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“Teaching Monk” Illum.MS. , Amiens 1547 |
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“Teaching Monk” Illum.MS. , Amiens 1547 |
WEEK_1;
WEEK_2;
WEEK_3;
WEEK_4;
WEEK_5;
WEEK_6;
WEEK_7;
WEEK_8;
WEEK_9;
WEEK_10;
WEEK_11;
WEEK_12;
WEEK_13;
WEEK_14 WEEK_15
WEEK 1
1. INTRODUCTION to the COURSE
An essential skill for this course is the ability to listen to downloadable audio-lectures, while at the same time looking at linked webpages discussed in the lecture. You may find this easiest to do by clicking first on the link to the audio-lecture, then minimizing the program you use to listen to mp3 files (so you have maximum visibility on your monitor), and then clicking on the link to the relevant webpage. So give it a try by reviewing the syllabus with me:
1. Listen to audio lecture one, (01_Syllab.mp3 ) while following along with the webpage version of the course syllabus at the following link: 02_syllabus.htm
Normally during each week of the course there will be:
1. Assigned readings from the course textbooks and other documents; and
2. between five and six downloadable audio-lectures, each with an associated webpage. The audio-lectures will each average between fifteen and twenty-five minutes in length.
3. A discussion forum based on the readings and lectures. You may wish to look at the questions ahead of time, so as to have them in mind while you do the reading and listen to the lectures.
A few final Introductory Comments:
4. From this point onwards, audio-lectures will all be numbered consecutively, to make it easier to keep track of them.
5. All required reading for this course, other than the principal textbook (May, Catholic Bioethics) will be made available in the "Required Texts and Documents" section of the "Lessons" tab. Please let me know if you have any difficulty accessing these sources.
6. Sometimes servers crash. This is a frustrating fact of life on the Internet. For this reason I will try to maintain a "mirror" site (ldysinger.com) on a different server, containing all webpages associated with lectures.
2. PRINCIPLES of CATHOLIC MORAL THEOLOGY in BIOETHICS
READING
Remember that all readings other than May (Catholic Bioethics) may be downloaded from the COURSE DOCUMENTS link.
Please read the following in conjunction with the four lectures below.
1. May, Catholic Bioethics Chapter 2, pp. 49-66.
2. Ford, The Prenatal Person: Ethics From Conception To Birth, chapters 1, “Morality for Persons” (pp. 1-26), and 3, “Ethical Principles for Healthcare” (pp. 41-52).
3. USCCB, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, especially the Introduction and § 17-33.
4. USCCB, Twenty Questions for Faithful Citizens.
LECTURES
When you have finished the readings, listen to the following four audiolectures while following along on the associated Text Files/Webpages:
2. The Relationship Between Moral Theology and Pastoral Theology: “The Principle of Gradualness”
3. Consequentialist and Deontological Morality; Our Final End (telos); Natural Law; Double Effect; Virtue Theory
4. Formation of Conscience (USCCB, Formation of Conscience for Faithful Citizenship, Introd., & §17-18) ; 2.06. Prudence (USCCB, FCFC §19-20) ; Intrinsic Evil (FCFC §22-23) ; Avoid both Moral Equivalence and Misuse of Distinctions (FCFC §27-29) ; Limiting Harm /choosing lesser evil. (FCFC §31-33)
5. The Place of Bioethics in Current Catholic Social Teaching and Controversy (USCCB, Twenty Questions for Faithful Citizens)
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
When you have finished lectures § 2 - 5 , please share your reflections with each other (and with me!) in Discussion One. The following questions are intended to promote reflection and discussion. Please free to share your own additional impressions and concerns:
1. A Catholic politician has voted in favor of a bill that allows abortions up to twenty weeks of gestation. When criticized in the Catholic press, the politician points out that it was at her insistence that the bill was amended, and the limit was reduced from twenty-eight to twenty weeks. She states that she “absolutely opposes abortion” and will do everything in her power as a legislator to limit its harmful consequences. What is her moral standing?
