1

BIOETHICS
Lecturer: Fr. John Maldonado SYLLABUS
PART I: LIFE 4 1INTRODUCTION..........................................................................4 1.1Description and relevance of the unit:.............................................4 1.2Overview of the syllabus..................................................................4 1.3Bibliography.....................................................................................4 1.4Other issues......................................................................................5 2HUMAN LIFE................................................................................6 2.1Notion of life; powers of living being..............................................6 2.2Origin and end of human life...........................................................6 2.3Basic principles on human life.........................................................7 PART II: CARING FOR LIFE 8 3CARE FOR HUMAN LIFE............................................................8 3.1Care for life in general.....................................................................8 3.2Care for ones own life.....................................................................8 3.3Health care workers.........................................................................9 3.4Culture of Life and Culture of Death........................................9 4CARE FOR THE LIFE OF THE UNBORN..................................11 4.1The beginning of human life: conception.......................................11 4.1.1Arguments from science.........................................................11 4.1.2Arguments from common sense.............................................12 4.1.3Arguments from religion........................................................12 4.2Pregnancy.......................................................................................13 4.3Medical care of the unborn............................................................14 4.4Right to life of the unborn..............................................................14 4.5Ethical and legal principles regarding the unborn child................15 5ABORTION: KILLING OF THE UNBORN..................................16 5.1Types of abortion and terminology................................................16 5.2History............................................................................................16 5.3Reproductive Health Rights and Sexual Rights.............................17 5.4Kenya Laws....................................................................................18 5.5Ethical assessment of abortion.......................................................19 5.6Medical procedures affecting the life of the unborn......................19 5.7Religious assessment......................................................................20 5.7.1Christianity.............................................................................20 5.7.2Islam.......................................................................................20 5.7.3Hinduism................................................................................21 5.8Techniques of induced abortion.....................................................21

2 6ABORTION: REASONS FOR ITS LEGALISATION, AND ETHICAL ASSESSMENT.............................................................................23 6.1Introduction....................................................................................23 6.2Unsafe abortion (i.e. illegal abortion) causes maternal deaths....24 6.3Therapeutic abortion: presumed risk to the mothers health.........24 6.4The unwanted baby (unwanted pregnancy).................................25 6.5Risk that the foetus would be born abnormally: eugenic abortion26 6.6Pregnancy resulting from sexual assault, rape, or incest...............26 6.7Pregnancy of a minor or a mentally challenged.............................26 6.8Abortion as contraceptive..............................................................27 6.9Freedom of choice of the woman...................................................27 6.10The womans right to control her body........................................28 6.11Penalising abortion would be an invasion of privacy................28 6.12Delayed inception of human life: ensoulment..........................28 6.13Penalising abortion would be imposing a religious opinion........28 6.14The womans Reproductive Health Rights requires access to safe abortion...............................................................................................29 6.15Abortion shows compassion to the mother..................................29 6.16Other reasons supporting abortion...............................................30 6.16.1Abortion laws are only permissive legislation.....................30 6.16.2Extreme social deprivation...................................................30 6.16.3 Harvesting embryonic stem cells for the advancement of medicine.................................................................................................30 6.16.4Prevention of single-motherhood.........................................30 7PROTECTING THE LIFE OF THE UNBORN.............................31 7.1Messages for mothers.....................................................................31 7.1.1 To parents who aborted a child.............................................31 7.1.2John Paul II words..................................................................31 7.1.3 To pregnant girls...................................................................31 7.2Initiatives to protect the unborn.....................................................32 7.2.1Advocacy................................................................................32 7.2.2Creation of public opinion.....................................................32 7.2.3Education...............................................................................32 7.2.4Assisting expectant mothers...................................................33 7.2.5Others.....................................................................................33 8CARE FOR THE LIFE OF THE SICK.........................................34 8.1Sickness and suffering in general...................................................34 8.2Care for the sick.............................................................................34 8.3Care for special cases.....................................................................35 8.4Care for the dying...........................................................................35 8.5Euthanasia......................................................................................36 9HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION...................................................39 9.1Introduction....................................................................................39 9.2Ethics of Scientific Experimentation.............................................39

