Ethics in Religion Commons^™

Conjoined Twins And Catholic Moral Analysis: Extraordinary Means And Casuistical Consistency, M. Cathleen Kaveny

M. Cathleen Kaveny

This article draws upon the Roman Catholic distinction between “ordinary” and “extraordinary” means of medical treatment to analyze the case of “Jodie” and “Mary,” the Maltese conjoined twins whose surgical separation was ordered by the English courts over the objection of their Roman Catholic parents and Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. It attempts to shed light on the use of that distinction by surrogate decision makers with respect to incompetent patients. In addition, it critically analyzes various components of the distinction by comparing the reasoning used by Catholic moralists in this case with the reasoning used …