Fifty Years of The National Catholic Bioethics Center

Fifty years is a venerable age for a bioethics center, especially since the academic discipline only came into being in the 1970s. The original name of the NCBC when we were founded in 1972 was the Pope John XXIII Medical-Moral Research and Education Center. It was the year before Roe v. Wade unleashed abortion-on-demand across the USA. We are fervently praying that 2022 will be the year that the US Supreme Court reverses itself and allows states to ban abortion again. Yet, even if the enormous ethical issue of abortion moves towards resolution, there are vast and growing areas where bioethical reasoning and guidance are needed in health care and biomedical research. The COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, has led to the busiest time in our Center’s history.

Making a Mockery of Scientific Research Ethics

Anyone who understands the scientific fact that human life begins at the moment of conception, and who agrees that human beings have rights, cannot accept as ethical the process of creating human embryos in laboratories with the full knowledge they will die or be killed at either 14 or 28 days.

Cancelling the NIH Research Ethics Advisory Board

As a bioethicist I find it unconscionable and astonishing that ethics review of significant scientific research projects is seen as unnecessary by officials at the highest levels in our country.

Discerning Ordinary vs. Extraordinary Means in Catholic Bioethics

One of the most important tasks in bioethics is distinguishing between ordinary and extraordinary means when it comes to medical care. The reason this distinction is so vital is that Catholics have a moral obligation to receive ordinary care for themselves and give it to others. What is deemed to be extraordinary is morally optional; persons can choose if they do or do not want to receive such care.

Catholics, Bioethics & Voting

Catholics, like all other citizens of the United States of America, have a duty to participate in our representative form of government by informing themselves about the issues and stances of candidates and then voting.

Samaritanus bonus

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) recently issued a letter, Samaritanus bonus: on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life. This document from the Church provides important guidance about the Catholic view of end of life care. It notes with regret that we live in an age when euthanasia and assisted suicide are growing threats and temptations to people all over the world.

In Catholic Bioethics All Human Lives Are Precious

The difference between the Catholic perspective on the dignity and rights of human persons and those of many secular and liberal thinkers seems to be widening. The COVID-19 pandemic and recent events have only served to make the contrast even more stark between truly Catholic health care and other visions of public health or medicine.

Why Study Bioethics?

The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) exists to promote and defend God’s plan for creation and the dignity of the human person as championed by the Catholic Church. It is an exciting and a vital mission in our day when so many scientific discoveries and cultural trends attack and exploit vulnerable human beings and the very order of nature.

My Vision for Bioethics

The world needs education about bioethics because most people still do not know what a bioethicist does. Even some health care professionals have only vague ideas about it.

The Culture of Life Will Triumph over COVID-19 with More Babies

We are experiencing the kind of massive cultural and social shock that makes people ask themselves the deeper questions that are easily put off or ignored in day-to-day living. Many people will give pro-life and procreative answers to those questions. Seeking out positive tidings is important when so much news is negative and fear-inducing.

The Moral Mind