| Table of Contents |
| | Introduction | |
| Chapter 1 | Fundamentals | |
| Question 1 | From a philosophical perspective, what is the value of human life? | 1 |
| Question 2 | Why do Catholics value human life so highly? | 4 |
| Question 3 | What is the meaning of suffering from a Christian perspective? | 8 |
| Question 4 | What does it mean to say that Catholics must follow their consciences? | 15 |
| Question 5 | Are Catholics always obliged to follow Church teaching? | 18 |
| Question 6 | If a Catholic in ignorance of Church teaching does something contrary to that teaching, such as using in vitro fertilization, does he or she sin? | 22 |
| Question 7 | What kinds of actions are intrinsically evil? | 25 |
| Question 8 | What does it mean to say that an action is a matter of "prudential judgment"? | 27 |
| Question 9 | What is the principle of double effect? | 28 |
| Chapter 2 | Beginning-of-Life Issues | |
| Question 10 | Why is abortion wrong? | 33 |
| Question 11 | Since an early embryo can split into twins, is an embryo really an individual? Before the brain develops, is an embryo really rational? | 40 |
| Question 12 | Since an embryo cannot experience pain until several weeks into the pregnancy, would abortion be moral before that time? | 43 |
| Question 13 | Would abortion to relieve the mental distress of a pregnant woman be moral? | 45 |
| Question 14 | Is it moral to have an abortion if the unborn child is handicapped? | 46 |
| Question 15 | Is it immoral to use "excess" embryos for research? | 48 |
| Question 16 | Which ways of treating ectopic pregnancies are moral? | 52 |
| Question 17 | Is it ever morally permissible to induce labor prematurely? | 56 |
| Chapter 3 | Reproductive Technologies | |
| Question 18 | Which reproductive technologies are moral? | 60 |
| Question 19 | Is cloning wrong? | 65 |
| Question 20 | Is it moral to have a baby in order to provide for the medical needs of an already existing child? | 66 |
| Question 21 | Is it morally permissible to "adopt" a frozen embryo? | 68 |
| Question 22 | Is it moral to attempt to have a child when genetic factors make it likely that the child may be mentally or physically handicapped? | 69 |
| Question 23 | Is it moral to try to select the sex of one's baby? | 70 |
| Question 24 | Are ovarian transplants morally permissible? | 72 |
| Chapter 4 | Contraception, Sterilization and Natural Family Planning | |
| Question 25 | Why does the Church teach that contraception is intrinsically immoral? | 74 |
| Question 26 | Isn't Natural Family Planning just another form of contraception? | 80 |
| Question 27 | If contraception is intrinsically evil, why does the Church permit women to take contraceptives for medical purposes? | 83 |
| Question 28 | Is it moral for spouses to use a condom if one of them has the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)? | 86 |
| Question 29 | Is it morally permissible to have sex with a contracepting spouse? | 88 |
| Question 30 | Is it moral to use contraceptives as post-rape treatment? | 90 |
| Question 31 | Should parents have their daughters receive the vaccine for the human papillomavirus (HPV)? | 91 |
| Question 32 | Would it be moral to put a mentally handicapped woman on a contraceptive or have her sterilized if she is at risk of being sexually abused? | 92 |
| Question 33 | Is it morally permissible for a woman to be sterilized if her uterus is so damaged that she could not get through a pregnancy safely? | 94 |
| Question 34 | Are couples who have been sterilized morally obliged to get a reversal? | 95 |
| Chapter 5 | End-of-Life Issues | |
| Question 35 | What is euthanasia? | 98 |
| Question 36 | Is there an ethical difference between active euthanasia (intending the death of the patient by some act) and passive euthanasia (intending the death of the patient by some omission)? | 100 |
| Question 37 | Is it always wrong to let someone die? | 101 |
| Question 38 | Is life always a good, even when it involves great suffering? | 102 |
| Question 39 | What is the Christian view of the relationship of the soul to the body, and how does it influence the moral evaluation of end-of-life treatments? | 105 |
| Question 40 | What is the difference between ordinary means and extraordinary means of preserving life? | 109 |
