Moral theological analysis of direct versus indirect abortion.

Unlabelled: Cases of a vital conflict, where the lives of both the mother and child are at risk during pregnancy, have been the subject of recent vigorous debate. The basic principles put forth in the Ethical and Religious Directives are reviewed, as is the principle of double effect. An illustrative case of severe cardiomyopathy in a pregnant woman is described and it is noted that the principle of double effect would not apply.

Neglecting human ecology: The common element of global health failures.

Attempts to control malaria, AIDS, and maternal mortality in Africa have been woefully inadequate. This has involved adopting an almost exclusively technical preventive approach in the context of AIDS even though emphasizing human behavior holds the most promise. But on the other hand, it has also involved abandoning highly effective technical measures, as in the case of malaria.

Health-Care Reform and the Catholic Medical Professional Impacting Religious Liberty in America.

There has been a steady and escalating attack on the religious liberty of health-care providers; currently, as we focus on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the more recent rescinding by President Barack Obama of major parts of President George W. Bush's Conscience Rule, this attack is never so evident. The culture of secular relativism increasingly is becoming hostile toward conscience rights and religion, especially the Roman Catholic Church, which is the largest nongovernmental provider of health care in this country.

Old and new ethics in the stem cell debate.

The debate about embryonic stem cell research is a conflict not between "religion" and "science," but between two ethical approaches to the dignity of human beings. The newer, more pragmatic ethic is not necessarily more conducive to rapid medical progress as is often assumed.

A regulatory argument against human embryonic stem cell research.

This article explores the plausibility of an argument against embryonic stem cell research based on what the regulations already say about research on pregnant women and fetuses. The center of the argument is the notion of vulnerability and whether such a concept is applicable to human embryos. It is argued that such an argument can be made plausible.

The problem of deception in embryonic stem cell research.

The field of embryonic stem cell research has been plagued by exaggeration and misrepresentation, as three major journals have had to retract significant claims about progress in this field. This problem is exacerbated by the politicized climate in which the research is conducted and defended; it may also lie deeper, in a utilitarian ethic that in principle could justify unethical actions for admittedly worthwhile long-term goals. Such an ethic risks undermining the credibility of science, which must show a commitment to the facts that is independent of social and political goals.