Amicus CompassCare Pregnancy Services (“CompassCare”) is a religiously motivated non-profit pregnancy care center with a principal place of business in Rochester, New York.

AHM v. FDA

Amici curiae are a preeminent group of organizations devoted to addressing important social and ethical issues—including healthcare decisions involving moral and bioethical concerns—and represent knowledge and experience across various disciplines.

NCBC Joins Other Organizations in Support of the State of Idaho's Defense of Life Act Challenged by the Biden Administration

See Amicus Brief, attached. The case will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on April 25, 2024. See alert by Alliance Defensing Freedom, which provides Live Stream Access to the hearing.

NCBC Joined with Colleague Agencies in Advocating for Life Affirming Language in National Institutes of Health [NIH] Mission Statement

USCCB ERD Promulgation Form

FAQs and SummariesThe National Catholic Bioethics CenterFebruary 28, 2022Catholic Health Care, Professional Guidance, Consultation, Cooperation and Double Effect, Conscience and Civil Liberties

Summary of Triage Principles and Applications for Catholic Health Care Organizations

Triage protocols can be ethically appropriate when a genuine crisis situation arises, the demand for resources (e.g., space, staff, and equipment) surpasses availability, and other reasonable efforts to increase supply fail to meet the need. This resource is a summary of our full “Triage Protocol Guidelines.”

Triage Protocol Guidelines

Triage protocols can be ethically appropriate when a genuine crisis situation arises, the demand for resources (e.g., space, staff, and equipment) surpasses availability, and other reasonable efforts to increase supply fail to meet the need. They must be built on a proper, principled moral framework, such as this set of guidelines offered by the NCBC.

Ethical Concerns with COVID-19 Triage Protocols

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, The National Catholic Bioethics Center has fielded numerous questions regarding COVID-19 triage protocols. We have reviewed a number of such protocols from both Catholic and secular sources; and while we do not question the need for appropriate policies or question the good motives of their authors, we do have concerns.

We offer this document to alert Catholic (and other) health care providers of elements within these protocols that may conflict with an institution’s mission and Catholic identity.

Points to Consider: Triage in the Perspective of Catholic Bioethics

Triage is an organized process of determining the priority of treating patients based on the severity of their condition. Closely linked to triage in times of crisis or during emergency events is rationing, the controlled allocation of medical equipment, services, or resources, including the time and attention of health care professionals. As the pandemic spreads in breadth and depth, people are beginning to call for programs of triage and rationing of health care. How should Catholic health care professionals and administrators address these issues?

Moral Choices When Not All Can Be Saved

In a PowerPoint presentation produced during the SARS epidemic, Marie Hilliard offers notes on the willingness of health care professionals to care for patients in an epidemic, the problem of medical negligence, and the general duty of human beings to care for each other. She discusses various moral frameworks for decision making, rules of triage, and the challenge of rationing.

The Duty to Care

NCBC senior fellow Marie Hilliard discusses the standards of care for health care workers during a pandemic. The article was written during the avian flu crisis of several years ago, but the moral reasoning remains unchanged. She also discusses philosophical underpinnings of the moral duty to care, triage, virtue, and heroism.

NCBC Statement on the COVID-19 Pandemic

We at The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) wish to convey to our many contacts, benefactors, and friends our continued resolve to serve as a trusted source of ethical counsel and information as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds globally.