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Fetal Development Human embryos

Robert George on Human Embryos

Here is an excellent essay by Robert George entitled “Are Human Embryos Human Beings? Here is the conclusion: “The pro-life view depends on an undisputed scientific fact plus a moral principle that explains and vindicates the worth of infants and the cognitively impaired, and affirms the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every member of […]

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Abortion Artificial Wombs and the Right to Life Human embryos Philosophy Politics UFL's Newsletter Uncategorized

a pro-life foundational argument well explained (with links to more)

Paul Stark has brilliantly woven in a new analogy (pizza making) to make clear the fundamental distinction between the construction of things and the development of life. (The German Constitutional Court in 1975 and 1993 supported this distinction. That support can be found via one of the articles linked in Stark’s piece.) Unborn children aren’t […]

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Bioethics Colleges and Universities Human embryos Law Schools Talks Uncategorized

Harvard Law Students for Life

Students at Harvard University Law School have organized into Law Students for Life. Their first event was a talk by Robert George on the humanity and personhood of the embryo. The discussion was respectful, displaying a diversity of opinions. This, the willingness to engage a difficult and controversial subject or at least to engage an uncomfortable […]

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Human embryos In vitro fertilization University Faculty for Life

editing the human genome

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in Great Britain has given approval for the Francis Crick Institute in London to begin altering the DNA in embryos. The embryos will be acquired through in vitro fertilization procedures and are to be killed after 14 days of life. Such callous disregard for human life reveals the inhumanity of in vitro fertilization procedures […]

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Assisted Reproduction Bioethics Human embryos In vitro fertilization Talks University Faculty for Life

Dr. Moschella talks about IVF and Children at MU

On April 29th Marquette Students for Life and Marquette University Faculty for Life sponsored a lunch and evening talk by Melissa Moschella, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Catholic University of America and Fellow at the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture. She spoke on the detrimental physical, psychological, social, and spiritual effects of IVF on the […]

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Fetal Development Fetal pain Human embryos Philosophy

What biologists affirm

As I was preparing for the upcoming issue of ProVita, I ran across this book on Amazon: Embryos Under the Microscope: Ths Diverging Meanings of Life, by Jane Maienschein. The author claims to be giving a history of the human knowledge of embryology so that ethical decisions can be based on accurate scientific information. What I found […]

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Abortion Contraception Court cases Health Care Reform Human embryos

Does emergency contraception cause abortion?

Recently journalist Linda Greenhouse’s criticized for-profit companies seeking to be exempt from the HHS contraceptive mandate in a guest opinion column in the New York Times called “Doesn’t East, Doesn’t Pray and Doesn’t Love.” In response, Donna Harrison, MD, Executive Director of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, writes “Emergency Contraception Can Cause […]

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Bioethics Human embryos In vitro fertilization Legislation

Legal Issues and Frozen Embryos

Shirley Darby Howell, Professor of Law at Faulkner University’s Thomas Goode Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama, wrote “The Frozen Embryo: Scholarly Theories, Case Law, and Proposed State Regulation” for the Human Life Review (Spring 2013) and DePaul Journal of Health Care Law (Vol. 14.3:407). She looks at possible state laws that would resolve disputes about […]

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Abortion Bioethics Human embryos Stem cell research Uncategorized

Are iPS cells already embryos?

Top researcher: iPS cells ‘probably’ already embryos, have already made cloned animals An iPS cell is an induced pluripotent stem cell. They had been thought by many to be ethically safe to destroy during research and therapy. New research is calling that into question.  (Via LifeSiteNews.com.)

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Human embryos Stem cell research

Pope Benedict’s speech on stem cell research

Here is a link to Pope Benedict’s recent speech on stem cell research. The Pope spoke to participants at a conference organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture on this theme– Adult Stem Cells: Science and the Future of Man and Culture.  http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2011/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20111112_stem-cells_en.html While extolling the promise of scientific research, Pope Benedict emphasized the need to protect […]