Weekend Wrap for 11 July 2021

Catholic doctors are being urged to support George Christensen’s “nonsensical” abortion bill, leading to concerns medical professionals could impose their religious beliefs on patients. (The Guardian)

A report looking into mainstream media's coverage on people who are transgender has highlighted that News Corp publications feature stories about transgender people much more often that their rivals, and that reports in The Australian newspaper between April and October 2019 framed transgender people and issues negatively 90 per cent of the time. (Out in Perth)

Conservative Lyle Shelton has started a petition urging the ABC to stop “indoctrinating [children] into gender fluid ideology” after they screened a video for ABC Kids featuring iconic Aussie drag queen Courtney Act discussing gender. (Junkee)

QLD: A new law that requires priests to report to police any information about child sexual offences heard during confession came in to force on July 5, after passing through the state parliament with support from both major parties last September. All adults will have a legal duty to report sexual offending against children to police, unless they have a reasonable excuse for not doing so. (Catholic Leader)

NSW: A same-sex married couple claims they were discriminated against and had to leave their leadership roles and a paid job at a small church in northern NSW after being told they would need to separate, be celibate and receive religious counselling if they were to continue in their positions. (SMH)

NSW: Four years after a similar bill failed to pass the NSW parliament, independent MP Alex Greenwich will launch a bid to legalise voluntary assisted dying in the state. (The Rural)

NSW: Sydney MP Alex Greenwich’s voluntary assisted dying bill will permit religious-run hospitals and aged care homes to refuse to offer it on their premises in a bid to soften the Catholic Church’s staunch opposition to the laws. (SMH)

NSW: A spokesperson for FamilyVoice Australia has rejected Sydney MP Alex Greenwich’s concession to permit religious-run hospitals and aged care homes to refuse to offer VAD, calling it a "fake olive branch," stating that the bill takes NSW another step closer to being a "killing state". (FamilyVoice Australia)

NSW: A former member of multi-million dollar Sydney megachurch C3 has spoken about attempting suicide twice after undergoing two years of "extremely traumatic" conversion therapy to turn him straight. (Daily Telegraph)

VIC: The Australian Christian Lobby have defended their pamphlets on the recently passed Change or Suppression (Conversion) legislation after state Attorney-General Jacklyn Symes described them as “hurtful, harmful and wrong". (ACL)

NT: Conservative MPs will resist Coalition senator Sam McMahon’s push to overturn a ban on euthanasia in the Northern Territory, with one MP labelling assisted-dying laws passed by the states as “monstrous”. Senator McMahon wants to end a 24-year-old federal law which prevents the NT parliament from implementing its own assisted-dying policy, leaving euthanasia in the hands of Canberra. (The Australian)

ACT: It's been revealed that ACT Liberal Senator Zed Seselja was “not keen” to include the ACT in Sam McMahon's territory rights bill, which would allow the two territories to legislate on voluntary assisted dying. (RiotACT)

TAS: LGBTI advocates say that much progress has been made in the state, but that further legislation is needed, particularly in order to protect children. (The Advocate)

VIC: Members of the Boroondara community have supported a push by Councillor Victor Franco to replace a Christian prayer recited in council meetings with a more inclusive opening ritual. Along with the RSA, the NSL was also actively involved in raising support on this issue. (RSA)

NSW: The Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship of Australia are holding a series of talks at public meetings across Sydney over the next month on the dangers of legalising assisted suicide and euthanasia, and what people can do in response to the latest push in NSW. (Catholic Weekly)

The NSL's Brian Morris writes on the inaccuracy of the data on religion collected by the ABS in the census and the corrupting effects this has on funding and policy in Australia. (Australian Independent Media Network)

Alastair Lawrie commemorates the "unhappy milestone" of it being 1,000 days since Scott Morrison first committed to ending discrimination against LGBT students by religious schools, saying ‘We do not think that children should be discriminated against,’ with still no action. (alastairlawrie.net)

Paul Gregoire muses on the "archaic agenda" of the Religious Discrimination Bill. (Sydney Criminal Lawyers)

The Rationalist Society of Australia (RSA) is calling for changes to the proposed national curriculum to include greater recognition of the contribution of non-religious Australians. In a submission to the Australian Curriculum Review, the RSA warned that the current curriculum “fails to acknowledge the existence, let alone the relevance” of the fast-growing non-religious section of society. (RSA)

Humanists Australia CEO Heidi Nicholl comments on why it's important for people with non-religious worldviews to mark 'No Religion' in the coming census. (Census21 - Mark No Religion)

Dr Kevin Donnelly, senior research fellow at the Australian Catholic University and editor of Cancel Culture, writes on the right of religion to play a role in Australian politics. (Catholic Weekly)