Authors

Katherine Drabiak, JD, is a Professor at the University of South Florida College of Public Health and College of Medicine. She is also Co-Director of the Law and Medicine Scholarly Concentration Program at USF’s Morsani College of Medicine. Drabiak’s teaching and research is focused in health law, public health law and medical ethics. Drabiak has authored numerous law review articles and her scholarship has appeared in a variety of other journals including the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics; Bioethics; Clinical Ethics; and popular media outlets. She is currently a member of Advent Health’s Medical Ethics Committee and has worked with the Florida State Bar Association, the Hillsborough County Bar Association, the 13th Judicial Circuit, and the Florida Department of Health. https://katherinedrabiakjd.com/
satanic ritual altar, pentagram with candles beside it.

The Satanic Temple Asserts Medication Abortion is a Religious Right

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By Katherine Drabiak

In February 2023, The Satanic Temple (TST) opened a telehealth clinic that offers free screening, virtual appointments, and medication abortion prescriptions by mail for pregnant women seeking an abortion. Currently, TST offers the services only to patients in New Mexico, but it plans to expand into other states.

Over the past several years, TST has filed lawsuits in multiple states, including Texas, Indiana, and Idaho, directly challenging those state laws that restrict abortion. TST is an IRS-recognized religion that denies the authority of God and describes its mission using seemingly benevolent and unassuming terms. TST alleges that abortion restrictions in certain states interfere with the ability to obtain a medication abortion and argues that abortion is a protected religious right.

Is there any merit to this argument? This is a complex legal area involving telehealth, abortion laws, and determining what actions fall under religious freedoms.

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Concept illustration for changing laws: a pencil sketches half of the scales of justice.

Human Rights Report and Age of Consent for Sex Laws

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By Katherine Drabiak

Recently, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) published a report advocating for significant revisions to criminal law, such as decriminalizing prostitution; intentional transmission of HIV; and purchasing and possessing drugs for personal use. Most notably, the report also calls to reexamine laws relating to consensual sexual conduct involving children under the age of majority and people with disabilities who ordinarily cannot “consent.”

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Baby shoes.

Infants Born Through Surrogacy Contracts Cannot Be Canceled or Returned

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By Katherine Drabiak

Recently, media reported that Zheng Shuang, a popular Chinese actress, commissioned two surrogates with boyfriend Zhang Hang, and then allegedly decided, seven months into the pregnancies, that she did not want to become a parent and questioned the possibility of abortion or adoption.

Zhang asserts that he has been caring for the infants in the U.S. for more than a year after Zheng abandoned the infants. Zheng has not addressed the allegations directly, and multiple facts remain unclear.

This case, and other rare similar cases, raise the question: If intended parents initiate an agreement with a gestational surrogate to create a child, can they also terminate the agreement – and pregnancy – if they no longer want the resulting child?

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