3 PART III: TRANSMISSION OF LIFE 41

10HUMAN SEXUALITY................................................................41 10.1Introduction: the two sexes..........................................................41 10.2Purpose and meaning of human sexuality....................................42 10.3Moral disorder in human sexuality: lust.......................................42 10.4The virtue of chastity...................................................................44 10.5Tips on Chastity............................................................................45 10.6Education in chastity....................................................................46 11COURTSHIP.............................................................................47 11.1 Notion .........................................................................................47 11.2 Love.............................................................................................47 11.3 Stages..........................................................................................47 11.4 Guidelines....................................................................................48 11.5 Manifestations of love during courtship......................................48 11.6 Difficulties...................................................................................49 11.7Annex: Three Kinds of Love by Fulton Sheen.........................50 12MARRIAGE..............................................................................51 12.1 Notion and aims...........................................................................51 12.2 Properties of marriage.................................................................52 12.2.1 Unity....................................................................................52 12.2.2 Indissolubility (permanence, stability)................................52 12.3 Offences against the dignity of marriage....................................53 12.3.1Polygamy..............................................................................53 12.3.2Divorce.................................................................................53 12.3.3Free or de facto unions..................................................54 12.3.4 Trial marriage......................................................................55 12.3.5 Legal recognition to homosexual unions............................55 12.4The gift of a child.........................................................................55 12.5 Contraception..............................................................................56 12.5.1 Notion and methods............................................................56 12.5.2 Moral assessment................................................................57 12.5.3 Reasons advanced in support of contraception...................57 13 MEDICAL PROCEDURES FOR HUMAN FERTILITY.............59 13.1Introduction..................................................................................59 13.2 In Vitro Fertilisation: Test-Tube Babies..................................59 13.3 Artificial Insemination................................................................59 13.4 Ethical Evaluation.......................................................................59 14 POPULATION GROWTH........................................................61 14.1Population growth and the family................................................61 14.2Population growth at a national level...........................................61 14.3Population growth at a global level..............................................61

PART I: LIFE 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Description and relevance of the unit: This unit is part of the curriculum of ethics. Ethics is the scientific knowledge of the good life, i.e. what actions are good and what evil. And the good life is what makes one happy; so ethics has been called the science of happiness. It is both a theoretical and practical discipline. Ethics uses the philosophical method of knowledge, i.e. an intellectual reflection from the perspective of the ultimate causes and first principles of being. The scope of the unit is the application of basic ethics principles to issues around human life; thus, it gives a moral assessment on various types of behaviour. As the topics enlighten issues on life, it is to be hoped that the students grow in their appreciation of life, ones own life and the life of others. Thus, the unit counteracts the current disregard for human life: the defence of life has become a problem of pressing relevance e.g. aggression on unborn life (abortion, stem-cell research); on life already consolidated (violence, terrorism, war); on life on decline (euthanasia). While all will defend his or her life, yet there is a growing culture of death of death for others, not for oneself! 1.2 Overview of the syllabus The unit has three parts: Part I Life (Ch. 1-2) is philosophical in argumentation (anthropology), Part II Caring for Life (chapters 3-8) is mainly about health-care ethics, and Part III Transmission of Human Life (chapters 11 ff) deals mostly with the virtue of chastity. 1.3 Bibliography Basic texts: M. A. Monge, Ethical Practices in Health and Disease, Manila: Sinag-tala, 1994 (cited as EPHD). Catechism of the Catholic Church (cited as CCC). NB: this is mostly a theological book, yet in the sections on human life it uses the philosophical method widely. A comprehensive text, it is a useful sourcebook on this topic. Further Reading: Paul VI, Enc. Let. Humanae vitae, 25th July 1968.

5 John Paul II, Enc. Let. Evangelium vitae, 25th March 1995. The Charter for Health Care Workers. Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers. Vatican City, 1995. See the eLearning system 1.4 Other issues Students feedback is encouraged; questions are welcome in class, personally or in writing. The same applies to other related topics deemed of interest. If anyone feels offended, please let the lecturer know (personally or through established channels).

