RESUMO
Every single human being who has ever been conceived has come into existence precisely because God wants him or her to exist. The present article offers psychological and spiritual considerations to assist people who, in a variety of settings, are evaluating medical-assisted technologies that require the removal of gametes from the body, especially those procedures that involve the buying and selling of gametes. Gamete "donation" is a misnomer when the transactions involve cash payment. Gamete "donation" is contrasted with the "self-donation" that a married couple makes to each other, and by extension to their children, in the marital embrace. The article draws out some of the implications of this contrast, particularly to the child's sense of identity. Particular attention is drawn to the mistakes and mix-ups that can occur when the gametes are removed from the body, which would be literally impossible under the circumstances of natural procreation. I conclude that the perennial teaching of the Catholic Church makes a uniquely humane and personalist contribution to the important public conversation about the use of assisted reproduction.
RESUMO
The debate regarding the morality of heterologous embryo transfer (HET) as a solution for the fate of cryopreserved embryos remains active. This paper endeavors to show that the magisterial instructions on bioethical issues can only lead to the conclusion that HET is always morally illicit. I begin by showing that the text of Dignitas personae recognizes HET as a procedure accomplishing a procreative function, and I indicate that it is through gestation that this procreative function occurs. I further show that the previous Instruction, Donum vitae, implicitly points to an ontological or spiritual consideration at play during gestation. This consideration is likely related to the procreative function identified in Dignitas personae. Finally, I place these two textual arguments in the context of the debate concerning HET and conclude that metaphysical questions must be clarified in order for the immorality of HET to be understood from a suitable anthropological perspective and gain more widespread acceptance.
RESUMO
... The moral status -- and specifically the controversial issue of personhood -- is related to attainment of developmental individuality... This contrasts with the view that holds that personhood occurs earlier, at the point of genetic uniqueness. I believe that an embryo that has developed to the point where it can be one individual and one individual only, differs in moral status from a preembryo that has not, even if in many cases we may choose to treat them similarly... In view of the conviction that the preembryo is not yet a person and that its statistical potential for becoming such is small, it is not clear that nontherapeutic experiments can be excluded in principle. However, because the preembryo does have intrinsic potential...the preembryo should be treated as a person... Any exceptions from the prima facie duty to treat the preembryo as a person should be based on criteria established at the national level....
Assuntos
Início da Vida Humana , Catolicismo , Pesquisas com Embriões , Embrião de Mamíferos , Desenvolvimento Embrionário e Fetal , Individualidade , Vida , Obrigações Morais , Pessoalidade , Política Pública , Religião , Pesquisa , Responsabilidade Social , Teologia , Aborto Induzido , Experimentação Humana , Direitos Humanos , Humanos , Experimentação Humana não Terapêutica , Estados UnidosRESUMO
The general struggle throughout Christian history has been to seek the proper balance between dominion and limits, intervention and nonintervention, givenness, and creativity. This struggle has worked itself out in six areas that touch human life. In this essay, I will revisit the Catholic tradition's treatment of these in terms of dominion and limits to see whether we can discern developmental patterns that might suggest an approach to issues pertaining to the sources of life (reproductive ethics) as we move into the next century.
Assuntos
Catolicismo , Reprodução , Valor da Vida , Aborto Induzido , Temas Bioéticos , Bioética , Pena de Morte , Humanos , Religião , Sexualidade , Teologia , GuerraRESUMO
In the discipline of Catholic moral theology, bioethics (traditionally described as medical ethics) has held a major place. The systematic development of bioethics has drawn principally upon a natural law ethic, supported by broader religious arguments. The purpose of this essay is to examine the status and role of natural law in Catholic teaching as it bears upon bioethics.
Assuntos
Bioética , Catolicismo , Ética , Diversidade Cultural , História , Religião , Valores Sociais , TeologiaRESUMO
KIE: Mori gives an overview of biomedical ethics in Italy in one of four Hastings Center Report country reports. Public policy on issues like in vitro fertilization, sterilization and abortion, passive euthanasia, and organ transplantation reflects the declining influence of the Catholic Church and the increasing cultural pluralism of Italian society. The government has appointed advisory bodies on reproductive technologies and AIDS to study the issues and make recommendations. Bills regulating technologies such as in vitro fertilization or liberalizing restrictive laws such as those on contraception are introduced regularly in Parliament, if not always enacted. Mori concludes that general interest in and formal study and discussion of biomedical ethics is increasing in Italy. He sees a danger that the field of bioethics will develop a dual identity, with little progress made in resolving the issues, unless serious dialogue between Catholics and non-Catholics increases.^ieng