In this issue of Ethics & Medics, Colten Maertens-Pizzo investigates the personalistic epistemology of St. John Henry Cardinal Newman as a tool to resolve bioethical disputes. First laying out the writings of those engaging in the debate over embryo adoption to show how intuition can affect one’s argument, Maertens-Pizzo then uses Newman’s principles of formal and informal inference, as well as notional and real apprehension, to argue that such intuitions may have a greater significance than we give them credit. Maertens-Pizzo concludes with a call to investigate these intuitions more deeply, and to use Newmans’ philosophy to do so.
Acceptance of physician-assisted suicide is increasing in the Western World. Already a deeply concerning trend, the movement has turned its focus to individuals with developmental disabilities. This article specifically addresses the pressure on aging members of the Down syndrome communities to accept PAS instead of quality treatment and personal care. It raises concerns about presumed competence in the medical community which assigns understanding of difficult concepts like PAS to individuals who likely cannot fully comprehend.
It has long been common practice to turn over unclaimed bodies to the medical community for educational purposes. However, the decision to allow one’s body to be used for such purposes is a personal moral decision, not one that should be made by a third party based on whether one has available next-of-kin. This article makes the case against automatic transferal of so-called unclaimed bodies, arguing that such laws infringe on human dignity.
In this issue of Ethics & Medics, Chiara Creaghan explores the complexities of cooperation with evil for labor and delivery (L&D) nurses. Creaghan begins her essay by laying out St Alphonsus Liguori’s understanding of cooperation along with the principle of double effect as tools to address the moral challenges faced by L&D nurses. Creaghan examines how an L&D nurse can or cannot cooperate in induction abortion, salpingectomy, and intrauterine device placement procedures. Creaghan concludes her piece by encouraging Catholic and pro-life nurses to continue working in the L&D field and appealing to the Church to provide support and guidance for these nurses.
In this issue of Ethics & Medics, Edward J. Furton, PhD, comments on the updates to Part Five of the recently released seventh edition of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. Furton highlights the use of more precise language regarding treatment of pain in palliative care, extraordinary means of care in cases of Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders, and moral certitude in determination of death and organ donation, among other topics. Furton concludes the essay with a review of which questions remain unsettled and with a call for further ethical discernment.
In Fall of 2025, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published and disseminated the seventh edition of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. The new edition updates several directives, giving new and often more specific direction on the many challenges facing Catholic health care workers and organizations. This article examines Part Four of the seventh edition. The author focuses on a few specific changes, their need in modern health care, and their implications for Catholic health services.
Questions related the procurement of organs for transplant after death determination. The main methods of determining death are cessation of circulatory and respiratory function, and what is known as death by neurological criteria or brain death. This article discusses the concerns and pitfalls of both methods, focusing mainly on occurrences of spontaneous resuscitation after declaration of death.
Hundreds of thousands of embryos currently sit in cryopreservation. The status of these embryonic humans remains in a morally distressing state of limbo. In this article, the author discusses the moral implications of this situation, as well as the options available (and unavailable) to us to resolve the issue.
In March of 2020, the USCCB made the difficult decision to discontinue the public celebration of Mass due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the necessity of this move has been hotly contested ever since, the nation is need of a serious and measured assessment of what was learned during this time. In this article, the author approaches the question with a balanced, analytical eye with the goal of putting in place a logical plan of action in the event of a similar pandemic in the future.
This essay is an excerpt from a presentation given in Kerala, India, on March 29, 2025. In this section, the author discusses the degradation of Catholic values in Catholic health care settings. Several explanations are offered, as well as a call for Church leadership to meet these challenges with authority and authenticity.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a new policy statement regarding medical, philosophical, and religious exemptions to compulsory vaccination requirements for school attendance. The AAP recommends removing all non-medical exemptions. This paper explores the objections to this recommendation from various perspectives. Ultimately, it criticizes the manner in which the AAP suggests immunization goals be achieved and encourages others to object to the recommendation.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released new guidance for caring for infants with Trisomy’s 13 and 18. This paper discusses the positive aspects of the guidance, as well as some of the concerning issues therein. Ultimately, the new guidance still falls short by supporting exclusive comfort care as a morally acceptable option, however, there are opportunities opened for discussion about the proper view of the real, albeit short, lives of these children.
Matteo Ricci was a protégé of St. Francis Xavier who took on the task of creating a body of writing to be used when evangelizing Confucianists in China. This book, The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, connected Aristotelian alive in Western Christianity to concepts familiar to East Asian thinkers. His contribution helped to build the Church in China. This article advocates for a deep reflection on his work, especially in light of the rampant religious suppression in China today.
Much has been discussed about the causes of mass shootings in the United States and what can be done to curb such violence. Differing opinions focus on gun control efforts and improvements in mental health provisions. This article, however, focuses in on one specific and fairly common thread in the rash of mass shootings: divorce and family breakdown. The author argues that the negative effects of family strife – especially in youth and young adults – have risen to the realm of a public health crisis and must be addressed without delay.
Hope, a theological virtue, is both a gift to be asked for and a task to be practiced. In the Catholic health care field, it is the duty of a health care worker to both embrace the hope given to us by God and to share it with the ill. The mission of healing the sick is given greater life and significance when infused with the virtue of Hope. This article explores the value of that hope and exhorts Catholic health care workers to embrace the gifts it gives.
Advancements in bioengineering continue to break boundaries previously thought impassable. Recently, these advancements have included engineered brains created to mimic the activity of both humans and animals. As with any significant advancement, there are serious bioethical concerns, not the least of which centers on questions of human dignity and personhood. This article discusses the status and moral liceity of these ‘mini brains’ and their use in scientific experimentation.
Modern clinicians face a crisis of humanity as the demands of health care continuously push medicine toward greater violations of human dignity. Consumerism, commodification, growing technological advancements, and shortages of care make the struggle to maintain a healthy mindset of care. One way to help keep focus is the formation of communities of health care providers with the objective of supporting one another in this vital mission.
The centrality of the family in decision-making is common across most of Western intellectual and legal tradition. English Common Law, as explained by Sir William Blackstone, mentions parental maintenance as obligatory under Natural Law. Catholicism has always considered the family as the cornerstone of childhood formation and with that responsibility comes a primacy of authority over the needs of their children. This article argues that this primacy, seen through the lens of the principle of Subsidiarity, gives parents the chief authority over health care decisions in cases of medical futility.
This article is a reprint of the pastoral letter published by Bishop Michael F. Burbidge on January 22, 2025.
Artificial Intelligence has been hailed by some as a providing a significant opportunity for advancement in health care information processing and provision. However, AI lacks a major component in the practice of providing medical care – a human conscience. Conscience development and protection are vital to the competent administration of medical care. As such, the formation of that conscience is a crucial part of providing health care.