2 HUMAN LIFE
2.1 Notion of life; powers of living being What is life? This is a philosophical question escaping natural sciences. The ancient philosopher Aristotle described it as to live, for the living beings, is to be. It is characterized by self-motion. The principle of life is called soul. Living beings operate through powers. There are different levels of life, according to their perfection; each level can be characterised by its powers. POWERS of LIVING BEINGS
(Last updated 01 August 2009)

Level of life: Rational (aka spiritual, intellectual) Sensitive (aka animal)

Powers:

COGNITIVE Intellect

APPETITIVE Will

Senses - external - 5 - internal - 4 *

Sense Appetites

Locomotion + Communication Vegetative Nourishment + growth + reproduction

* Memory, Imagination, Common sense, Cogitative

2.2 Origin and end of human life Human reproduction is a material causality, which cannot produce a spiritual effect according to the principle of causality. Thus there must be a superior being, purely spiritual (God Himself) who creates a spiritual soul at the moment of conception. This view is challenged by Evolutionism, which is a philosophical theory not to be confused with biological evolution. This philosophical theory states (a) man is merely material, (b) its emergence is the result of blind material forces, affecting the whole universe. Both stances are inadequate, since

7 (a) the person has an immaterial dimension, shown in operations carried out beyond material causality, and (b) the more cannot come from the less. The end of human life is called death, that is, the separation of the body and soul. The body (cadaver) decays rapidly, whereas the soul is immortal, indestructible, end therefore eternal: endless in its life. 2.3 Basic principles on human life As conclusions from the above, the following can be stated: a. Human life is superior to all other forms of life.b b. Every human life is sacred, i.e. it has a connection with God, because it involves the creative activity of God, and enables man to establish a special relationship with God. All have the same final destiny, and are equally subordinated to the Creator. (All are children of God.) c. All people are equal in dignity, a dignity that is intrinsic to every person. d. Because of its dignity, human life should be respected from conception to natural death. This is an inalienable right. e. No one can claim for himself the right to directly destroy an innocent human being (see CCC 2258). Such a deed is called murder. f. The right to life is the basis of all subsequent rights; the right to life is also an obligation, a duty to respect life.

PART II: CARING FOR LIFE 3 CARE FOR HUMAN LIFE

3.1 Care for life in general Human life is a gift, a given, received from the parents, and ultimately from God. No one is the origin of his or her life. Therefore each one is an administrator, a steward of his life, and not an absolute owner of his life. The ultimate owner of a persons life is only the Creator, the giver of life. Some philosophical ideas differ with this view. Thus, John Stuart Mill says The individual is sovereign over himself, over his mind and over his body. This position ignores the fact that the person receives his life, and so with a purpose. As a consequence, life is a responsibility for the person. He or she should look at the meaning and the purpose or mission of his life. Its subjective purpose is happiness: a happy life is a human life. If someone is unhappy, then there is a problem to look into. Moreover, all are called to be promoters of life, of all human life without discrimination. The effort to promote life should pay special attention to vulnerable persons. These are the weaker ones in a society, who need especial help or who cannot defend themselves from aggression. At all times, these are the unborn, the children, the elderly, and the terminally ill. Besides, there are the sick (and the physically or mentally challenged) and the destitute. In some situations, refugees and IDPs are part of this group. By extension, mention could be made of expectant mothers and couples with difficulties. Taking care for life includes growth in social virtues, which enables one to control anti-social tendencies stemming from disorder in the instincts of conservation and aggression. Some of those virtues are love (in its various levels), affability, meekness, courtesy, good manners, etc.

3.2 Care for ones own life (See EPHD 45 notice that the subtitle is wrong) By nature people value life and do almost everything possible in order to protect it. We are endowed with the instinct of conservation or selfpreservation; this is the strongest of all drives. Caring for ones life implies among others:

Caring for ones rest and relaxation: this demands order, time and resources. To rest is not to do nothing, but to engage in a change of activity for a time. Managing stress, following well known techniques: order, timetables, self-forgetfulness, etc. Looking after ones health: personal hygiene, medical check-up, avoiding unnecessary dangers (e.g. dangerous sports). Avoiding addictions and substance abuse (alcoholism, drug abuse, gambling), and excesses (in food, entertainment, work, music, sports, etc.) Deliberate neglect of ones life, health, and bodily integrity is morally evil. The extreme case of this is suicide though in most cases this seems to be the result of psychical illness. On the contrary, harming or giving ones life for the love of others, within the order of prudence, is heroism. 3.3 Health care workers By profession, health care workers are especially committed to the care of life. Since ancient times, medical staff takes the Hippocratic Oath, which reads as follows: I will not accede to pretensions that are directed to the administration of poison nor induce to anyone suggestions of the same kind. I will abstain from administering abortifacients to women. Healthcare is naturally at the service of life. The medical profession has suffered a deep crisis since the spread of the culture of death. Often they are at the service of death! In the words of John Paul II, Health care professionals can be strongly tempted to become manipulators of life, or even agents of death Causing death can never be considered a form of medical treatment (John Paul II, Gospel of Life, 1995, no. 89). 3.4 Culture of Life and Culture of Death The culture of death is the consequence of a materialistic world-view that considers a particular lifestyle, a quality of life as the most important human good. This view can go to the extreme of disregarding the human life of weaker groups. Thus, lifestyle takes precedence over life. When adherents of this ideology take power, they exclude powerless individual from their right to life. This life attitude can be found in politics (election violence), business (immoral marketing, pornography), media (immoral shows exploiting the publics weaknesses), etc.

