Assisted Reproduction

by Brian Clowes

In Assisted Reproduction, from the Facts of Life, Dr. Brian Clowes discusses topics such as: the precursor—artificial insemination; in-vitro fertilization; option of microsurgery; ethical and moral implications; future assisted reproductive technologies; and is there a right to a child. For the Table of Contents with links to the full content of the chapter, click here...

Cloning                     

by Brian Clowes

In Cloning, from the Facts of Life, Dr. Brian Clowes discusses topics such as: therapeutic cloning; status of the human embryo; legislative proposals; stem cell research; billion dollar industry; the new eugenics and nazification of medical science; British regulations; and democracy and moral truth. For the Table of Contents with links to the full content of the chapter, click here...

Embryonic Selection and Reduction

by Angelo Serra

Embryonic selection and embryonic reduction are two expressions introduced in the practice of "technically assisted reproduction" to indicate: first, the killing of a human embryo produced in a test tube before the transfer in utero, after observations and tests indicating that it will not develop into a normal subject; second, the killing of one or more human embryos in utero when, after the transfer of several embryos, more than one develops. Read More...

Euthanasia

by Brian Clowes

In Euthanasia, from the Facts of Life, Dr. Brian Clowes discusses topics such as: definitions and types; advance directives; extraordinary or disproportionate measures; painkillers causing unconsciousness; the Bible and Catholic theology; the hospice alternative; Nazi Germany; Netherlands; United States; the purpose of human suffering; Kevorkian; and what can we do to fight euthanasia.  For access to the full content of the chapter, click here...

Euthanasia

by Ignacio Carrasco de Paula

In contemporary usage, the term euthanasia does not simply mean the quest of palliative medicine to relieve pain, but the act of deliberately killing someone in order to end suffering for "merciful reasons". Appeal is made to the superior interest of the State for ulterior "justification" of such acts, since, it is claimed, that the State has sovereign power over the bodies of those of its members who have become useless to society. Read More...

Fetal Experimentation and Tissue Transplantation

by Brian Clowes

In Fetal Experimentation and Tissue Transplantation, from the Facts of Life, Dr. Brian Clowes discusses topics such as: the moral dimensions of fetal experimentation and fetal tissue transplantation; examples of experiments conducted on preborn babies; why researchers value fetal tissue; the history of fetal organ harvesting; embryonic stem cell research; vaccines made from the tissue of aborted preborn babies; and harvesting organs from handicapped newborn babies.  For the Table of Contents with links to the full content of the chapter, click here...

Fetal Pain

by Brian Clowes

In Fetal Pain, from the Facts of Life, Dr. Brian Clowes discusses topics such as: mercy for all but the preborn; when does fetal pain begin; the battle over partial-birth abortion; what happens to babies after they are killed; and fetal development—the nervous system.  For the Table of Contents with links to the full content of the chapter, click here...

Free Choice

by William E. May

The expression "free choice" is connected in today's public opinion with the struggle conducted by different groups in favor of liberalizing the laws on procured abortion in different countries. In the name of the right of the human person to his own body in order to realize his life's project, these groups asserted that a pregnant woman has the right to abortion, and that the law has to respect such a right. Read More...

Legal Status of the Human Embryo, The

by Rodolfo-Carlos Barra

Discussions about the humanity of the embryo, product of the male-female union, arise as one tries to formulate premises that facilitate the legalization of abortion and the practices that threaten the very existence of the new being. In this context, it became necessary to coin the term "pre-embryo." This procedure is not new. From antiquity, people have questioned the humanity of other persons every time it became necessary to use arguments to exploit or terminate them. Read More...

Miracle of Fetal Development, The

by Brian Clowes

In The Miracle of Fetal Development, from the Facts of Life, Dr. Brian Clowes discusses topics such as: to what point of fetal development is abortion legal; milestones of fetal development; new and misleading medical terminology; abortionists’ attitude towards third-trimester abortions; and a clear danger to abortionists.  For the Table of Contents with links to the full content of the chapter, click here...

Partial Birth Abortion

by Jacques Suaudeau

The right to life of every human being is less and less protected by law. The universal scope of this right which was solemnly declared in 1948 and reaffirmed in 1989 in the International Convention on the Rights of the Child is whittled away more and more. This is notably illustrated by the tendency to legalize abortion and euthanasia. The particularly horrible technique of Partial Birth Abortion, to which President Clinton attached his name by vetoing bans against it, calls our attention to a new stage in the current anti-life escalation. The abortion termed "partial" is in fact an infanticide. Read More...

Quality of Life

by Renzo Paccini

The term "quality of life" entered the medical vocabulary beginning in the 1950s. It gained ever greater importance in this field as time passed with improvements in medical resuscitation that could lead to overzealous or burdensome medical treatments and progress in the field of prenatal testing for fetal abnormalities. The ambiguousness of this expression poses many concrete problems to the extent that doctors tend to judge the "value" of their patients using a very subjective notion of "wellbeing". Read More...

What is Bioethics?

by Marc Lalonde

There are different definitions of bioethics. Some see in bioethics nothing new: it is part of the perennial moral reflection about any intervention that man makes on man. Others see a true novelty in this reflection. Between these two positions there is another more balanced position, the personalist position, that considers not only life as an absolute value, but also looks at the whole person in his totality. Read More...