There is a proposal on the ballot in Mississippi that would say human life begins at conception. If the measure passes, every fertilized human egg in Mississippi would be defined as a person, and that could make abortion, for any reason, murder.

Clinics in India pay poor women a lot of money to be surrogate mothers, but "the contracts are usually written to protect the wealthy people who are commissioning the baby," says ethicist Arthur Caplan.

Watch excerpts from 2008 and 2012 GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul’s June 3, 2011 speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition in Washington.

Watch excerpts from potential GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman Jr.’s June 3, 2011 speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition in Washington.

Doctors and patients make health care decisions, says Dr. Bruce Silva of the Sierra Vista Regional Health Center, "but then it has to be okay'd by someone else who puts their belief systems and their ethics on me and on my patients."

Watch a panel of reporters discuss the most significant religion and ethics news of 2009.

"Abortion is a health service, " says Rev. Debra Haffner, director of the Religious Institute. "Abortion is a morally objectionable activity," says Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life.

Watch more of Kim Lawton’s interviews with Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, and Rev. Debra Haffner, executive director of the Religious Institute.

The conference of bishops overwhelmingly approved a statement on faithful citizenship, urging Catholics to rely on church teachings as they shape their political conscience. The document lists a host of issues Catholics should care about, including poverty, healthcare, immigration, and housing. But the bishops placed special priority on opposing abortion and euthanasia, which they called "intrinsic evils."

Forty-six states have what are known as "conscience clauses" that allow health care workers the right to refuse to perform abortions. What concerns many women and men is that several states are now debating legislation that would expand these clauses to include not only abortion but emergency contraceptives as well.