10 This culture of death is corrected with a culture of life, involving all aspects of personal and social life: assimilating the scientific findings about new and terminal life, helping the media to convey the message, shaping public opinion, involvement in legislation-making, etc. It is a question of defending life and defending science. All over the world there are groups called pro-life that actively promote this culture of life.

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4 CARE FOR THE LIFE OF THE UNBORN

The unborn is most vulnerable member of society; therefore he or she needs the greatest possible care. 4.1 The beginning of human life: conception The beginning of human life is a scientific question with far reaching implications. There are conclusive arguments supporting that human life starts at conception. Conception is defined as the fusion of a human egg and a sperm. Conception is one of the marvels of life. History of science records various explanations on the beginning of life. Aristotle ( 322 BC), held that human life began only after 40 days from conception for males or 90 for females: this was thought to be the gestational age of the insertion of the soul a theory called delayed ensoulment. The Aristotelian theories were abandoned by scientists around early modern times (16th c). The following arguments support the argument that a human being begins at conception. 4.1.1 Arguments from science Scientific data is conclusive: life begins at conception; the following is an abstract from a scientific paper: Based on universally accepted scientific criteria, a new cell, the human zygote, comes into existence at the moment of sperm-egg fusion, an event that occurs in less than a second. Upon formation, the zygote immediately initiates a complex sequence of events that establish the molecular conditions required for continued embryonic development. The behavior of the zygote is radically unlike that of either sperm or egg separately and is characteristic of a human organism. Thus, the scientific evidence supports the conclusion that a zygote is a human organism and that the life of a new human being commences at a scientifically well defined moment of conception. This conclusion is objective, consistent with the factual evidence, and independent of any specific ethical, moral, political, or religious view of human life or of human embryos. (When Does Human Life Begin? by M.L. Condic, http://www.westchesterinstitute.net/resources/white-papers/351-white-paper.) Thus: The new being possesses its own genetic apparatus (genome) different from the mothers; the genetic code (a meticulous program of the DNA in coded

12 language) of the fertilized ovum is distinct from that of the father and mother. The immunological system of the mother recognises the zygote as a foreign body. From IVFET (in vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer): In the case of test tube babies, after the sperm and the egg have been harvested and fused on a Petri dish, there is nothing else added to give the baby life, except to transfer him to the uterine walls of its foster mother. This gives the best technical answer, with no theoretical consideration, that the life of that baby began at the moment of the fusion of the sperm and ovum and not with the implantation inside its surrogate mother (Maxmillia Muninzwa, Right to Life Fundamental, National Mirror, April-May 2010, p. 15). 4.1.2 Arguments from common sense To be a mother means having a baby, born or unborn. However, we dont need doctors to tell us if a woman has conceived a baby. Ask any woman! (C. Davies, National Mirror, April-May 2010, p. 17). 4.1.3 Arguments from religion BIBLE: Psalm 22:10-11 On you was I cast from my birth, from the womb I have belonged to you. Do not hold aloof, for trouble is upon me, and no one to help me! Psalm 71:6 On you I have relied since my birth, since my mother's womb you have been my portion, the constant theme of my praise. Psalm 139:13-16 You created my inmost self, knit me together in my mother's womb. For so many marvels I thank you; a wonder am I, and all your works are wonders. You knew me through and through, my being held no secrets from you, when I was being formed in secret, textured in the depths of the earth. Your eyes could see my embryo. In your book all my days were inscribed, every one that was fixed is there. Isaiah 46:3 Listen to me, House of Jacob, all who remain of the House of Israel, whom I have carried since the womb, whom I have supported since you were conceived. Jeremiah 1:4-5 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you; I appointed you as prophet to the nations. Luke 1:41-44 Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy.

