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Life Issues, Medical Choices: Questions and Answers for Catholics
Medical and technological advances over the last decades have left millions of Catholics grappling with tough issues. When is it permissible to remove a feeding tube from a patient? Is the use of contraceptives for medical purposes acceptable? Is it morally acceptable to try to select the sex of one's baby? What is the difference between ordinary and extraordinary means of preserving life? How does determination of death affect organ donation?
Life Issues, Medical Choices not only provides answers to many questions troubling Catholics, it also supplies fundamental principles of Catholic thought to help readers arrive at morally sound decisions in those areas that have yet to be settled.
Janet Smith and Christopher Kaczor offer clear guidance to help you make decisions about complex medical and life issues.
Life Issues, Medical Choices not only provides answers to many questions troubling Catholics, it also supplies fundamental principles of Catholic thought to help readers arrive at morally sound decisions in those areas that have yet to be settled.
Janet Smith and Christopher Kaczor offer clear guidance to help you make decisions about complex medical and life issues.
197 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2007
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About the author
Janet E. Smith
20 books7 followersJanet Elizabeth Smith (born 1950) is an American classicist and philosopher, and former professor of moral theology at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 25, 2022
An excellent little book on bioethics for Catholics. I was recommended this by my cousin who is in residency in order for me to understand the principles the Church uses to answer difficult bioethical questions. It was particularly helpful for me to learn how to potentially approach issues the modern medical community is facing especially when the church has not definitively come down on an issue.
A lot of these issues are very nuanced and sometimes what actions are ok to do caught me off guard. For example it is not immoral for rape victims to use contraception in order to stop the rapist's sperm, provided that if conception occurred, the embryo is not in danger of being killed. Another curious case was the Vatican back in the 50's allowing nuns in the Congo to be on contraceptives as they had a very high risk of being raped and it was a method of self-defense.
Some of the most helpful/interesting questions I found were:
Q. 4: What does it mean to say that Catholics must follow their consciences?
Q. 6: If a Catholic in ignorance of Church teaching does something contrary to that teaching, such as using in vitro fertilization, does he or she sin?
Q. 12: Since an early embryo can split into twins, is an embryo really an individual? Before the brain develops, is an embryo rational?
Q. 19: Which reproductive technologies are moral?
Q. 20: Do children have a right to know their biological parents?
Q. 22: Is it moral to have a baby in order to provide for the medical needs of an already existing child?
Q. 25: Is it moral to try to select the sex of one's baby? Very interesting response given here.
Q. 32: Is it moral to use contraceptives as post-rape treatment?
Q. 43: What is the difference between ordinary means and extraordinary means of preserving life? One of the most important distinctions to make.
Q. 48: What is "brain death"? Does the Church approve of using neurological criteria to determine death?
Q. 55: Is it moral to use vaccines that have been produced from aborted fetuses?
Q. 67: Is circumcision moral?
Really short easy read and one that I think Catholics of all ages should read in order to most closely follow the moral directives laid out by the Church.
A lot of these issues are very nuanced and sometimes what actions are ok to do caught me off guard. For example it is not immoral for rape victims to use contraception in order to stop the rapist's sperm, provided that if conception occurred, the embryo is not in danger of being killed. Another curious case was the Vatican back in the 50's allowing nuns in the Congo to be on contraceptives as they had a very high risk of being raped and it was a method of self-defense.
Some of the most helpful/interesting questions I found were:
Q. 4: What does it mean to say that Catholics must follow their consciences?
Q. 6: If a Catholic in ignorance of Church teaching does something contrary to that teaching, such as using in vitro fertilization, does he or she sin?
Q. 12: Since an early embryo can split into twins, is an embryo really an individual? Before the brain develops, is an embryo rational?
Q. 19: Which reproductive technologies are moral?
Q. 20: Do children have a right to know their biological parents?
Q. 22: Is it moral to have a baby in order to provide for the medical needs of an already existing child?
Q. 25: Is it moral to try to select the sex of one's baby? Very interesting response given here.
Q. 32: Is it moral to use contraceptives as post-rape treatment?
Q. 43: What is the difference between ordinary means and extraordinary means of preserving life? One of the most important distinctions to make.