2. A second Catholic politician states that he voted for the same bill because, although “personally opposed to abortion”, he believes the “right” to an abortion is part if the reproductive services to which women should be entitled by law. He claims that his position is consonant with the principle of double effect, since he does not primarily intend that women should have abortions, but rather that they “should have complete control over their own bodies”. Is has position in accordance with Catholic moral teaching?
3. You are asked to assist in developing a marriage-preparation course in your parish. One of the coordinators expresses his opinion that church teaching concerning contraception and in-vitro-fertilization should only be mentioned briefly at the end of the course because “the principle of gradualness means we have to introduce difficult moral teaching very gradually to people”. Has this coordinator correctly understood the principle of gradualness?
WEEK
2
Greco-Roman
and Early Christian Bioethics
PART 3: THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT of CATHOLIC BIOETHICS
3.1. ANCIENT MEDICAL ETHICS
WE now begin a four-week study of the historical development of Roman Catholic teaching in the area of bioethics. The importance of carefully studying this development cannot be overstressed. There is much misinformation in the popular media and even in otherwise-reputable books about Catholic teaching concerning the beginning of life in the early Church and the middle ages. It is crucial to be able to respond to this campaign of disinformation with the truth about the Catholic moral tradition.
The history of ancient Greek and Roman, Jewish, and early Christian teaching on the beginning of life is presented in careful detail with appropriate documentation in David Albert Jones' The Soul of the Embryo.
READING
Jones, The Soul of the Embryo, ch. 1-4 (pp.1-56).
LECTURES
Note that audio-lectures 6-8 make use of different sections of the same webpage; Lectures 9-11 use a different webpage. The links below should take you directly to the correct place on each page
6. Hippocratic Ethics and Ancient Medical Practice
7. Aristotle’s Embryology; Roman Toleration of Abortion and Infanticide
8. Obstetrical Infanticide and Ancient Jewish Respect for Life
3.2. EARLY CHRISTIAN BIOETHICS
READING
Jones, The Soul of the Embryo, ch. 5 (pp. 57-74).
LECTURES
9. Christ the Healer and Early Christian Concern for Innocent Life
10. The Hippocratic Oath and Tertullian’s Obstetrical Lament
11. Canonical Penalties and Theologians on Suicide, Contraception , Abortion, and Ensoulment
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
When you have finished lectures § 6 - 11 , please share your reflections with each other (and with me!) in Discussion Two.
1. Why did ancient Judaism and early Christianity absolutely reject and condemn the widespread Greco-Roman toleration of abortion, infanticide, and suicide?
2. As we have seen, the Hippocratic Oath, which prohibits physicians from assisting in abortion and euthanasia, was widely-known and respected in classical antiquity. Yet it was not, as far as we know, regarded as normative for medical practice until the Roman Empire became Christian. How can a moral precept be both revered and ignored?
WEEK
3
Christian Bioethics in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
3.3. MEDIEVAL MEDICAL CARE
READING
Jones, The Soul of the Embryo, ch. 8, pp. 109-125.
LECTURES
12. Care of the Sick and Rules for Confessors
13. Bioethical Principles in St. Thomas Aquinas
14. Debates on the Soul and Animation
3.4. RENAISSANCE BIOETHICS
READING
Atkinson, Theological History.
LECTURES
15. Advances in Anatomy and Surgery
16. Moralists on Pain and Food
17. Theologians and The Magisterium on Abortion and Contraception
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
1. Based on our reading for this week, how would you respond to the following assertion, found on a Catholic “pro-choice” website (the link to the site is given below):
“The campaign by Pope John Paul II to make his position on abortion the defining one at the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 was just one leg of a long journey of shifting views within the Catholic church. In the fifth century A.D., St. Augustine expressed the mainstream view that early abortion required penance only for sexual sin. Eight centuries later, St. Thomas Aquinas agreed, saying abortion was not homicide unless the fetus was “ensouled,” and ensoulment, he was sure, occurred well after conception. The position that abortion is a serious sin akin to murder and is grounds for excommunication only became established 150 years ago.”
http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/pubs/cfc_archive/articles/TheHistoryofAbortion.asp#G
2. Why is there no (and, indeed, could there ever be?) an official “Catholic list” of life-sustaining treatments that are always “ordinary”?