13 [T]he Evangelist Luke in the magnificent episode of the meeting of the two mothers, Elizabeth and Mary, and their two sons, John the Baptist and Jesus, still hidden in their mothers' wombs (cf. 1:39-45) emphasizes how even before their birth the two little ones are able to communicate: the child recognizes the coming of the Child and leaps for joy (John Paul II, Gospel of Life, 61). HINDUISM Expectant mothers can receive special blessings at dedicated ceremonies in their temple. ISLAM Muslims believe life starts at ensoulment, which is a 40 day pregnancy. 4.2 Pregnancy Developmental foetology explains the different stages of pregnancy: the zygote results from fertilization; it travels down the fallopian tube, while dividing to form more cells. It exists for about four days, and becomes a blastocyst (a mammalian blastula in which some differentiation of cells has occurred) on the fifth day. Implantation in the uterus takes place, and it then develops into an embryo, and into a foetus (with human limbs formed). The generic name is unborn child. (See photos of embryos in development: Miracle_of_Fetal_Development.ppt at www.hli.org.) Pregnancy is a lengthy process, interpersonal from the start. A woman conceives, and a man begets. The mother is pregnant, the father is assuming responsibility for the child, and the child is developing. And God is the owner of this new life entrusted to the parents as if He says: this is my baby, not yours: take good care of it. A pregnancy is never a private issue. Some weeks later, it becomes a public issue. After conception occurs, the parents change their status. First, legally, before society: they become custodian of a new member, with rights and duties. Secondly, medically: the mother experiences a number of bodily changes that need specialised attention (the woman is inherently fit for caring for new life physically, affectively, etc.). Then financially: new commitments and needs arise, such as diet, healthcare, clothing, etc. Also, they acquire a new status before God: they are pro-creators, they bind God, they work with God. There is ample medical evidence of the awareness that the unborn child has of its surroundings, especially of sound. This has lead to advising parents to talk and sing to the child. Note that pregnancy is a medical term, correct but partial, useful in medical treatment. But it does not express the full reality. It is more correctly termed unborn child. So, an unwanted pregnancy is in reality an un-

14 wanted child; termination of pregnancy is in truth murdering a person. In summary: pregnancy is a happy experience for the whole family (Pontifical Council for the Family, The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality, Rome: 1995, no. 76). It is a unique human experience involving the four actors mentioned above. Bibliography: John and Rosalyn Muthiora, Celebrating New Life. A Handbook for an Expectant Family, Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa, 2008. 4.3 Medical care of the unborn The unborn require specialised medical attention, as any other person. The generic term for this is pre-natal care. Expectant mothers go through regular medical examinations. At later stages, ultrasound imagery gives a good insight into the unborn. In grave cases, medicine makes use of fetal surgery. This covers a broad range of surgical techniques used in treatment of birth defects where the fetus is operated on while still in the pregnant uterus. Open fetal surgery involves completely opening up the uterus in order to operate on the fetus. Minimally-invasive fetoscopic surgery (or Fetendo) uses small incisions and guided by fetoscopy and sonogram order to perform surgery in-utero. Some fetal surgery can also sometimes be done without either an incision in the uterus or an endoscopic view inside the uterus. This manipulation is done entirely under real-time cross-sectional view provided by the sonogram. In 1981, the first human open fetal surgery in the world was performed at University of California, San Francisco under the direction of Dr. Michael Harrison. The fetus in question had a congenital hydronephrosis, a blockage in the urinary tract that caused the bladder to dangerously extend. To correct this a vesicostomy was performed placing a catheter in the fetus allowing the urine to be released normally. The blockage itself was removed surgically after birth. Ironically, the abortionist lobbies advancing the so-called right to safe abortion consider pregnancy as a case of sickness. 4.4 Right to life of the unborn

The right to life of the unborn is clearly grounded on data from science and on ethical reflection. Hence the corresponding duty or responsibility arises the legal defence of the right to life of every unborn child: society must protect every embryo: The inalienable right to life of every human individual from the first moment of conception is a constitutive element of civil society and its

