Posts in Essays on Ethics
The Bioethical Priorities of Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV in the short time since his election has already expressed himself forcefully on several bioethical topics. Unsurprisingly, he emphasizes the human dignity of every person with special attention to the most vulnerable, notably the unborn, elderly, and sick. He has also brought up the challenge of artificial intelligence several times. Prior to his election as pope he spoke clearly on the ethical problems associated with gender ideology and the “homosexual lifestyle.”

View Full Post
Restorative Reproductive Medicine: An Ethical Approach to Fertility

Of very deep concern to my wife and I, along with the nearly one in seven couples who struggle with infertility, is the woeful lack of knowledge about restorative reproductive medicine (RRM) among medical professionals and others who almost always promote in vitro fertilization (IVF) instead. The good news is that something practical and positive is being done about it. This Spring, the state of Arkansas became the first to pass into law the “Reproductive Empowerment and Support Through Optimal Restoration RESTORE Act.”

View Full Post
Referral as Formal Cooperation with Evil

Something often misunderstood by secular thinkers is that faithful Catholics and others with rightly formed consciences can never engage in formal cooperation with the evil actions of another person. Recently, a court in Illinois ruled that “if patients request abortions, at a minimum, the State can require medical professionals to provide information of other medical professionals whom they reasonably believe might perform abortions.”

View Full Post
The Bioethics of De-Extinction

The new pastoral framework from the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life, “Life Is Always a Good” was released on the 30th anniversary of Pope St. John Paul II’s remarkable encyclical Evangelium Vitae.De-extinction, using genetic technology to bring back to life an extinct species, is now a possibility, and the bioethical questions surrounding this practice are therefore more urgent. Colossal Biosciences made headlines with its “resurrection” of the dire wolf recently after an estimated 10,000 years of extinction.

View Full Post
Integrity in the Concept and Determination of Brain Death Recent Challenges in Medicine, Law, and Culture

The recent symposium on brain death organized by The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), The Center for Law & the Human Person at the Columbus School of Law of The Catholic University of America (CUA), and the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University achieved a remarkable successThe Church has moved uncharacteristically rapidly in issuing an important doctrinal note, Antiqua et Nova, concerning Artificial Intelligence or (AI).

View Full Post
Bishop Burbidge Writes against a Federal IVF Mandate

Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia released a pastoral letter entitled “The Christian Family, In Vitro Fertilization, and Heroic Witness to True Love” (January, 2025). In a relatively short text, it treats in a compassionate but authoritative way the thorny and misunderstood topic of in vitro fertilization (IVF).

View Full Post