| *Overview *Links *Issues- embryonic reduction,experimentation on human beings, organ donation, premature babies, non-tainted vaccines |
BIOETHICS is the science which hopes
to
provide ethical answers to the questions which the rapid advance of
medical
and research technologies pose regarding the value of human life and
the
need to protect it from exploitation.
Unfortunately the ethical standards of bioethicists vary from pro-life
as is Nicholas Tonti-Filippini, to "ethicists" who use a
utilitarian
viewpoint to see a place for infanticide and euthanasia such as Peter
Singer.
This is because the discipline of bioethics has split into two
schools of thought. One understood the sanctity of human life; the
other valued not humanity, but “personhood” — arguing that humans only
become people when they have certain rational or cognitive capabilities.
Catholic medical ethicists are bound by the Church's respect for human life from conception until natural death.
"The Church is not the enemy of medicine or true science. But, science must be at the service of the human person and not vice versa. Even little human beings, indeed the tiniest human beings, must not be converted into mere means or 'stuff' even for the benefit of other human beings, even suffering human beings" Mons. William B Smith on fetal tissue experiments .( p. 72 Homiletic and Pastoral Review Nov 2000)
"The progress of humanity must be measured not
only by the progress of science and technology, but also and chiefly by
the primacy given to spiritual values and by the progress of moral
life.
So it is deplorable [that] legitimate pluralism is often confused with
neutrality of values.In the name of misunderstood democracy, people
think
they can increasingly do without ethical norms, and... the moral
categories
of good and evil in public life....It is as if knowledge and
scientifioc
research stretched out toward the infinite, only to snap back to their
origins. The old problem of the connection between science and faith
has
not become outdated with the development of modern sciences; on the
contrary,
in a world more imbued with science, [faith] manifests..vital
importance.
.. both parties must continue listening to eachother." Pope John Paul
II
Nov 15, 1980 quoted in Ossservatore Romano Nov 24 1980.
In Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul 2 talks of a conflict in modern society between a "culture of life" which respects the digintiy of each and every person without exception, and a "culture of death" which says that only some lives have value, and that others can be killed.
"(W)e are facing an enormous and dramatic clash between good and evil,death and life,the 'culture of death' and the 'culture of life'... (W)e are all involved and we all share in it, with the inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life"Pope Paul 2 Evangelium VitaeThe basis of all pro-life thought for Catholics and many other Christians is that human life begins at conception, with the fusion of the egg and sperm, and is therefore to be protected. God gives every baby a soul. This remains true no matter what circumstances, ideal or otherwise, surround the conception. Sometimes the conception comes from an immoral act, but still that unborn human once conceived, has the right to live. Sometimes the methods used by science are not licit because they do not respect that individual life. See quote by Pope John Paul 11
See also CHARTER FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS by the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance, for an Catholic overview of bioethics regarding abortion, euthanasia, IVF and all issues of caring for life.
The Catholic Church is involved in making statements on these sorts of issues e.g..
Declaration by the Pontifical Council for the Family regarding "Embryonic reduction" . "'Embryo reduction' constitutes selective abortion, for it consists in the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being" (John Paul II, Encyclical Evangelium vitae, n. 57). "Therefore, whether it is willed as an end or used as a means, it must be said that "embryo reduction" always constitutes a grave moral disorder" (John Paul II, Encyclical Evangelium vitae, n. 62). "Since we are dealing with a truth that can be grasped by reason alone, the unlawfulness of this conduct is a valid norm for everyone, including non-believers "(John Paul II, Encyclical Evangelium vitae, n.101). "The moral prohibition remains even when continuation of the pregnancy jeopardizes the life or health of the mother and the other siblings. For it is not lawful to do evil even in order to achieve something good" (John Paul II, Encyclical Evangelium vitae, n. 58).