15 legislation. When the State does not place its power at the service of the rights of all and in particular of the more vulnerable, including unborn children, the very foundations of a State based on law are undermined (CCCC 472, citing CCC 2273/4). The duty to defend this right falls on the whole of society, not only to the State; nevertheless, the State has this special duty since its function is to foster the common good. So, legislation should criminalise and penalise abortion, and the State should implement these laws. Besides, all citizens should collaborate that this right is upheld. This role of the State has been challenged at the level of social and political philosophy. In a later section some arguments against the duty of protecting the life of the unborn are discussed. 4.5 Ethical and legal principles regarding the unborn child a. Every unborn child has the full dignity of a human person, b. Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception (CCC 2270), c. all unborn children enjoy the right to life, d. all unborn children enjoy the right to basic medical care, e. expectant mothers need special care on the part of society, f. all members of society, and especially the State, must do all possible to protect unborn children. Society must protect every embryo (CCCC 472).

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5 ABORTION: KILLING OF THE UNBORN

Procured abortion is the deliberate and direct killing, by whatever means it is carried out, of a human being in the initial phase of his or her existence, extending from conception to birth (Gospel of Life, no. 58). Notice that killing a newly born child is called infanticide. 5.1 Types of abortion and terminology A few clarifications are needed to avoid confusion and ambiguity. a) From the medical standpoint: 1) Spontaneous abortion (accidental or involuntary): it may occur during the first few days of gestation (also termed ovular abortion) or later on due to maternal pathology (it is termed miscarriage). Ethical assessment: this has no moral qualification, since it is an act of the body, a happening suffered by the mother, and not a human act i.e. an act of the person. 2) Induced abortion: caused voluntarily; it is an act of a person. It is also called direct or procured abortion, and medically termination of pregnancy (TOP). Ethical assessment: this act is murder of an unborn, as an end in itself. 3) Therapeutic abortion: it is an induced abortion carried out a as means to achieve the commendable end of eliminating a presumed health risk for the mother. Ethical assessment: it is murder of an unborn, as a means it will be discussed later. b) From the legal standpoint: 1) Criminal abortion: the abortion penalised by law. 2) Legal abortion. Ethical assessment: both are equally evil murder. c) Safe and unsafe abortion: depending on whether it is done in a fully staffed medical facility or not to be discussed later. d) Other types: early or late-term abortion, partial-birth abortion, eugenic abortion (Gospel of Life, 14), etc. A late-term abortion often refers to an induced abortion procedure that occurs after the 20th week of gestation. The point at which an abortion becomes late-term is often related to the viability (ability to survive outside the uterus) of the foetus. Nearly all pregnancies are viable after the 27th week, and no pregnancies are viable before the 21st week. (Wikipedia). 5.2 History

17 Abortion and infanticide have been practice since ancient times witness to this is the Hippocratic Oath of abstaining to prescribe abortifacients. Christianity condemned it from the early times. 16th Century: many laws in Europe penalised it. 20th Century: therapeutic abortion was introduced in laws. Later, many countries passed permissive laws (UK: 1968), de-penalising it, leading to a world crisis in the 70s that has been termed a new killing of the innocent (John Paul II). Gradually more libertarian abortion laws were passed, making it practically on demand. For some cases, in China it was made compulsory. At the UN Cairo Conference on Population (1994), the emphasis was laid on Reproductive Health Rights (RHR). This inadequate definition of health includes access to safe abortion as one of its characteristics, and unwanted pregnancy as a disease. 21st Century: currently the campaign pro-abortion is based on presenting the alleged right to access to safe abortion as a basic human right, to be promoted by the State and offered free of charge, i.e. on taxpayers moneys. The argument lies mostly on the so-called Reproductive Health Rights and on the alleged right to free-choice for all without limitations (at least in the field of abortion). The subsequent step is to make abortion compulsory for healthcare practitioners. This has encountered great opposition, and thus a radical cultural confrontation between pro-life and pro-choice has emerged. 5.3 Reproductive Health Rights and Sexual Rights Brief history The human rights thinking is centuries old. It took a big step forward with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The Bill of Rights plays a fundamental role in Constitutional Democracies, since it guides the lawmaking process limiting the power of the State with regard to the citizens. The major difficult in this logic is the grounding of human rights. Two main traditions are presented: consensus versus natural rights. Consensus or contractarian theory states that rights should be debated upon and formulated through the agreement of the majority. Natural rights theory asserts that the fundamental human rights are inherent to the dignity of the person, and can be known through right reason. Consensus theory is self-contradictory: the principle of consensus is beyond discussion. Thus, it offers an inadequate grounding of human rights that has given rise to a variety of alleged rights such as the right to access to pornography. Consequently, human rights are emptied of meaning, leading to the dismissal of rights under rights talk. True human rights are in harmony with everybodys rights.