WEEK 4:
Christian Bioethics from the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth Centuries
3.5. THE SEVENTEENTH and EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES
READING
Atkinson, Theological History.
Christian History, no. 101: Healthcare and Hospitals...
Please note:
1.The pdf of the volume of the magazine, Christian History, on healthcare is intended for supplementary “fun” reading. It contains lots of vivid, interesting pictures, but it is not a serious, scholarly journal. Spend as much or as little time with it as you wish.
2. I have also made a pdf of Cronin’s dissertation available for those who may want to see the full text of his citation of the sources summarized in Atkinson’s article. This, too, is optional - it’s for those of you who wish to delve a little deeper]
LECTURES
18. Microscopy, Microbiology, and Persistent Therapies
19. Pharmacology, Medical Dogmatism and Lay Skepticism
20. Saint Alphonsus Ligouri and Catholic Bioethics
3.6. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
READING
Atkinson, Theological History.
LECTURES
21. Anesthesia and Antisepsis
22. Nursing, Public Health and Hygiene
23. Medical Prestige and Paternalism; Pius IX and the Human Embryo
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
1. The following statement from the Catechism (§ 2278) is based on texts by St. Alphonsus Ligouri we have studied, in which the “Father of Catholic Moral Theology” emphasizes that repugnance (horror) and “burden” may excuse a person from life-prolonging treatment, as long as it not the person’s intention to deliberately shorten his/her life:
“Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of ‘over-zealous’ treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted.”
What are your reactions to these principles? Is it your experience that they are well-understood in the broader Catholic community?
2. We have noted the dramatic shift from widespread skepticism of medical treatment in the eighteenth century to an ever-accelerating expectation of medical infallibility that George Bernard Shaw lampooned as surpassing that claimed by the Pope:
“Compared with our [...] infallible medical councils [...] the Pope is on his knees in the dust confessing his ignorance before the throne of God, asking only that as to certain historical matters on which he has clearly more sources of information open to him than anyone else his decision shall be taken as final.”
G.B.Shaw, The Doctor’s Dilemma, 1908
How can the increasing prestige of scientific medicine throughout the nineteenth century be regarded as both beneficial and potentially problematic?
WEEK
5
20th Century Catholic Bioethics and Recent Magisterial Documents
3.7. THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
READING
None, except for the course website texts. Don’t rejoice excessively yet: this is to make up for the fact that the first three lectures in the next part (3.6 - Magisterial doc’s) are rather long - sorry!
LECTURES
24. Eugenics and Pope Pius XI
25. Antibiotics, IV Therapy, and Horrific Revelations at Nuernberg
26. CPR, Respirators, and the Research of Dr. Leslie Blackhall
3.8. RECENT MAGISTERIAL DOCUMENTS
READING
May, Catholic Bioethics, ch. 1, pp. 21-48.
LECTURES
27. Humanae Vitae; The CDF on Abortion and Euthanasia
28. Donum Vitae and Dignitas Personae
29. Pope John Paul II on Bioethics
30. The USCCB and the Catechism of the Catholic Church
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
1. We have noted the growth of medical “paternalism” (Do whatever I tell you) through the early decades of the twentieth century, followed by the resurgence of (supposed) patient autonomy and informed consent after World War II. How would you characterize the response of the Catholic Magisterium to these movements?
2. Papal statements during the past fifty years as well as documents from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith have addressed an astonishingly wide spectrum of biomedical questions and areas of controversial research. Critics both within and outside the Church frequently accuse the Magisterium of discouraging scientific advancement by condemning certain procedures and areas of research. Based on what we have studied, how would respond to these criticisms?
