Catholic Medical Ethics: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:17, 29 May 2012

The basic principle informing the Catholic view of advances in medicine is that we may use any aid to health that preserves or restores the natural functions of the body but we may not use any means that are contrary to the nature of the body.^[1]

Examples of Licit Therapies

medicine
- pain relief
- promotion of fertility
surgery
- pain relief
- correction of injuries
- restoration of tissues, limbs, ligaments, etc.
- cosmetic surgery (so long as the cost is proportional to one's income)
- removal of cancerous growths and afflicted organs (hysterectomy [removal of ovaries], orchiectomy [removal of testicles])
blood transfusions
glasses
dentistry
hearing aids
use of adult stem cells in research and therapy
prenatal diagnosis^[2]

Examples of Illicit Actions

artificial methods of birth control: barrier methods, anti-implantation devices, tubal ligation, vasectomy
in vitro fertilization
euthanasia
abortion
cloning or other direct genetic engineering
use of fetal tissue in research and therapy
drug abuse

The Principle of Double Effect

If a particular therapy is intended to save the life of a person, it is licit, even if as a side-effect the therapy causes the death of a baby in the womb or renders the person sterile afterward.

References

↑ CCC #2288; CCC #2292.
↑
CCC 2274: Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being.
- organ donation and organ transplants
Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit, "if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an individual. . . . It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence" (CDF, Donum vitae I,2.).

[1] CCC #2288; CCC #2292.

[2] CCC 2274: Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being.
organ donation and organ transplants
Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit, "if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an individual. . . . It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence" (CDF, Donum vitae I,2.).

[3] rgan donation and organ transplants

[1]

[2]

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 == The Principle of Double Effect ==
 If a particular therapy is intended to save the life of a person, it is licit, even if as a side-effect the therapy causes the death of a baby in the womb or renders the person sterile afterward.
+== References ==
+<references />
 [[Category:Ethics]]