18 Formulation of RHR At the UN International Conference on Population and Development, (Cairo 1994), the emphasis was laid on Reproductive Health Rights. This inadequate definition of health includes access to safe abortion as one of its characteristics, and unwanted pregnancy as a disease to be prevented. The conference was followed up by a Programme of Action for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995), formulated the Sexual and Reproductive Rights of women and girls, in the same line as Cairo. It added that the law should protect the confidentiality of women regarding husbands, and of a girl child regarding their parents. It is worth noting that these alleged rights are flawed in its treatment of the rights of the unborn, of the husband (and father of the unborn), of parents of minors seeking reproductive health services, and of health practitioners unwilling to comply. It fails to acknowledge conscience rights. Implementation of RHR UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Target 5b, 2000. Maputo Protocol, Maputo 2003 FIDA Reproductive Health Rights Draft (Bill), Nairobi 2008 USA PPACA, 2010. Bibliography Marguerite A. Peeters, The Globalization of the Western Cultural Revolution. Key Concepts, Operational Mechanisms. Brussels: Institute for Intercultural Dialogue Dynamics, 2007: especially Chapter III. J.A. Peris Cancio, Sexual and Reproductive Rights, in Pontifical Council for the Family, Lexicon. Ambiguous and Debatable Terms Regarding Family Life and Ethical Questions, Front Royal, VA: Human Life International, 2006: 895ff. On Maputo Protocol: http://www.maputoprotocol.org/mp_english.pdf 5.4 Kenya Laws The Constitution upholds the right to life (article 26), but comma 4 makes it depend on a personal decission. Therefore, it is not an absolute right.
"Right to life 26. (1) Every person has the right to life. (2) The life of a person begins at conception. (3) A person shall not be deprived of life intentionally, except to the extent authorised by this Constitution or other written law. (4) Abortion is not permitted unless, in the opinion of a trained health professional, there is need for emergency treatment, or the life or health of the mother is in danger, or if permitted by any

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other written law."

The Penal Code punishes abortion (158 ff; 228); however, it permits therapeutic abortion for the preservation of the mother's life (240) in what is seen as a legal inconsistency. 5.5 Ethical assessment of abortion Data from science: as already seen, embryology clearly ascertains that from the moment of conception there is a new human life, in embryonic state. And also, that there is continuity in the various stages of development of the zygote until birth: we were all zygotes at some stage in our lives. Data from philosophy: human soul is created at the moment of conception. The continuity in the development process shows a unity in the being. Ethics therefore concludes that abortion is qualified murder, a great evil act, since it destroys the fundamental good of the person. It is a qualified case of murder, since the embryo is the most vulnerable member of society. Direct abortion, willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law (CCC 2271). This assessment is an application of the basic principle on human life already discussed: No one can claim for himself the right to directly destroy an innocent human being (CCC 2258). Abortion is always gravely evil, whether as an end or as a means.

5.6 Medical procedures affecting the life of the unborn There are medical procedures applied on expectant mothers that affect the life of the unborn as a side-effect. Such procedures can even cause the death of the unborn child with certainty e.g. chemotherapy, hysterectomy, ectopic pregnancy, etc. We apply here the so called Principle of Double Effect. This principle recognizes that in this imperfect and complicated world, an action may have more than one effect. The foreseen effects of an action may be good effects (in this case, the betterment health of the mother) and bad effects (the risk for the life of the baby). The principle states the conditions under which it is permissible to engage in an act which has two foreseen effects -- one good and one bad. The conditions are (1) the act itself must be good or indifferent; (2) the good effect is not produced by means of the bad effect; (3) only the good effect and not the bad effect is directly intended; and (4) there is a proportionate reason for placing the action and permitting the bad effect.