WEEK
6
Eugenics
4. EUGENICS
READING
1. May. Catholic Bioethics, ch. 6, pp. 237-258
2. Sofair, “Eugenic Sterilization - A Qualified Nazi Analogy”
3. Kevles, In the Name of Eugenics, ch.s 5-7, pp. 85-128.
LECTURES
31. The Rise of Eugenics
32. Pius XI, Casti Conubii, and the Catholic Response
33. Paul Popenoe: An Example of a Successful American Eugenicist
34. Eugenic Sterilization and a Qualified Nazi Analogy: The United States and Germany, 1930-1945
35. Genetic Diversity and the Fallacy of Eugenics
[Note that the videos mentioned on the webpage and in the lecture may be accessed from the links on the “COURSE DOCUMENTS” page]
36. Eugenics: The Pseudo-Science that Will Not Die (contemporary revivals and warnings)
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
1. What was it about the concept of eugenics that so captivated and enthralled the political leaders and intellectuals of the nineteen-twenties and -thirties; and how is it that the Catholic Church remained so unwavering in its opposition?
2. How could modern reproductive technologies covertly promote the ideals of eugenics without ever using the (now-unpopular) word “eugenics”?
WEEK
7
Informed Consent
5. INFORMED CONSENT
READING
1. May, Catholic Bioethics, ch. 6. pp. 213-228.
2. Pope Pius XII, Address to the First Congress on Neural Histopathology, Sept 14, 1952.
3. Blackhall, Leslie, “Ethnicity and Attitudes Toward Patient Autonomy”, JAMA, 1995; 274: 820-825
4. AMA Virtual Mentor, “Deciding for Others”
LECTURES
37. The Nürnberg Code and The Expansion of the Doctrine of Informed Consent
38. Pius XII on Free, Informed Consent for Experiments
39. Difficulties in Obtaining Truly Informed Consent
40. Leslie Blackhall on Ethnicity and Consent
41. Advance Directives
42. Deciding for Others - The Limitations of Advance Directives
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of our modern insistence on obtaining for every medical procedure the “informed consent” that was originally envisioned as applying chiefly to medical experiments?
2. How should we respond to family members who insist that in their culture it is inappropriate to directly share grave diagnoses with patients who are ill?
WEEK
8
Abortion
6. ABORTION
WE have studied the historical development of Church doctrine concerning abortion. We will now consider in detail a comprehensive declaration on the subject by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, together with a review of pertinent embryology, reflections on the medical and psychological effects of abortion, and a consideration of the canonical and pastoral implications of the laetae sententiae excommunication due to abortion. Finally we will note the shift in contemporary secular morality from the concept of abortion as “regrettable but necessary” to abortion as a component of so-called “reproductive rights”.
READING
1. May, Catholic Bioethics, ch. 5. pp. 165-212.
2. CDF (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) Declaration On Procured Abortion
3. Ford, Prenatal Person, ch. 5, pp. 51-68, (esp. 5.4 & 5.6)
4. OPTIONAL READING: Harris,”Recognizing Conscience in Abortion Provision” (New England Journal of Medicine, 2012). [Please note: this article presents a point of view radically opposed to that of the Church, but tragically representative of modern trends in secular bioethics)].
LECTURES
43. CDF: Declaration on Procured Abortion
44. Human Embryology and “Viability”
45. Ford on the Morality and Medical Consequences of Abortion
46. Canonical and Pastoral Aspects of the Excommunication due to Abortion
47. A Culture that Would Portray Abortion as Heroic
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
1. The CDF Declaration On Procured Abortion was written nearly thirty years ago. Which of its warnings have become reality in our own day?
2. How can we effectively communicate the Church’s teaching in a culture that increasingly insists on inverting the traditional meanings of “conscience”, “natural law” and “heroism”?
WEEK
9
Marriage,
Humanae Vitae,
and the Theology of the Body
7.
MARRIAGE,
HUMANAE
VITAE
and
THE
THEOLOGY
of the
BODY
CATHOLIC bioethics concerning the beginning of life constantly refers back to the doctrine of the inseparability of the unitive and procreative dimensions of human sexuality. Teaching on these two aspects has developed most clearly during the twentieth century, culminating in the Theology of the Body of Blessed Pope John Paul II. In these texts one can trace the development of doctrine in a direction that focuses less on the hierarchical ordering of the ends of marriage than on their interrelationship. Similarly, the relationship between the respective vocations of marriage and consecrated celibacy is expressed less in descriptions of “higher” and “lower” states than in the temporal and eschatological values to which each bears unique witness.
READING
1. May, Catholic Bioethics, ch. 3. pp. 67-94.
2. Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae
3. Bl. Pope John Paul II, The Theology of the Body (website selections below)
LECTURES
48. Arcanum, Casti Conubii, and the Baltimore Catechism
49. Vatican II on Marriage and Sexuality (Gaudium et Spes)
50. Humanae Vitae
51. Introduction to the Theology of the Body of Bl. Pope John Paul II
52. The Catechism on Marriage and Consecrated Virginity
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
1. Two central emphases in magisterial teaching on marriage are (1) a “communion of persons” and (2) The ability to become a “gift to the other”. In what sense are these concepts an expression of both mystical theology and moral theology?
2. The interrelationship between the unitive and procreative meanings of human sexuality is a central tenet of Catholic bioethics. Why has the expression of this teaching contained in Humanae Vitae been so widely derided and dismissed by both Catholics and non-Catholics?
WEEK
10
Fertility and Natural Family Planning
10. FERTILITY and NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING
WITHOUT an appreciation of the history and scientific validity of Natural Family Planning the bioethical teachings of the Catholic Church in regard to contraception and assisted reproduction can seem unjust, inhuman, and incomprehensible. The teaching of the Church in these areas is not, as it is generally portrayed in the secular media, one of mistrust and ignorance of science. Instead, the Church invites Christians to embrace a vision of cooperation with the natural world created by God, rather than attempting to coerce and dominate the gifts of human sexuality and fertility.
READING
1. Lawler, “The New Counterculture”, The Wall Street Journal, 1993.
2. May, ch. 4, pp. 127-156.
3. Wilson, Mercedes, “The Practice of Natural Family Planning versus the Use of Artificial Birth Control: Family, Sexual, and Moral Issues, “ 2002.
4. USCCB brochure on contraception
The following are optional reading, and are intended for those who wish to review technical, medical-scientific support of Natural Family Planning methods
5. Klaus, “Natural Family Planning, A Review” (1st ed., Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey 37: 128-150, February 1982; 2nd ed., Natural Family Planning Center of Washington, D.C., inc., Bethesda, Maryland.)
6. Frank-Herrmann, “The effectiveness of a fertility awareness based method”, Human Reproduction Vol. 22, No.5 pp. 1310–1319, 2007
LECTURES
53. The History of Natural Family Planning
54. The Biology of Fertility and NFP
55. Contraception
56. Benefits and Challenges of Natural Family Planning
57. Treatment for Infertility
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
1. What are the benefits of Natural Family Planning as opposed to contraception, and how can these be made known to a culture fully convinced of the necessity for contraception?
2. What are the implications for Catholic bioethics of the depiction of contraception found on the F.D.A. Website?
WEEK
11
Artificial Procreation
11.
ARTIFICIAL
PROCREATION
AS we have already noted, in-vitro Fertilization followed by Embryo Transfer represents one of the most frequently recommended – if not the primary – treatment for infertility in the developed world. It behooves us to be aware of the many implications of this treatment and the ethical issues that arise from it, including the controversy over embryonic stem-cell research.
