Making Sense of Bioethics: Column #217 : Poking the Hornet’s Nest of IVF

IVF involves at least two major moral problems —the ‘collateral damage problem’ and the ‘intrinsic problem.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationMarch 29, 2024Artificial Insemination, Embryos, Frozen Embryos, Imposing Our Beliefs, Infertility, In Vitro Fertilization, Law and Ethics

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 174: The Foxes and the Henhouse

There are few, if any, ‘bottom lines’ when it comes to research ethics. The lines have become exceedingly flexible, if the price is right or if a particular political administration wants to redraw them.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationDecember 30, 2019Genetics and Genome Editing, Imposing Our Beliefs, Law and Ethics, Science and Religion, Universal Morality, Cooperation in Evil, Research

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 170: Contradictory Suicide Messaging

The moral outrage and public reaction to Michelle’s behavior reveals a striking irony at the heart of Conrad’s suicide, namely, that similar indignation about encouraging someone to commit suicide is almost entirely absent when it comes to “physician-assisted” suicide.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationAugust 30, 2019Law and Ethics, Suffering, Universal Morality, Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 169: An Authentic Democracy

Even as we benefit from the blessings of liberty, we can fall prey to erroneous conceptions about the meaning of freedom, as the rights of some begin to be subtly elevated over the rights of others.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationJuly 30, 2019Abortion, Imposing Our Beliefs, Law and Ethics, Voting and Ethics

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 164: “Exceptions” and the Undermining of the Moral Law

Encouraging exceptions is the entry point into a broader repudiation of our moral duties towards each other, the first of which is the duty to respect the inviolability of each other’s life.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationFebruary 28, 2019Abortion, Law and Ethics, Universal Morality

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 161: Abortion Funding — Cutting off the Blood Supply

Approximately half a billion dollars of taxpayer money is received annually by Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of ‘pregnancy terminations’ in the United States.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationNovember 30, 2018Abortion, Imposing Our Beliefs, Law and Ethics, Universal Morality, Voting and Ethics

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 158: Can We Pay Others to Donate a Kidney

At the end of the day, we want people to become organ donors, not organ vendors.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationAugust 30, 2018Law and Ethics, Organ Donation

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 156: The Smoke over Medical Marijuana

…medical marijuana seems to be receiving “special status” and is being “fast-tracked” for legalization, when it should instead be subject to the standard scientific verifications of the FDA approval process to assure its efficacy and safety.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationJune 30, 2018Addiction and Substance Abuse, Law and Ethics, Universal Morality, Voting and Ethics, Alternative Medicine, Drug Abuse

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 153: The Wrong-Headedness of “Wrongful Birth” Lawsuits

At its core, the idea of a ‘wrongful birth’ claim is unreasonable and ethically incoherent.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationMarch 30, 2018Law and Ethics, Abortion, Parenting, Disabilities and the Disabled, Pregnancy Complications

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 148: When Is It a Sin to Make a Referral?

Among medical professionals, situations can arise in which they may be tempted to make a referral for an immoral procedure, supposing that because they are not doing the procedure themselves, they are now morally ‘in the clear.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationOctober 30, 2017Cooperation in Evil, Law and Ethics, Conscience and Civil Liberties

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 143: Doping Athletes

It seems fair to conclude that doping constitutes a form of cheating not only of one’s competitors, but also one's fans, oneself, and the integrity of the sporting activity itself.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationMay 30, 2017Addiction and Substance Abuse, Bodily Enhancement-Mutilation, Law and Ethics, Drug Abuse

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 108: Clearing the Air Around Marijuana Use

Part of the unethical character of drug abuse flows from the fact that we are treating something good, namely our personal, conscious experience as if it were an evil to be avoided.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationJune 30, 2014Addiction and Substance Abuse, Law and Ethics, Universal Morality, Voting and Ethics, Drug Abuse

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 095: The Morality and Wisdom of Incremental Legislation

Many commentators have observed how dramatic progress has occurred in changing public opinion on abortion in the United States in recent years because of this incremental approach.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationMay 30, 2013Cooperation in Evil, Law and Ethics, Voting and Ethics

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 092: Debating Birth Control in the Public Square

If it is true that contraception is often harmful to individuals and families, to marriage and to women’s health, then it clearly has broader public policy implications, and is, objectively speaking, not merely a “personal matter.”

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationFebruary 28, 2013Law and Ethics, Birth Control and Contraception

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 059: Procuring Organs “Over My Dead Body?”

State-facilitated salvaging of organs in the absence of explicit consent undercuts the essential character of organ donations as a gift.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationMay 30, 2010Informed Consent, Law and Ethics, Organ Donation

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 044: Verbal Engineering and the Swaying of Public Conscience

...sophisticated verbal engineering was necessary, since nobody could reasonably expect the abortion ethic to advance by saying, ‘Let’s kill the kids.’ Many things simply cannot be achieved when it is clear to everyone what is going on; obfuscation is essential.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationFebruary 28, 2009Law and Ethics, Natural Law, Universal Morality, Abortion, Birth Control and Contraception, Conscience

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 042: Germany and Italy Have Done It — Shouldn’t We?

In the United States today, we urgently need Embryo Protection Laws.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationDecember 30, 2008Infertility, In Vitro Fertilization, Law and Ethics, Embryos, Frozen Embryos

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 039: Voting to Make a Difference

One might prefer to refrain from voting altogether in these circumstances, considering that both candidates are supporting intrinsic evils in their platforms. We must exercise caution, however: abstaining from the voting booth can unintentionally lead to support for the more evil platform.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationSeptember 30, 2008Law and Ethics, Voting and Ethics

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 022: Recapturing the Soul of Bioethics

…women (and men) should never be paid for their eggs (or sperm), as we insist they not be paid for organ donations. This is done to prevent the human body from becoming “commodified” by powerful economic and market forces, and to stave off the prospect of trafficking in human parts.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationApril 30, 2007In Vitro Fertilization, Law and Ethics, Banking of Sperm and Eggs, Cloning, Embryos, Stem Cell Research, Organ Donation

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 003: “Imposing Our Beliefs” on Others

Law is fundamentally about imposing somebody’s views on somebody else. Imposition is the name of the game. It is the very nature of law to impose particular views on people who don’t want to have those views imposed on them. Car thieves don’t want laws imposed on them which prohibit stealing.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationSeptember 30, 2005Imposing Our Beliefs, Science and Religion, Law and Ethics, Conscience

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