| Question 41 | Should food and water be provided for patients in a persistent vegetative state? | 112 |
| Question 42 | How should one respond to the request "Will you help me die?" | 115 |
| Question 43 | Are advance directives helpful? | 118 |
| Question 44 | Why does the determination of death matter? | 120 |
| Question 45 | What is "brain death"? Does the Church approve of using neurological criteria to determine death? | 121 |
| Question 46 | What is the "non-heart-beating donor" procedure for obtaining organs? Is it morally acceptable? | 126 |
| Question 47 | Do hospital futility policies accord with Catholic morality? | 128 |
| Question 48 | What is the sacrament of the sick? When should Catholics have recourse to it? | 130 |
| Chapter 6 | Cooperation With Evil | |
| Question 49 | Sometimes health care professionals are asked to perform actions that may make them guilty of cooperating with the evil actions of others, such as assisting in abortion. How do these workers know when they must refuse to do certain things? | 133 |
| Question 50 | Is it moral for a Catholic pharmacist to fill prescriptions for contraceptives? Is it moral for a Catholic nurse to give Depo-Provera shots? | 136 |
| Question 51 | What is scandal? In the practice of medicine, what kind of behavior causes scandal? | 139 |
| Question 52 | Is it moral to use vaccines that have been produced from aborted fetuses? | 141 |
| Question 53 | Is it morally acceptable to separate conjoined twins? | 144 |
| Question 54 | Is it moral to have a healthy breast removed because of a genetic propensity to breast cancer? | 147 |
| Question 55 | What if a patient cannot be persuaded to do what is morally correct? | 148 |
| Question 56 | Does a physician need to respect the decision of a Jehovah's Witness to refuse a blood transfusion? | 153 |
| Question 57 | What steps should a Catholic working at a Catholic hospital take in the face of evidence that the hospital or those working there are engaging in practices recognized by the Church as incompatible with true human dignity? | 156 |
| Chapter 7 | Ten Commandments for Health Care Professionals and Patients 160 | |
| | Helpful Resources | 172 |
| | Notes | 179 |
| | Index | 189 |
| | Question 1 | From a philosophical perspective, what is the value of human life? | 1 |
| | Question 2 | Why do Catholics value human life so highly? | 4 |
| | Question 3 | What is the meaning of suffering from a Christian perspective? | 8 |
| | Question 4 | What does it mean to say that Catholics must follow their consciences? | 15 |
| | Question 5 | Are Catholics always obliged to follow Church teaching? | 18 |
| | Question 6 | If a Catholic in ignorance of Church teaching does something contrary to that teaching, such as using in vitro fertilization, does he or she sin? | 22 |
| | Question 7 | What kinds of actions are intrinsically evil? | 25 |
| | Question 8 | What does it mean to say that an action is a matter of "prudential judgment"? | 27 |
| | Question 9 | What is the principle of double effect? | 28 |
| | Question 10 | Why is abortion wrong? | 33 |
| | Question 11 | Since an early embryo can split into twins, is an embryo really an individual? Before the brain develops, is an embryo really rational? | 40 |
| | Question 12 | Since an embryo cannot experience pain until several weeks into the pregnancy, would abortion be moral before that time? | 43 |
| | Question 13 | Would abortion to relieve the mental distress of a pregnant woman be moral? | 45 |
| | Question 14 | Is it moral to have an abortion if the unborn child is handicapped? | 46 |
| | Question 15 | Is it immoral to use "excess" embryos for research? | 48 |
| | Question 16 | Which ways of treating ectopic pregnancies are moral? | 52 |
| | Question 17 | Is it ever morally permissible to induce labor prematurely? | 56 |
| | Question 18 | Which reproductive technologies are moral? | 60 |
| | Question 19 | Is cloning wrong? | 65 |
| | Question 20 | Is it moral to have a baby in order to provide for the medical needs of an already existing child? | 66 |
| | Question 21 | Is it morally permissible to "adopt" a frozen embryo? | 68 |