READING
1. Audi, “Assembling the Global Baby” (Wall Street Journal, January, 2010). [full text of article available on course website].
2. May, ch. 3, pp. 67-127; ch, 6, pp. 229-236.
3. Ovarian Hyperstimulation: “High Doses of Hormones Faulted”, New York Times article, July 16, 2012.
4. Jones, David Albert, “The Ethical Cell: Research Breakthrough”. The Tablet, Oct. 20, 2012. [full text on course website]
The following are optional reading, and are intended for those who wish to review technical, medical-scientific details of in-vitro fertilization and multiple gestations.
5. Gabbe, S., Obstetrics: Normal and Problem Pregnancies, 6th ed. (2012 Saunders, Elsevier), ch. 30 “Multiple Gestations”.
6. Lentz, G., Comprehensive Gynecology, 6th ed. (2012, Mosby, Elsevier), ch. 14, “Infertility”.
LECTURES
58. In Vitro Fertilization
59. Surrogate Motherhood
60. The Ethical Dilemma of Frozen Embryos
61. Multiple Gestations
62. Stem-Cell Research and Therapy
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
1. How would you respond to a member of your parish who confides in you that her ob-gyn has recommended in vitro-fertilization, and that she believes it would be “okay,” since she and her husband intend to use their own egg and sperm to produce their own child?
2. What are your reactions to the “insoluble dilemma” of frozen embryos? Do you believe the practice of “embryo adoption” should be encouraged?
WEEK
12
Euthanasia and Diminished Consciousness
12-13. EUTHANASIA and DIMINISHED CONSCIOUSNESS
READING
1. Foley, “Competent Care for the Dying...” (New England Journal of Medicine, 1997).
2. May, ch. 7, pp. 259-284.
3. SCDF, Jura et Bona (Vatican Document on Euthanasia), [full text of document available on course website].
4. Emanuel, E.J., “Euthanasia: Historical, Ethical, and Empiric Perspectives”. Archives of Internal Medicine, 1994.
The following are optional readings:
5. “Assisted Suicide in Switzerland”, Swissinfo, (2008).
6. Monti, “Willful Modulation of Brain Activity in Disorders of Consciousness”, New England Journal of Medicine, 2009.
LECTURES
63. Iura et Bona: The Vatican Document on Euthanasia
64. From “Euthanasia” to “Aid in Dying”
65. Medical Attitudes and Reasons for Requests
66. Unconsciousness, Brain Death, and The Vatican
67. Desires of the Unconscious and Disabled
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
1. How would you respond to the complaint, frequently voiced in the secular media, that the unavailability of physician-assisted suicide limits personal freedom and individual autonomy?
2. A clinical case often used to teach bioethics to medical students is that of Dax Cowart, a 25-year old former air force pilot, who was badly burned in an accident. Rendered blind, without the use of his hands, he felt hopeless and depressed and, despite the fact that he would certainly recover with treatment, he asked to be allowed to die. How would you respond to Dax, and what would you recommend in terms of his care, if you were a chaplain at the hospital where he was treated?
WEEK
13
Nutrition, Hydration, and Palliative Care
14. NUTRITION, HYDRATION, and PALLIATIVE CARE
POPE John Paul II’s address on “Nutrition and Hydration in the Persistent Vegetative State” was followed several months later by an address on palliative care. This second papal allocution is less-familiar to most Catholics, but of great importance. “Palliative care” refers to the treatment of symptoms, usually pain and psychological distress associated with illness, rather than an attempt to cure the underlying illness. We will focus on palliative care at the end of life, “hospice care” as it is sometimes called. However, it is important to note that palliative medicine will play an increasingly-important role in the practice of medicine in all stages of life as advances are made in methods of controlling pain and alleviating symptoms of chronic and incurable diseases. We will particularly emphasize, that the Catholic Church encourages and commends palliative care as an important and unselfish kind of love, “a special form of disinterested charity” (Catechism §2279: formam constituunt excellentem caritatis gratuitae).
