Bioethics and Medical Ethics Commons^™

A Request For Non-Voluntary Euthanasia In Bangladesh: A Moral Assessment, Norman K. Swazo

Bioethics in Faith and Practice

Government authorities in Bangladesh recently were placed in an awkward and extraordinary position of having to make a presumably difficult decision: how to respond to a man’s request to have his two sons and grandson euthanized. This is an extraordinary request for a developing country’s health service authorities to consider, especially in the context of a Muslim-majority population where any appeal to the legitimacy of suicide (and, by extension, physician-assisted suicide) would be automatically rejected as contrary to Islamic moral and jurisprudential principles. Here the case is reviewed in the context of arguments that engage non-voluntary euthanasia and the local …

Method In Catholic Bioethics: Anh And Pvs Patients, Gregory J. Smith

Bioethics in Faith and Practice

This paper discusses the methods used in Catholic Social Teaching (CST), a part of the Catholic Moral Tradition (CMT), as applied to bioethical problem solving and decision-making. In order to apply CST to a concrete bioethical problem and to analyze the methods used in CST, the nature and extent of the obligation to provide artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH) to patients in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) is addressed. In particular, this paper focuses upon the extent to which providing ANH to PVS patients is or should be considered morally obligatory. In this discussion, the current official view of the …

Luther's Existential Imago Dei, The Deprivation Thesis, And Sanctity Of Life, Tyler M. John

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

On Ryan Peterson’s reading of Martin Luther, the imago Dei (iD) is a human’s capacity to experience God. Traditionally, Christians have understood the iD to be a property that a) qualitatively separates all human beings from all non-human animals and b) gives humans a greater moral worth than non-human animals. If Peterson’s Luther is right, humans made in the iD and no other material created things have the capacity to experience God, and this capacity makes them worth more, morally, than non-human animals.

I defend this conception of the distinctness of humans by demonstrating the following: For any human being …

End Of Life And Saving Souls: Should A Desire For Converts Influence End-Of-Life Ethics?, Michelle E. Frazer

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

In 1 Timothy 2:3, Paul states “God our Savior… wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (NIV). In keeping with God’s desire for the salvation of all, Christians should work towards that goal. From an evangelical Christian perspective, upon death, the status of one’s soul is fixed, bound either for heaven or hell.

This perspective should deeply influence our interactions with unbelievers, not only encouraging us to share the gospel, but also giving us an incentive to delay their physical death. Indeed, according to 2 Peter 3:9, the reason God is delaying …

End Of Life And Saving Souls: Should A Desire For Converts Influence End-Of-Life Ethics?, Michelle E. Frazer

Student Papers

In 1 Timothy 2:3, Paul states “God our Savior… wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (NIV). In keeping with God’s desire for the salvation of all, Christians should work towards that goal. From an evangelical Christian perspective, upon death, the status of one’s soul is fixed, bound either for heaven or hell.

This perspective should deeply influence our interactions with unbelievers, not only encouraging us to share the gospel, but also giving us an incentive to delay their physical death. Indeed, according to 2 Peter 3:9, the reason God is delaying …

Morality Of Contraceptives Based On When Personhood Begins, Joella R. Gerber

Student Papers

The use of contraceptives has been controversial in recent days, especially concerning the government mandate for insurance and health care companies to financially cover contraceptives for their policy holders. The term ‘contraceptive’ includes anything that deliberately prevents conception or impregnation, including condoms, birth control pills, intrauterine methods, and barrier methods (Merriam-Webster, 2013). The morality of contraception largely hinges on the belief of when personhood begins.