Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 197 : Eugenics, Forced Sterilization, and Protecting the Mentally-Challenged

...the solution should never be direct sterilization but tailored care that addresses their specific mental health situation...

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationNovember 30, 2021Human Sexuality, Birth Control and Contraception, Disabilities and the Disabled, Eugenics, Sterilization

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 196 : New Cures from Embryonic Stem Cells?

Receiving a diabetes treatment produced with embryonic stem cells signals a willingness on our part to tolerate the killing of younger human beings in order to benefit others who are older.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationOctober 29, 2021Abortion, Cooperation in Evil, COVID-19, Embryos, Fetal Tissue Harvesting, Stem Cell Research, Vaccines and Vaccination

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 195 : Sexual Atoms and Molecules

Sex touches us at a deeper level than other activities, binding us to another. It speaks a language not of autonomy, but of communion and enduring self-gift.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationSeptember 30, 2021Informed Consent, Human Sexuality, Premarital Sex, Sex Education

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 194 : Decisions of Consequence

Each day for us involves a walk along the threshold of eternity, through small and not-so-small gestures, even though we may not always see the full implications of each of our decisions.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationAugust 30, 2021Abortion, Conscience, RU-486

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 193: The Moral Analysis of Boxing

It is important for us to inquire about the intended purpose or goal of boxing.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationJuly 30, 2021Disabilities and the Disabled, Ethics of Athletics and Sports

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 192 : What Young People Could Most Profit From Hearing About Marriage

The commitments we make and faithfully fulfill are a source of stability and strength.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationJune 30, 2021Marriage, Parenting, Premarital Sex

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 191 : Challenging the Establishment on Childhood Gender Transitions

Vulnerable young people, caught up in the pressure of the moment, have too easily been drawn into life-altering pathways involving medications and scalpels with their frequently irreversible effects.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationMay 28, 2021Bodily Enhancement-Mutilation, Medical Profession — Ethics and Pastoral-Spiritual, Parenting, Gender Identity and Being Transgender, Universal Morality

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 190 : Vaccine Mandates and Catholic Colleges

Instead of imposing the requirement to get vaccinated, leaders would do better to share and explain to students the benefits and risks of vaccinations — scientific and ethical — to help them decide.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationApril 30, 2021COVID-19, Vaccines and Vaccination, Conscience Rights

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 189 : Countering Catholic Misinformation About Vaccines

But Catholics have to be on guard against anti-science prophets, no matter how well meaning, and the false witness they bear.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationMarch 31, 2021COVID-19, Vaccines and Vaccination, Abortion

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 188 : Should We Take Whatever Vaccine is Offered?

These considerations show us how it is important not to gloss over the distinctions among various COVID-19 vaccines.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationFebruary 26, 2021COVID-19, Vaccines and Vaccination

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 187 : The “Quality of Life” Error

Our focus should be on the benefits and burdens of a proposed medical intervention rather than on trying to impose our own conclusion that certain individuals no longer have enough value or meaning in their lives.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationJanuary 29, 2021Caring for the Elderly and Infirm, Death and Dying, Disabilities and the Disabled, End-of-Life Issues, Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia, Pain Management-Palliative Care and Hospice

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 186 : Vaccines and Other Entanglements with Abortion

I’m often asked whether sample letters are available to help with writing to vaccine manufacturers who use abortion-derived cell lines.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationDecember 30, 2020COVID-19, Vaccines and Vaccination, Abortion

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 185 : Must Catholics Refuse a COVID-19 Vaccine Made with a Cell Line from an Abortion?

If we end up facing a choice among multiple COVID-19 vaccines of similar or equal safety and efficacy, as appears likely, it will clearly be preferable to choose alternatives with a better ethical profile.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationNovember 30, 2020COVID-19, Vaccines and Vaccination, Conscience, Abortion

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 184: Should I Get Vaccinated?

When a vaccine is determined to be safe and effective, it will often make sense for healthy individuals to choose, on their own initiative, to get immunized.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationOctober 30, 2020COVID-19, Vaccines and Vaccination, Conscience Rights, Fetal Tissue Harvesting

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 183: Is Mandating a COVID-19 Vaccine Ethical?

Coercion through a universal vaccine mandate raises ethical concerns, especially when appropriate exemptions are unavailable.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationSeptember 30, 2020COVID-19, Vaccines and Vaccination, Conscience and Civil Liberties

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 182: COVID-19 Vaccine Myths

…we shouldn’t argue against vaccines in ways that make neither ethical nor scientific sense.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationAugust 28, 2020Vaccines and Vaccination, COVID-19

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 181: Tragedies in Human Medical Experimentation

Many questioned how such ethically offensive research could have continued unabated for so many decades.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationJuly 30, 2020Eugenics, Research

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 180: Language — Veiling or Unveiling Moral Truth?

The careful hijacking of language by purveyors of wrongdoing is a widely-deployed tactic in the battle for the soul of every culture.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationJune 30, 2020Human Sexuality, Imposing Our Beliefs, Natural Law, Universal Morality, Conscience, Bodily Enhancement-Mutilation, Medical Profession — Ethics and Pastoral-Spiritual

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 179: Spiritual Lessons from the Pandemic

While scientists may promise new treatments, and politicians may promise safety through contact tracing and lockdowns, these measures are stopgaps in the face of our larger human questions.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationMay 30, 2020COVID-19, Suffering

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 178: Accelerating Vaccine Development

Vaccines are real “game changers” in public health. As a society, we must continue to insist that vaccine development and production be held to the highest ethical standards.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD—Director of EducationApril 30, 2020COVID-19, Vaccines and Vaccination, Research Ethics, Fetal Tissue Harvesting, Research

“Making Sense of Bioethics” CMS