Q. 48: What is "brain death"? Does the Church approve of using neurological criteria to determine death?
Q. 55: Is it moral to use vaccines that have been produced from aborted fetuses?
Q. 67: Is circumcision moral?
Really short easy read and one that I think Catholics of all ages should read in order to most closely follow the moral directives laid out by the Church.
January 21, 2016
Readable, concise, essential conscience formation for faithful Catholic life in the modern "first world." Covers a wide variety of medical-related situations, from IVF and stem-cell research to contraception and sterilization to euthanasia, and many more. The "Ten Commandments for Health Care Professionals and Patients" is particularly interesting (example: poor self-care presented as a kind of stealing).
One tiny tidbit I would add: the book (written 2007) mentions that modern methods of NFP are "nearly as effective as the birth control pill." In fact, a recent three-year study in the U.K. found that NFP was considerably MORE effective, nearly 100% effective in putting off pregnancy, while "the Pill" had a three-year failure rate of 33%. 33%! And these were only the pregnancies that made it past the abortifacient effects to make themselves known to their mothers--the really "stubborn" kids! There is unfortunately no way to know how many children are in fact conceived while their mothers are taking "the Pill" but are simply aborted quietly, without their mothers ever knowing that this month's "period" was more than just the usual "withdrawal bleed." Add this information to the fact that NFP's only known "side effects" are to increase the quality of marriages that practice the techniques, as well as perceived satisfaction with their sex life--and oppose this to the sad and deadly side effects of "Pill" usage, for both the women who take it and their families--and there's really no good reason to put off learning about NFP one moment longer.
One tiny tidbit I would add: the book (written 2007) mentions that modern methods of NFP are "nearly as effective as the birth control pill." In fact, a recent three-year study in the U.K. found that NFP was considerably MORE effective, nearly 100% effective in putting off pregnancy, while "the Pill" had a three-year failure rate of 33%. 33%! And these were only the pregnancies that made it past the abortifacient effects to make themselves known to their mothers--the really "stubborn" kids! There is unfortunately no way to know how many children are in fact conceived while their mothers are taking "the Pill" but are simply aborted quietly, without their mothers ever knowing that this month's "period" was more than just the usual "withdrawal bleed." Add this information to the fact that NFP's only known "side effects" are to increase the quality of marriages that practice the techniques, as well as perceived satisfaction with their sex life--and oppose this to the sad and deadly side effects of "Pill" usage, for both the women who take it and their families--and there's really no good reason to put off learning about NFP one moment longer.
March 20, 2023
This book gave me so much insight on the church’s teachings and positions on so many relevant bioethical topics — some of which I had never considered before.
Some of my favorite points:
“Catholics desperately need Catholic health care professionals to be true to their profession and their faith, so that a reverence for life can again permeate the health care profession and the larger culture as well.”
“Catholics demonstrate their love for Christ and the Church by using the gifts of their intellects to learn what the Church teaches about the challenging issues of our time and attempting to live out that teaching in their free decisions.”
Some of my favorite points:
“Catholics desperately need Catholic health care professionals to be true to their profession and their faith, so that a reverence for life can again permeate the health care profession and the larger culture as well.”
“Catholics demonstrate their love for Christ and the Church by using the gifts of their intellects to learn what the Church teaches about the challenging issues of our time and attempting to live out that teaching in their free decisions.”
February 1, 2017
This was a great and easy read. It's organized into questions by topic. There are some that I got lost in due to the deliberate (?) vagueness in the language. There were others where I highlighted almost the entire answer. A great resource to have on hand. I can easily see myself referring back to it in the future.
November 1, 2015
I read this for a course. I understand the theory but I am not sure it can largely be practiced in today's society where medical decisions are not always made by family members.
December 22, 2013
Great book on bioethics!!
December 4, 2016
The Q&A format helps a person zero in on topics, a great book for reference, one i will refer back to in time of need.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews