SECULAR NEWS

Death with dignity should be a choice for Arizonans, too. We're happy to see that Delaware has passed a “death with dignity” bill into law. At Secular AZ, we believe that all people should be able to make choices at the end of life that eliminate needless suffering, and we've long partnered with AZ End-of-Life Options (AZELO) to attempt to get a similar bill passed here. Unfortunately, Arizonans don't have end-of-life choices because of religious dogma. A few years ago, we brought a speaker from AZELO to talk to legislators at the Capitol about how a "medical aid in dying" bill would work. One GOP representative told us, through tears, that he wished his own father could have had such a humane option when he was dying slowly and painfully of cancer. So why, then, did you vote against the bill? we asked. His response: "Because as a Christian, I know that Jesus suffered on the cross as he died for our sins, and so I believe that we, too, must all suffer like Jesus as we die." This really sums up why religious dogma should never, ever inform public policy. Read more. 

COVID is a deadly bioweapon created in a lab by foreign enemies and also pregnant women and small children should all get COVID. "Health" Secretary RFK Jr. recently declared that government agencies will no longer recommend COVID vaccines for healthy children or pregnant individuals. His sudden announcement (on Xitter, no less) bypassed the usual scientific review process. Public health experts — including the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Public Health Association's Executive Director, and chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, all of whom know a hell of a lot more about infection diseases than Secretary "I Do My Own Research and Have a Brain Worm" — are already questioning this new policy's potential negative impact on public health, vaccine confidence, and insurance coverage. Read more. 

Statistically insignificant regrets. A new 1,000-page University of Utah report on youth gender medicine confirms the safety and effectiveness of gender-affirming care, finding regret virtually non-existent. Analyzing 277 studies, this comprehensive report directly contradicts less data-driven reviews (like the discredited UK's Cass Review), emphasizing evidence over opinion. The report finds that youth gender medicine is safe, effective, and comparable to other mainstream medical treatments. (For comparison, knee replacement surgery has a regret rate of about 18%.) Despite its thoroughness, this comprehensive review has been largely ignored by mainstream media and politicians. Read more. 

Representation matters. Rep. Eli Crane, apparently a master of evasion, is thoroughly annoying his Northern Arizona constituents, especially those advocating for LGBTQIA+ rights. It seems the congressman, whose district was conveniently redrawn to be more conservative, is too busy supporting legislation his constituents deem harmful to actually listen to them. With screened town halls and unanswered calls, it appears Rep. Crane prefers to play hide-and-seek rather than engage with his dissenters. We feel your pain, Flagstaff. Read more. 

Bring'em Young: Steve Bannon and Peter Thiel use pretty pictures to push ideology on girls. If you're of a certain age, you likely remember all those teen magazines pushing fashion, makeup tips, and unrealistic body expectations on young people. Now there's a new ̶p̶r̶o̶p̶a̶g̶a̶n̶d̶a̶ ̶r̶a̶g̶ publication on the shelves for teens:Evie. But this 'zine is a bit different; it's pushing white Christian nationalist and pronatalist messaging in its glossy pages. Of course, pronatalists don’t want young women to breed because they want women to be happy and empowered in their “femininity.” Nope, it’s because the wealth of the upper class is dependent on the American system of capitalism not collapsing.... in other words, capitalism needs workers and women make workers. Read more.