Here is a link to an article in the National Right to Life News on a recent study in the Lancet. The study indicates that patients who have been diagnosed in a persisent vegetative state may be consciously aware. Here is a conclusion from the study: “These findings confirm that a population of patients exists who [...]
My post a few months back also mentioned a NCBQ piece on diagnosing death using neurological criteria. The Autumn issue includes a review of what sounds like an interesting and relevant book. Jason T. Eberl reviews Russell DiSilvestro’s Human Capacities and Moral Status (NCBQ 11 [2011]: 596-98). According to the review, DiSilvestro departs from the [...]
In a past post, I mentioned the dialogue between philosopher Fr. Martin Rhonheimer and his critics – or, perhaps one should say, one of the dialogues, or one aspect of the dialogue – namely, that concerning his ‘vital conflicts’ theory. In the Autumn 2011 issue of the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, there is more, dealing [...]
The most recent issue of the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly (Vol. 11, no. 3; Autumn 2011) contains several articles that continue the discussion about the Phoenix abortion case and related matters. The issue contains articles by Rev. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, OP (Abortion in a Case of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension), Thomas A. Cavanaugh (Double-Effect Reasoning, [...]
SSRN has a new article entitled The Jurisprudence of Dignity (http://ssrn.com/abstract=1928768). The author, Leslie Meltzer Henry, identifies the variety of meanings given to the word “dignity” in Supreme Court cases: institutional status as dignity, liberty as dignity, equality as dignity, personal integrity as dignity, and collective virtue as dignity. The article reveals that the Court’s [...]
In Demoting Humans Zenit talks with John Haas about the growning trend in bioethics to treat human beings as material to use for scientific experiments and the role of the Catholic Church in establishing bioethics as an area of study and concern.
