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by E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil., Senior Fellow in Ethics
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Should we adopt euthanasia to maximize our supply of available organs
for transplantation?
For several decades transplant medicine has suffered from a critical
shortfall in the supply of organs needed for patients with organ
failure. As a result thousands of patients die each year on waiting
lists. Presently there are over 100,000 patients awaiting donor organs
in the U.S.; in 2007 alone, 18 patients per day died waiting for
deceased donor organs. The problem has given rise to significant
milestones in end-of-life medicine. For example, the shift in the 1960s
from diagnosing human death in terms of the cessation of heart and lung
function (cardio-pulmonary death) to neurological criteria (whole brain
death) was motivated by a desire to preserve more transplantable
organs. Another idea that’s been debated over the years is “organ
conscription.” This very month, lawmakers in New York introduced an
“opt out” organ conscription bill that would presume that all patients
are organ donors unless they explicitly opt out on their driver’s
license. [1] Those of us whose organs are more or less healthy may not
appreciate the distress that patients and their families feel knowing
that their lives could be saved if only their names reach the top of the
wait list.
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05/26/2010
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by E. Christian Brugger, Ph.D., Senior Fellow in Ethics and William E. May, Ph.D., Senior Fellow
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In this piece, we would like to define the condition to which the term
"vegetative state" refers, discuss certain facts about the tragic
condition, introduce key ethical principles for analyzing duties that we
have to persons in it, and update our readers on the current state of
Catholic teaching on providing food and water to patients in a
persistent vegetative state.
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05/11/2010
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by William E. May, Ph.D., Senior Fellow
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In an earlier piece posted here I noted that many elderly people, when
interviewed by the Chicago Tribune, were horrified at the thought of
lingering unconsciousness. As one of them said, "My pleasure is in
being part of the human race. If that's gone, if I can't interact with
other people, even if they could give me nutrition and keep me
hydrated, I'm not interested in being preserved." I also noted that for
many years I shared this point of view and thought that using various
tubes to feed and hydrate permanently unconscious persons, i.e., those
in the “permanent vegetative state,” was morally repugnant and imposed
cruel burdens on them and their families.
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03/12/2010
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by William E. May, Ph.D., Senior Fellow
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Why burden persons in the “vegetative” state and their families by
keeping them “alive” by force feeding them through various kinds of
tubes?
On February 8 the Chicago Tribune interviewed elderly Catholics who
were horrified at the thought of lingering unconsciousness. "My
pleasure is in being part of the human race," said one of them. "If
that's gone, if I can't interact with other people, even if they could
give me nutrition and keep me hydrated, I'm not interested in being
preserved." This reaction is quite common and reflects the views, I
think, of most ordinary men and women. I believe that most ordinary
persons think that it is ridiculous to keep persons in the “persistent
vegetative state” alive by “force feeding” them through various kinds
of tubes. They believe that doing so is futile and in addition imposes
horrible burdens on those kept “alive” in this way and on their
families. I fully appreciate why so many people think this way. I did
so for many years myself. I will tell you why I did in a future piece
for the Culture of Life Foundation. In this one I will summarize recent
scientific studies that bear on some of the reasons why I changed my
mind.
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03/02/2010
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by Christian Brugger Ph.D
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Pro-abortion groups have attacked the Bush administration for purportedly drafting federal regulations which they say will end up restricting women’s so-called reproductive rights. A draft proposal by the Department of Health and Human Services was apparently leaked to the New York Times and reported on July 15 under the provocative title “Abortion Proposal Sets Condition on Aid.” The draft purportedly proposes to establish federal regulations for guiding the implementation and enforcement of laws protecting rights of conscience in health care. The draft concerns only federal regulations enforcing existing statues, no new legislation. Several conscience laws are already on the books. The most significant is the Hyde-Weldon provision. Under the leadership of pro-life Reps. Henry Hyde, of Illinois and Dave Weldon, of Florida, Congress in 2004 attached tough language to an appropriations bill forbidding federal funds to any institution that discriminates against an individual or health care entity that “does not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer abortions.” The language has survived four consecutive appropriations bills.
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08/06/2008
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by Jennifer Kimball, B.E.L
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Culture of Life Executive Director Jennifer Kimball offers a summary of her recent presentation given at a UN Panel on Biomedical Issues titled “The Coming Age of Procreative Beneficence: To Have the Best Child Possible?”
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06/05/2008
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by Hans E. Geisler, MD, KM
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“Without dissecting in detail the ethical dilemma brought on by using vaccines originally developed from induced abortions, what are we as faithful Catholics to do? It is important to note that some countries have produced and are using vaccines derived from nonhuman tissue, such as the Japanese rubella vaccine grown with the use of rabbit kidney cells. Unfortunately, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not approve the use of these particular vaccines in the United States.”
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04/04/2008
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by Maggie Datiles, Esq. Staff Attorney, Americans United for Life
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As medical technology advances and the body of medical knowledge increases, the amount of medical information on the ability of a fetus to experience pain continues to grow as well. These scientific advancements have prompted medical, legal, and ethical dialogue on the following questions: At what stage in fetal development can a fetus experience pain, and what impact would this information have on women and abortion law in the United States?
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03/20/2008
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by Hans Geisler, M.D.
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The most recent report from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, which produces annual reports on the number of induced abortions in the U.S., indicates that by 2005, the latest year from which figures are available, the number of abortions produced solely through consuming the abortion pill RU-486 (mifesterone) plus Cytotec (misoprostol) has increased 70% over the year 2001. This trend is alarming for several reasons.
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03/07/2008
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by Jennifer Kimball, B.E.L.
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According to the research of Dr. Alan Shewmon, "brain death" may not fulfill the concept of death of the complete organism – the whole person- and throws into doubt the neurological criteria for death.
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12/18/2007
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by Mark Adams
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Officials from the Guttmacher Institute are claiming their new report on abortion uses the latest data to show how "three decades of legal abortion have brought broad benefits to women" but pro-life advocates who have reviewed the report say it is full of rehashed statistics and recycled arguments.
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05/03/2006
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by Mark Adams
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Officials at the National Institutes of Health conceded that the data necessary to replicate a New Zealand study linking abortion with depression do not exist in America. The admission came in a reply to a letter from Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) seeking the NIH's "advice on searching out the best US research data on the effects of abortion on women in the United States."
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03/22/2006
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by Culture of Life
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A recent letter from a House subcommittee to the National Institutes of Health reveals a new strategy in the fight to get the scientific community to address the question of abortion and depression. The letter presents the findings of a recent study out of New Zealand recently reported in Culture & Cosmos that shows a strong link between abortion and poor mental health and asks the director of the NIH to address the study's findings with US research.
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02/01/2006
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