CRC Director of Research George Barna, a noted evangelical pollster, the report found that 44% of respondents said they believe the Bible “is ambiguous in its teaching about abortion,” while 34% said “abortion is morally acceptable if it spares the mother from financial or emotional discomfort or hardship.”Barna said in a statement that the findings on opinions about abortion were part of a...

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis is amplifying his opposition to capital punishment, saying it's an offense to life, contradicts God's plan and serves no purpose for punishment. In a video message to an anti-death penalty congress in Norway, Francis declared: "The commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' has absolute value and applies both to the innocent and to the guilty." Francis has gone beyond his predecessors and traditional Catholic teaching in saying there is simply no justification for the death penalty today. He said Tuesday that rather than rendering justice, it fosters vengeance. Church teaching allows for recourse to capital...