READING
1. Pope John Paul II: Address on the Persistent Vegetative State and Address on Palliative Care (on course website).
2. May, ch. 7, pp. 285-301 (review from prev. weeks)
3. SCDF: Responses to Certain Questions of the USCCB concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration.
4. Broeckaert, Bert, “Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide” in Walsh, Palliative Medicine, 1st ed., ch 21 (2008 Saunders/Elsevier).
5. Additional Documents of the Magisterium on Palliative Care (on course website: Catechism § 2279, 1994; John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, 1985; Addresses of Benedict XVI 2006 & 2007; USCCB Physician-Assisted Suicide - Threat to Improved Palliative Care 2011).
The following are optional readings:
6. Z. Zylicz, “Palliative Care and Euthanasia in the Netherlands: Observations of a Dutch Physician,” in K. Foley and H. Hendin, The Case Against Assisted Suicide: For the Right to End-of-Life Care (Johns Hopkins University Press 2002), 122-43.
7. USCCB, “Life Matters - to the End of Our Days”.
LECTURES
68. Pope John Paul II on the Persistent Vegetative State
69. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the Persistent Vegetative State
70. New and Ongoing Studies on the Persistent Vegetative State
71. Pope John Paul II on Palliative Care
72. Magisterial Texts on Palliative Care (1994-2011)
73. “Four Assumptions” Concerning Palliative Care
74. Perinatal Hospice
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
1. How would you respond to the argument that Pope John Paul II’s teaching on the requirement of nutrition and hydration in the persistent vegetative state is not part of the authentic magisterium of the Catholic Church, since it was only offered in the context of a papal “allocution” and not in an encyclical or apostolic constitution?
2. How would you respond to the accusation that palliative care is “just another name for euthanasia”?
WEEK
14
Organ Donation and Consent
15. ORGAN DONATION and CONSENT
IN this final section we will consider again the question of informed consent in light of the practice of organ donation and end-of life decisions. Will will note the strong approval of organ donation accorded by the Catholic Magisterium, while at the same time observing the very serious potential that exists for abusing this unique form of charitable self-offering.
READING
[All the articles from the New England Journal are discussed on the assigned webpages]
1. May, ch. 7, pp. 302-314 (advance directives); ch. 8, pp. 351-360, (organ donation)
2. Bernat, James L., “The Boundaries of Organ Donation after Circulatory Death,” The New England Journal of Medicine, Aug 14, 2008, pp. 669-671.
3. Delmonico, Arnold, & Scheper-Hughes ,”Ethical Incentives — Not Payment — For Organ Donation,” New England Journal of Medicine, June 20, 2002, pp. 2002-2005.
4. Gillick, Muriel R., “Reversing the Code Status of Advance Directives?,” The New England Journal of Medicine, April 1, 2010, 1239-1240.
5. Steinbrook, Robert, “Organ Donation after Cardiac Death,” The New England Journal of Medicine, July 19, 2007, pp. 209-213.
6. Truog, Robert D. “Consent for Organ Donation — Balancing Conflicting Ethical Obligations,” The New England Journal of Medicine, March 20, 2008, pp. 1209-1211.
LECTURES
75. The Catholic Magisterium on Organ Donation
76. Informed Consent and Organ Procurement Agencies
77. Organ Donation After Cardiac Death
78. The Trial of Dr. Hooten Roozrokh
79. Incentives and Abuses of Organ Donation
80. End-of-Life Decisions and P.O.L.S.T.
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION
1. What are your reactions to the practice of organ donation after cardiac death? What sort of pastoral and moral issues could you foresee arising in a Catholic hospital where this is practiced?
2. It is being increasingly argued that financial compensation of organ donors should not be forbidden, but rather closely regulated. One author observed: “For many of the poor it is a question of whether to sell an organ or a child.” How would you respond to someone who claimed that the poor have a right to recompense for an act of self-sacrifice?
