The Pill, when chosen strictly for these contraceptive purposes, fails the test of being healthcare because it does not heal or restore any broken system of the human body. On the contrary, it actually breaks a smoothly working system — the reproductive system — by disrupting the delicate balance of hormonal cycles regulating a woman’s reproductive well-being and fecundity.
Read More…Questions about vanity lead to similar concerns about modesty. Modesty in its essential meaning involves the decision to not draw undue attention to ourselves.
Read MoreRegardless of whether we might or might not be able to manifest consciousness at a particular moment (as when we are asleep, under anesthesia, in a coma, or growing at early timepoints in utero), our humanity is still present and deserving of unconditional respect.
Read MoreSuicide hotlines are open 24 hours a day because we seek to prevent as many deaths as we can. We treat as heroes those who walk along bridges or climb tall buildings and try to talk people down.
Read MoreWeighing benefits and burdens is at the heart of the question of starting, continuing or stopping dialysis.
Read MoreThe true measure of the greatness of a society will always be in terms of how it treats its weakest members, and the authenticity of our own love will be measured by our compassion and acceptance of the disabled and the powerless.
Read MoreUpon fusion with a sperm, however, the egg qua egg no longer exists, and an embryo, a human being at the earliest stage of his or her existence… will be simultaneously engendered and launched onto the trajectory of ‘growing up,’ representing a new entity that can live for more than a hundred years.
Read MoreWhen should we place a loved one on a ventilator? The answer depends on whether the use of a ventilator in a particular case can be considered ‘ordinary’ or ‘extraordinary.’
Read MoreBy spiritually embracing in God that specific path to death, our freedom is elevated to new heights; indeed, we “achieve control” in the most important way possible, through willed surrender and radical gift in our innermost depths.
Read More…when we sort out the relevant details and seek to purify our own motives, and when we become willing to submit to the binding character of absolute moral prohibitions, the gray haze can dissipate, and we can see the real moral lines that were there all along.
Read MoreCritics of every persuasion quickly condemned the HHS mandate as a particularly egregious violation both of religious freedom and the rights of conscience.
Read MoreAt times, then, our justifications for avoiding a pregnancy may merit further reflection and scrutiny on our part.
Read MoreA sexual ‘test drive’ mentality is essentially exploitative in nature, reducing a potential spouse to someone who is easily replaced by a ‘better’ model. When we take a car for a test drive, and don't like it, we can just return the keys and move on to the next model. But people are not cars that we can just exploit and cast aside.
Read MoreA husband and wife are called to give themselves to each other completely and unreservedly, and to accept each other unconditionally in the marital embrace. Every child of theirs, whether entering the world with a handicap or not, is an expression and fruit of themselves and their acceptance of each other.
Read MoreBecause the recommendations of the committee relate to important aspects of human behavior and sexuality at formative ages for children and adolescents, parents need to look at the psychological and social messages they might be conveying by choosing to vaccinate their children against HPV.
Read MoreShe wondered whether it would still be allowable for her to engage in marital relations with her husband after the vasectomy. When one spouse is involved in this so-called ‘abuse of matrimony,’ the other is placed in an awkward situation
Read MoreNot much reflection is needed to realize the serious injustice involved in forcefully ‘crystallizing’ another human being. The freezing and thawing process itself subjects embryonic humans to significant risk, and up to fifty percent of embryos do not survive the process.
Read MoreThe physician's boldness and unflagging concern for his patient played an important role in bringing Christ into a situation where His healing graces were needed, where even the priest alone probably could not have succeeded.
Read MoreEven if we have genes that predispose us towards certain behaviors, we still have a space of freedom within ourselves, and do not have to engage in those behaviors. Our genes may impel us strongly in certain behavioral directions, but they can't compel us.
Read MoreThe fact remains that the Catholic Church to date has expressed no official doubts about brain death, emphasizing instead that a health care worker can use neurological criteria as the basis for arriving at ‘moral certainty’ that death has occurred.
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