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1. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
William L. Saunders Washington Insider
2. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Sherif Girgis The Wrongfulness of Any Intent to Kill
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Germain Grisez’s philosophical argument for respecting human life has been developed by fellow new natural law (NNL) theorists and applied to a range of lethal actions, for its conclusion is vast: intending the death of any human being as a means or an end is wrong in itself. For some Thomists, the NNL view on killing is both lax and rigorist: They consider it lax because its narrow criterion for what is “intended” leaves out some acts, especially ones related to abortion, that the critics consider murder. And they consider the NNL view rigorist insofar as it apparently rules out the death penalty, contrary to the Thomistic tradition and perhaps even heretically. However, the most salient philosophical arguments for exceptions to the principle against intending anyone’s death are weaker than the case for any given premise of the contrary NNL argument. Nevertheless, some NNL theorists’ arguments on life are unsound, some can be defended better than they have been, and some nonphilosophical objections based on theological authority require more exploration.
3. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Christopher Tollefsen Terminating in the Body: Concerning Some Errors of Action and Intention
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The New Natural Law (NNL) theory offers a distinctive account of the nature of intention and human action and, accordingly, of what aspects and consequences of a human agent’s performance should be considered outside the intention (praeter intentionem). In part, the distinctive features of the account follow from a methodological decision to consider human action from the perspective of the agent of that action, the first-person agential standpoint. This theory of action and intention has nevertheless been subject to considerable criticism. The view is held by many to be too first-personal and to provide inadequate “constraints” on what an agent intends when his performance will inevitably and foreseeably be accompanied or followed by states of affairs in which individuals are harmed.
4. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
E. Christian Brugger St. Thomas’s Natural Law Theory
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Fifty years of debate have strengthened Germain Grisez’s 1965 interpretation of St. Thomas Aquinas’s famous article on the natural law in Summa theologiae I-II.94.2. Revisiting Grisez’s argument in light of these developments reveals that his “gerundive interpretation” of the first principle of practical reason is not only Thomistic, but essentially Aquinas’s interpretation.
5. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Melissa Moschella Sexual Ethics, Human Nature, and the “New” and “Old” Natural Law Theories
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The major difference between “new” and “old” natural law approaches to sexual ethics is that for new natural law theorists the moral evaluation of sex acts is always determined with reference to that basic form of human flourishing which is called marriage; old natural law theorists determine the morality of sex acts also (or primarily) with reference to the natural purpose of the sexual faculties. Ultimately, the old approach relies implicitly on prior value judgments to distinguish biological facts that are axiologically or morally relevant from those that are not. It also appeals to values to ground the wrongness of immoral sex acts. In its pure form, the old natural law approach to sexual ethics lends itself to a misunderstanding of the unitive aspect of marriage. More broadly, an accurate understanding of new natural law does not run afoul of the correct interpretation of “nature” in natural law.
6. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Daniel Mark New Natural Law Theory and the Common Good of the Political Community
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Some critics question new natural law theorists’ conception of the common good of the political community, namely, their interpretation of St. Thomas Aquinas and the conclusion that the political common good is primarily instrumental rather than intrinsic and transcendent. Contrary to these objections, the common good of the political community is primarily instrumental. It aims chiefly at securing the conditions for human flourishing. Its unique ability to use the law to bring about justice and peace and promote virtue in individuals may make the common good of the political community critically important. Nevertheless, it is still not an intrinsic aspect of human flourishing. Unlike the family or a religious group, membership in a political community is not an end in itself.
7. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Patrick Lee God and New Natural Law Theory
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New natural law theory (NNLT) holds that the basic moral principles are prescriptions to pursue the goods to which our nature orients us. Since God is the author of our nature and intelligence, these moral principles are part of his plan for creation. These principles can be known prior to knowing that God exists and prior to knowing that they are in fact directives from him. Nevertheless, since God’s plan includes our active cooperation, morally good acts cooperate with God’s providence, and morally bad acts substitute one’s subjective preference for God’s truth. Thus natural law principles direct us to a unified ultimate end, namely, the fulfillment of God’s plan. Therefore God and our relationship with him have a central place in NNLT.
8. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 13 > Issue: 3
Rev. Stoeppel Anthony, Rev. Pablo Requena, MD Organ Donation Is Not Mutilation: The History of an Erroneous Idea
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The moral debate on living-donor organ transplantation (LDOT) historically focused on how to overcome the problem of the mutilation inherent in such a medical operation. In time, theologians began proposing justifications of LDOT that assumed that “mere removals” did not constitute mutilation. The example of mutilation as an “intrinsically evil act” in Veritatis splendor would seem to have closed the debate. Nevertheless, many theologians continue to address LDOT as a question of justifying a mutilation. The authors provide a brief summary of the major contributors before and after Veritatis splendor to show that confusion still exists, and then propose new approaches to help resolve this important bioethical issue. National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 13.3 (Autumn 2013): 427–436.
9. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 13 > Issue: 3
Vince A. Punzo Alzheimer’s Disease, Tube Feeding, and Prudential Judgment
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The rate of individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. As more attention is paid to end-of-life care for these patients, questions about the use of assisted nutrition and hydration will become more prevalent. Two recent articles that discuss the use of ANH in patients suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s disease are discussed. The author argues that Pope John Paul II’s designation of medically assisted nutrition and hydration as “ordinary care” does not alleviate the ethical necessity of discerning the benefits and burdens of the procedure for these patients. He argues that tube feeding of patients with advanced Alzheimer’s disease should be considered extraordinary, non-obligatory treatment, but future research is still needed to assess the objective and subjective criteria for making this judgment. National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 13.3 (Autumn 2013): 469–482.
10. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 13 > Issue: 3
Matthew Heffron Providing Health Care to Patients against Their Will
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Obtaining a patient’s informed consent to treatment is an ethical, legal, and professional requirement based on the defense of human dignity. In some cases, however, a government may mandate treatment for patients without their consent if their failure to obtain treatment could endanger the common good. Such a need may arise, for example, in public emergencies, with cases of tuberculosis, and with patients who have mental health issues. May a Catholic health care professional or institution ethically provide treatment to patients who resist or refuse it? The author replies with a qualified yes. Legally mandated treatment may be given without a patient’s consent so long as the treatment is necessary to protect the lives of others, it is limited strictly to what is necessary to protect others, and the principle of subsidiarity applies. National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 13.3 (Autumn 2013): 483–498.
11. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 13 > Issue: 3
Thomas Finn Social Science and Same-Sex Parenting
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It has become a commonly accepted claim that children of homosexual parents fare as well as children of heterosexual parents. The author investigates the social science research to establish the accuracy of this claim and discovers sampling errors, invalid comparison groups, questionable outcome measures, and insufficient power. The author then examines a study by Mark Regnerus, which finds that children are most likely to succeed as adults if they spend their childhood with their married mother and father. The only scientifically proven conclusion that can be reached is that children who are raised by their married biological parents have the healthiest developmental outcomes. Claims that outcomes for children of same-sex parents are no different from outcomes for children of married parents have not been scientifically proved. National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 13.3 (Autumn 2013): 437–444.
12. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 13 > Issue: 3
Richard M. Doerflinger Washington Insider
13. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 13 > Issue: 3
John Skalko If Food and Water Are Proportionate Means, Why Not Oxygen?: Comparing Food and Water by Tube to the Use of Ventilator Support
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Providing food and water, even by tube, is in principle an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made that clear in its August 1, 2007, statement on the matter. However, a pressing question remains: What about oxygen? Food and water are necessary for life. Is not oxygen equally necessary? So why did the CDF not also declare the use of a mechanical ventilator to be in principle an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life? Conversely, if the use of a ventilator is extraordinary means, then why is the artificial provision of food and water proportionate means? Is there an inconsistency here? The author argues that there is not. National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 13.3 (Autumn 2013): 453–467.
14. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 13 > Issue: 3
Robert L. Kinney III, PharmD The Duty of the Homosexually Inclined Physician: Disclosure before Care
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The last several years have been marked by a seemingly increasing numbers of individuals with homosexual inclinations. There are consequences to society-wide increases in disordered dispositions, and this paper presents one such consequence. Patients often enter the physician–patient relationship basedon the physician’s “sexual preference.” In order to avoid sexual misconduct from a physician, patients often choose physicians that are not inclined to be sexually attracted to the patient. It is often assumed that a patient can infer a physician’s sexual inclinations by his or her gender, but this is not the case. Due to the inability to determine a health care professional’s “sexual preference” by their gender, a physician has a duty to disclose this information prior to care. National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 13.3 (Autumn 2013): 445–450.
15. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 13 > Issue: 3
Edmund F. Haislmaier The Complexities of Providing Health Insurance
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Societies have an obligation to ensure that their citizens have access to health care, but there are disagreements over how this system should be structured. The most contentious issue centers on the morality of specific therapies or actions. In this essay, the author examines the influence of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on private employer health plans. He concludes that the Church’s teaching on the inherent dignity and worth of every human life should be the guiding principle for assessing the relative merits of differing approaches to constructing a comprehensive and equitable system for financing and delivering medical care. The patient’s conscience should be primary. National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 13.3 (Autumn 2013): 419–426.
16. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 13 > Issue: 3
Pope Francis Address to a Meeting Organized by the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations: September 20, 2013
17. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 13 > Issue: 4
William L. Saunders Washington Insider
18. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 13 > Issue: 4
Francis Beckwith On Making the Case for Life: St. Peter’s Counsel to Always Be Ready
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In Evangelium vitae, Pope John Paul II writes that the culture of death is the consequence of society embracing a “positivist mentality.” Given both where the Church is culturally situated as well as her call for a New Evangelization, this article offers a critique of positivist mentality that attempts to draw out of its advocates the natural law that is “written in the heart.” This critique includes an analysis of the article “After-Birth Abortion: Why Should the Baby Live?” authored by Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva and published in 2013 in the Journal of Medical Ethics. National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 13.4 (Winter 2013): 601–609.
19. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 13 > Issue: 4
Mathew Lu Contraception, Abortion, and the Corruption of Medicine
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The Obama administration’s HHS mandate to force Catholic and other religious organizations to provide insurance coverage for morally objectionable practices has been the source of a great deal of controversy. While the religious liberty question has received the most attention, the mandate reveals a yet deeper problem in the mainstream acceptance of contraception and even abortion as normal parts of medical practice. The author argues that these practices constitute a deep corruption of medicine itself, away from its original meaning as a kind of restorative justice grounded in a substantive understanding of the human good and toward a formalist emphasis on preference satisfaction and patient autonomy. National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 13.4 (Winter 2013): 625–633.
20. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: Volume > 13 > Issue: 4
Luke Murray Craniotomy versus Lethal Self-Defense
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It can be confusing to define the object of an action because it may be unclear if there is a per se or a per accidens order to the end. Three common difficulties in distinguishing between these are that the per se ordering must be either in the nature of the end or in the act, that this ordering to an end is a real and not merely a logical one, and that technology has a tendency to ignore the teleology of natures by breaking things down to their parts for manipulation. Having drawn these distinctions, craniotomy is then compared to lethal self-defense. National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 13.4 (Winter 2013): 611–616.