Fetal Reduction: Good Medicine or Atrocity?Nancy Guilfoy Valko"Research or experimentation on the human being cannot legitimate acts that are in themselves contrary to the dignity of persons and to the moral law...Experimentation on human beings is not morally legitimate if it exposes the subject's life or physical and psychological integrity to disproportionate or avoidable risks. [nor] if it takes place without the informed consent of the subject.."Catechism of the Catholic Church 2295
Pope John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae, (n. 15), stated: "Nor can we remain silent in the face of other more furtive, but no less serious and real, forms of euthanasia. These could occur for example when, in order to increase the availability of organs for transplants, organs are removed without respecting objective and adequate criteria which verify the death of the donor."
"It is morally inadmissable directly to bring about the disabling mutilation or death of a human being, even in order to delay the death of other persons." CCC 2296Organ donation:
Since the time of Pope Pius XII, the Church has explicitly stated that transplants are licit based upon the principle of fraternal charity, but only when certain requirements are met. Remembering that the end does not justify the means, these requirements include:
1) The necessity of informed consent legitimately given by the donor or one who speaks for him.
2) The physical and psychological risks incurred by the donor must be proportionate to the good sought for the recipient. The donor must be aware of these risks and the proportionate good. (eg. live donors may allow bone marrow transplants but not eye transplants or organs absolutely necessary for life.)
3) To destroy the healthy functioning or intrinsic beauty of one’s body, even to delay death of another, is morally wrong.
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:
Organ transplants are not morally acceptable if the donor or those who legitimately speak for him have not given their informed consent. Organ transplants conform with the moral law and can be meritorious if the physical and psychological dangers and risk incurred by the donor are proportionate to the good sought for the recipient. It is morally inadmissible directly to bring about the disabling mutilation or death of a human being, even in order to delay the death of the other persons (2296).Vatican, Feb. 03 (CWNews.com) - Pope John Paul II has given his encouragement to organ transplants, while calling for more precise means of establishing that the donor is dead before vital organs are removed. Catholic physicians and moralists have been engaged in a sharp debate in recent years over the question of determining the death of a potential organ donor. If vital organs are removed before death has occurred, moralists point out, then the doctors performing the transplant are causing the death of the donor. "Brain death is not death," said Dr Paul Byrne, former president of the Catholic Medical Association in the US.
In a brain-dead patient, "the heart beats, the body is warm, vital organs like the liver and kidney are functioning and there is respiration, albeit supported" by a mechanical ventilator, he said during a Feb. 3-4 2005 meeting sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The life of the patient is supported with a ventilator. The ventilator moves air (oxygen) into the lungs. The ventilator only moves the air. Most other machines are mainly sensing and displaying information coming from the living body. Exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide occurs in the lungs and throughout the body via circulation. The heart is beating without the aid of technology or medication. There is a recordable blood pressure. When the knee is tapped, a knee jerk can be present. Color is normal, but when pressure is applied to the skin, it will blanch. Color will return to normal within a few seconds after pressure is removed.Organs at normal body temperature vary as to how long they can withstand absence of circulation and respiration until damage is severe enough to make them unsuitable for transplantation. Without circulation, the heart and liver are damaged in about 3-5 minutes; kidneys, in about 30 minutes. For organs to be useful for transplantation, circulation and respiration are required until a short time before removal of the organs. Thus, it is a beating heart that is excised for transplantation.
The key to the debate is the definition of "brain death"-- a term for which there is no universally accepted definition. In order for a doctor to know with moral certainty that "complete and irreversible cessation of all brain activity" has occurred, the patient's circulation and respiration would have to cease sufficiently that the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brain stem would be destroyed. That is, the doctor would have to know not only that the brain had lost all function, but that it could never recover function.
Post-mortem donations- All must take great care that these are done when it is absolutely certain the donor has died.
(Abuses of this kind allegedly occur in China- 28 Jun2001 news reports included a Chinese doctor who defected to the U.S.seeking asylum. He and others are testifying how in China the harvesting and selling of organs, such as kidneys and corneas, by executing prisoners is commonplace and he personally witnessed patients still breathing whose organs were removed. This practice is also mentioned in p. 66-68 "East Wind, West Wind" by Fang Xiangshu and Trevor Hay {Penguin Books 1992})
Even those society may see as having little consciousness or usefulness, such as anencephalic infants or the severely disabled, may not be used as a source of organs while alive, even with the consent of their carers, because the church upholds their dignity as humans and their right to life.
