Bioethics and Catholics
I attended a bioethics conference today hosted by a local group of evangelical Christian physicians who are keenly aware of the need for a pro-life stand in their practices and medicine in general. The guest speaker was a Christian physician and ethicist who provided a history of the eugenics movement in the US and then presented the latest information regarding pre-implantation genetic determinations. At one point she presented a quote from Evangelium Vitae (JP 2's Encyclical Letter on the Value and Inviolability of Human Life). It said life begins at conception. She put up a quote that some scientists draw a different line and "different lines exist regarding where life begins."
During the Q + A time, a physician bemoaned the fact that the "Christian medical establishment" doesn't do more to attempt to effect legislation regarding attempts at genetic manipulation, embryonic experimentation etc. The speaker politely agreed that there needed to be more organization and ability to affect change in this arena.
For me, the "elephant in the room" was the Catholic Church! For centuries the Church has established the "lines in the sand" regarding issues of life and in the past forty years produced some of the most important and weighty documents regarding bioethics particularly from JP2 with specific guidelines for pre-born life, in-vitro fertiliation and other infertility treatment, embryonic stem cell research, genetic manipulation, end of life issues etc. The Church has been at the forefront of the lobbying for pro-life legislation in the US as well as leading the March for Life and abortion mill protests throughout the country. There is a large body of Christian bioethics in the teachings of the Catholic Church that remains an unopened treasure of truth.
"all human life—from the moment of conception and through all subsequent stages—is created in the image and likeness of God. Nothing surpasses the greatness or dignity of a human person. Human life is not just an idea or an abstraction; human life is the concrete reality of a being that lives, that acts, that grows and develops; human life is the concrete reality of a being that is capable of love and of service to humanity." John Paul II
National Catholic Bioethics
Canadian Catholic Biothics Institute
Linacre Institute
Culture of Life Foundation
Catholic Medical Association
The Vatican Charter for Healthcare Workers
I encourage my colleagues to brave the waters and dip into this river of truth .
Labels: ethics, prolife issues
posted by Russ Rentler, M.D. | 5:29 PM
5 Comments:
Are you a Roman Catholic?
Well, I call myself just a Catholic and I practice the Latin Rite which some call Roman Catholic, but the Church calls itself the Catholic Church to not make one rite, Latin greater or more emphasized than another, Maronite for instance, for we are all part of the universal Catholic Church.
I found your Catholic blog site by doing a google search and was thrilled to read that "the Donut Man" converted to the Catholicism!! So many evangelical's are converting; many Catholics are reverting. I left the Church at the age of 15 years and had been away for 26 years, coming home in 2002. I was very blessed to see my husband, son and daughter convert to Catholicism the following year. I've entrusted my middle son to Blessed Mother's care - she'll bring him home. At any rate, I had to write back to you and say *Welcome home!* God bless you. Cyndi B.
Wow ! That's a great testimony of God's power. My wife and I are both reverts after many many years away from the Church in Protestantism. Pray for my kids and I'll pray for yours! As we you use to say in our charismatic church, "God is doing a new thing."
Great post, so true!
And it's so true too that so many people are coming the the Catholic Church, especially evangelicals, etc. I recently read an article called "The New Faithful" that explains this phenomenon, and talked about it on my blog. It's so refreshing to see the tides turn the way they have!
God Bless!
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