Tag: Catholic bioethics

Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: Catholic Hospitals and “Gender Reassignment” for Minors?

by Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D., for the National Catholic Bioethics Center Are providers performing “gender reassignment” surgeries on minors? In October of 2024, a group known as “Do No Harm” released the Stop the Harm Database (STHD), a searchable internet resource that comprehensively catalogs sex change treatments performed between 2019-2023 on minors in healthcare facilities throughout the… Continue reading Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: Catholic Hospitals and “Gender Reassignment” for Minors?

Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: The Ethics of Abortion Statistics

by Joseph Meaney, PhD, KM, for the National Catholic Bioethics CenterJanuary 7, 2025America deserves the truth when it comes to abortion statistics. I recently attended a meeting/retreat for pro-life lawmakers and organizations in Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania. One of the speakers pointed out that the USA has abysmally bad official abortion statistics. The states… Continue reading Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: The Ethics of Abortion Statistics

Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: Ethical Challenges Surrounding Uterine Transplants

by Joseph Meaney, PhD, KM, for the National Catholic Bioethics CenterOctober 8, 2024Transplanting the Womb: A Catholic Bioethical Analysis, by Andrew S. Kubick, PhD, provides a thorough analysis of the ethical ramifications of uterine transplants from the Catholic tradition’s perspective as well as secular viewpoints. Many readers will be surprised that this is a medical… Continue reading Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: Ethical Challenges Surrounding Uterine Transplants

Saving Premature Babies is Now Possible Earlier than Ever. Why are so Many Hospitals Declining to Treat?

Many Parents are Dealing with Impossible Situations When her water broke at 22 weeks, Fatima Goines was told by doctors to prepare for the death of her premature daughter. She was delivering at the Methodist hospital in Minneapolis. There, Goines’ doctors told her that once her baby was born, she could hold her until she… Continue reading Saving Premature Babies is Now Possible Earlier than Ever. Why are so Many Hospitals Declining to Treat?

Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: The Bioethics of Ballot Initiatives

by Joseph Meaney, PhD, KM, for the National Catholic Bioethics CenterOctober 8, 2024 The Bioethics of Ballot Initiatives There are 26 US states that allow citizen-initiated ballot measures, and they often center on ethically charged issues like abortion, assisted suicide, or even legalizing recreational marijuana. 2024 saw a record 10 state ballot initiatives concerning abortion… Continue reading Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: The Bioethics of Ballot Initiatives

Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: Lesser Evil in Voting

by Joseph Meaney, PhD, KM, for the National Catholic Bioethics CenterOctober 8, 2024 Choosing the Lesser Evil in Voting On his flight back from his recent pastoral visit to Asia, Pope Francis had an informal in-flight press conference.  An American journalist, Anna Matranga, from CBS News, tried to draw a moral equivalence between supporting abortion… Continue reading Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: Lesser Evil in Voting

Announcement from the National Catholic Bioethics Center: New Symposium to Address Challenging Questions about Brain Death

NCBC Announces New Symposium on Brain Death Questions The National Catholic Bioethics Center recently announced their new symposium to discuss questions about the ethics of brain death. The new symposium is called “Integrity in the Concept and Determination of Brain Death”, and it will be taking place on 2/28/2025. Read their press release from 10/1/2024… Continue reading Announcement from the National Catholic Bioethics Center: New Symposium to Address Challenging Questions about Brain Death

Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: MAiD in Canada Hits a Tragic Milestone

by Joseph Meaney, PhD, KM, for the National Catholic Bioethics CenterSeptember 24, 2024 A Tragic Milestone Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) is the official term in Canada for euthanasia that was legalized in 2016. The number of people dying at the hands of a doctor or even nurse practitioner there has grown every year and… Continue reading Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: MAiD in Canada Hits a Tragic Milestone

Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: A False Charge Against Catholic Healthcare

by Joseph Meaney, PhD, KM, for the National Catholic Bioethics CenterJuly 29, 2024 The Catholic Vision of Healthcare The Catholic vision of healthcare is one of respecting the dignity of the person and addressing all the needs of patients; physical, psychological, and spiritual. The healthcare ministries of the Church strive to heal the sick but… Continue reading Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: A False Charge Against Catholic Healthcare

Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: “Let’s Avoid the Term ‘Vegetative State’”

François-Léon Benouville, Christian Martyrs Entering the Amphitheatre, 1855.

by Joseph Meaney, PhD, KM, for the National Catholic Bioethics CenterJuly 15, 2024 Examining the Term “Persistent Vegetative State” The term Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) is commonly used to describe patients who are brain-injured and in a wakeful but unconscious state. Ethically, it is highly problematic and even pejorative to refer to living human beings… Continue reading Lessons in Catholic Bioethics: “Let’s Avoid the Term ‘Vegetative State’”