| | Question 22 | Is it moral to attempt to have a child when genetic factors make it likely that the child may be mentally or physically handicapped? | 69 |
| | Question 23 | Is it moral to try to select the sex of one's baby? | 70 |
| | Question 24 | Are ovarian transplants morally permissible? | 72 |
| | Question 25 | Why does the Church teach that contraception is intrinsically immoral? | 74 |
| | Question 26 | Isn't Natural Family Planning just another form of contraception? | 80 |
| | Question 27 | If contraception is intrinsically evil, why does the Church permit women to take contraceptives for medical purposes? | 83 |
| | Question 28 | Is it moral for spouses to use a condom if one of them has the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)? | 86 |
| | Question 29 | Is it morally permissible to have sex with a contracepting spouse? | 88 |
| | Question 30 | Is it moral to use contraceptives as post-rape treatment? | 90 |
| | Question 31 | Should parents have their daughters receive the vaccine for the human papillomavirus (HPV)? | 91 |
| | Question 32 | Would it be moral to put a mentally handicapped woman on a contraceptive or have her sterilized if she is at risk of being sexually abused? | 92 |
| | Question 33 | Is it morally permissible for a woman to be sterilized if her uterus is so damaged that she could not get through a pregnancy safely? | 94 |
| | Question 34 | Are couples who have been sterilized morally obliged to get a reversal? | 95 |
| | Question 35 | What is euthanasia? | 98 |
| | Question 36 | Is there an ethical difference between active euthanasia (intending the death of the patient by some act) and passive euthanasia (intending the death of the patient by some omission)? | 100 |
| | Question 37 | Is it always wrong to let someone die? | 101 |
| | Question 38 | Is life always a good, even when it involves great suffering? | 102 |
| | Question 39 | What is the Christian view of the relationship of the soul to the body, and how does it influence the moral evaluation of end-of-life treatments? | 105 |
| | Question 40 | What is the difference between ordinary means and extraordinary means of preserving life? | 109 |
| | Question 41 | Should food and water be provided for patients in a persistent vegetative state? | 112 |
| | Question 42 | How should one respond to the request "Will you help me die?" | 115 |
| | Question 43 | Are advance directives helpful? | 118 |
| | Question 44 | Why does the determination of death matter? | 120 |
| | Question 45 | What is "brain death"? Does the Church approve of using neurological criteria to determine death? | 121 |
| | Question 46 | What is the "non-heart-beating donor" procedure for obtaining organs? Is it morally acceptable? | 126 |
| | Question 47 | Do hospital futility policies accord with Catholic morality? | 128 |
| | Question 48 | What is the sacrament of the sick? When should Catholics have recourse to it? | 130 |
| | Question 49 | Sometimes health care professionals are asked to perform actions that may make them guilty of cooperating with the evil actions of others, such as assisting in abortion. How do these workers know when they must refuse to do certain things? | 133 |
| | Question 50 | Is it moral for a Catholic pharmacist to fill prescriptions for contraceptives? Is it moral for a Catholic nurse to give Depo-Provera shots? | 136 |
| | Question 51 | What is scandal? In the practice of medicine, what kind of behavior causes scandal? | 139 |
| | Question 52 | Is it moral to use vaccines that have been produced from aborted fetuses? | 141 |
| | Question 53 | Is it morally acceptable to separate conjoined twins? | 144 |
| | Question 54 | Is it moral to have a healthy breast removed because of a genetic propensity to breast cancer? | 147 |
| | Question 55 | What if a patient cannot be persuaded to do what is morally correct? | 148 |
| | Question 56 | Does a physician need to respect the decision of a Jehovah's Witness to refuse a blood transfusion? | 153 |
| | Question 57 | What steps should a Catholic working at a Catholic hospital take in the face of evidence that the hospital or those working there are engaging in practices recognized by the Church as incompatible with true human dignity? | 156 |
| Chapter 7 | The Ten Commandments for Health Care Professionals and Patients 160 | |