After death, tissues, e.g., corneas, heart valves, bone, skin and connective tissues may still be useful for transplantation. Note that these are tissues, not organs, and may be taken only after death because excision of these would otherwise cause mutilation or death.
Organ donations and Catholics links 1 , American Life League topic "end of life care" for why the ban on heart or lung transplants, 3 article by Dr Paul Byrne MD president Catholic Medical Association
Nancy Valko 'Ethical Implications of Non-Heart-Beating Organ Donation ' http://www.wf-f.org/02-3-OrganDonation.html
"Nonheart beating organ donation" and the "vegetative state"George Isajiw March 20, 2004
http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/isa/isa_03nonheartbeating.html
"Organ donors wanted "dead' or 'alive'" by Corinne Levy http://www.bioethics.net/articles.php?viewCat=7&articleId=160
Catholics and Organ Donation http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=1147
Address of Pope John Paul II to the XVIII International Congress of the Transplantation Society" August 29, 2000 ( search site by date until you find the address)
"Are Organ Transplants ever morally licit?: a commentary on the address of Pope John Paul II to the XVIII International Congress of the Transplantation Society" by Bishop Bruskewitz, Bishop Vasa, Walt Waever, Dr. Paul Byrne, Rochard Nilges, and Joseph Siefert in Catholic World Report, March 2001
Premature babies
"It may happen, in the case of premature birth, that this independence is not fully reached. In this case health care workers are obliged to assist the newborn child, making available to it all the conditions necessary for attaining this independence.
If, despite every effort, the life of the child is at serious risk, health care workers should see to the child's baptism according to the conditions provided by the Church. If an ordinary minister of the sacrament is unavailable—a priest or a deacon—the health care worker has the faculty to confer it."[92] CHARTER FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS by the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance
Tiny "Miracle Baby" Had the Will to Live
Source: Associated Press; May 26, 2002Rome, Italy -- A healthy 3 1/2-month-old girl who came into the world weighing just 285 grams (just under 10 ounces) spent her first full day home from the hospital Saturday, and her doctors said they believe she is one of the tiniest human beings on record to live so long.
Doctors at Careggi hospital in Florence sent the "miracle" baby home Friday weighing two kilograms (4.4 pounds), saying she has a nearly 100 percent chance of enjoying a normal life.
"She really had the will to live, she was strong and lively," Margarita Psaraki, the pediatrician on the baby's medical team, said Saturday. "She was immediately lively, active. This helped us to help her."
Doctors said that at the parents' wishes, they were identifying neither the baby nor the parents, who live near Florence. The medical team nicknamed the girl "Pearl."
The baby was delivered by Caesarean section in early February during the 27th week of pregnancy. At that stage of prematurity, some babies do survive, but they have weighed much more at birth.
"We were completely taken aback. The weight is usually double that" at the 27th week, said Psaraki.
At birth, "she was 25 centimeters (10 inches) long. But that's when she was stretched out. Normally babies curl up and then she would fit right into your hand."
Her mother was allowed to nurse when the baby reached 700 grams (1.53 pounds).
Before that, the mother was only allowed to caress her child after donning sterile gloves.
"Her skin was so thin," said Psaraki, adding that the baby "was struggling to breathe" and had to be intubated at the beginning.
Doctors said that they asked a company to design special instruments, such as tubing, to help care for the baby because she was so small.
The parents, while shying away from publicity, wanted their baby's story told to inspire hope in other parents, doctors said.Psaraki said the baby's survival "is an absolute record."
A low birth weight is considered to be 1.1 kilograms (2.5 pounds) and under.American Life League has an article on Varivaxa chicken-pox vaccine, and Maruvax II, for rubella. Both vaccines were generated through the use of fetal tissue obtained through surgical abortion. While fetal tissue harvesting and research are widely discussed, a more insidious moral dilemma remains unmentioned: the use of fetal tissue obtained from abortion and used to generate vaccines. Is it morally licit to use such vaccines? This issue demonstrates the moral situation is at its most extreme. Non-tainted vaccines are available and are to be preferred.
Quotable quotes:
"Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things." American philosopher Russell Baker