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Ethical assessment: such procedures can be morally correct if all the conditions are met (mostly: proportionate reason and the treatment does not aim by itself at killing the child). At times such situation is called indirect abortion (abortion not wanted directly), different from direct abortion which as discussed, is a qualified murder. 5.7 Religious assessment 5.7.1 Christianity Bible: The texts of Sacred Scripture never address the question of deliberate abortion and so do not directly and specifically condemn it. But they show such great respect for the human being in the mothers womb that they require as a logical consequence that Gods commandment You shall not kill be extended to the unborn child as well. ... All human beings, from their mothers' womb, belong to God who searches them and knows them, who forms them and knits them together with his own hands, who gazes on them when they are tiny shapeless embryos and already sees in them the adults of tomorrow whose days are numbered and whose vocation is even now written in the "book of life" (cf. Ps 139: 1, 13-16). There too, when they are still in their mothers' womb as many passages of the Bible bear witness 60 they are the personal objects of God's loving and fatherly providence. (Gospel of Life, 61). [Footnote 60: Hence the Prophet Jeremiah: "The word of the Lord came to me saying:
'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations'" (1:4-5). The Psalmist, for his part, addresses the Lord in these words: "Upon you I have leaned from my birth; you are he who took me from my mother's womb" (Ps 71:6; cf. Is 46:3; Job 10:8-12; Ps 22:10-11). So too the Evangelist Luke in the magnificent episode of the meeting of the two mothers, Elizabeth and Mary, and their two sons, John the Baptist and Jesus, still hidden in their mothers' wombs (cf. 1:39-45) - emphasizes how even before their birth the two little ones are able to communicate: the child recognizes the coming of the Child and leaps for joy.]

Early Christian writers rejected abortion; see e.g. Didache (quoted in Gospel of Life, 54); the Epistle to Diognetus, etc. The Catholic Church has, in its official teaching (see quotes of CCC), repeatedly condemned this practice; those involved are sanctioned with excommunication. Aborted foetuses, if alive, should be baptized (CIC 871). John Paul II issued the Letter Gospel of Life (1995) that includes a Biblical reflection on human life and the latest theological reflections on this issue (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/h f_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html). 5.7.2 Islam See: http://www.islamawareness.net/FamilyPlanning/Abortion/abortion3.html

21 5.7.3 Hinduism See file in SU E-learning Centre :\ Abortion and Hinduism.pdf 5.8 Techniques of induced abortion 1) 2) Abortion by Dilatation and Curettage (D&C) In period of 7 to 12 weeks Foetus accessed and crushed; all parts counted. Performed under general anaesthesia. Abortion by caesarean section or by abdominal hysterectomy As in caesarean section but after umbilical cord is cut, neonate is left to die without resuscitation. 3) Abortion by suction technique Use of suction apparatus (a potent vacuum suction machine). It dismembers the minute body. Each abortion is done within 2 minutes hence commercial scale in clinics. Done between 1 to 12 weeks. 4) Abortion via intra-amniotic infiltration 10 to 300 cc of amniotic fluid is first extracted by abdominal puncture. It is followed by infiltration of 20% hypertonic saline solution or 50% dextrose into amniotic sac. This causes saline intoxication of the foetus, who dies within an hour. Expulsion of foetus at about 36 hours later. 5) Abortion via intravenous infusion of prostaglandin (induced labour). The prostaglandin affects contractibility of uterine muscles. This is infused slowly using the intravenous route and takes effect within hours causing the expulsion of the foetus; it amounts to bringing forward the labour pangs. 6) Rupture of amniotic sac: the Amniotic fluid is the nourishing and protecting liquid contained by the amniotic sac of a pregnant woman. By rupturing the membrane, the fluid is released and the life of the foetus is threatened. 7) Abortifacients It is a technical means that acts after fertilization when the embryo is already constituted, either before or after implantation. Such methods are interceptive if they interfere with the embryo before implantation in the uterine wall, and contragestative if they cause the elimination of the embryo once implanted (see Dignity of a Person, 23.) Types: (a) physical: IUD (b) chemical: of two types, first the family planning pill which have an abortifacient effect as a back-up in case conceptions occurs; and second, the morning after pill, also marketed as emergency contraception pill (ECP). See article Morning-after Pill by Anne Williams (12 May 2005) in SU eLearning System, downloaded from: http://www.mercatornet.com/backgrounders/view/morning_after_pill/

22 See also: http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/abortion/fact1098.shtml

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6 ABORTION: REASONS FOR ITS LEGALISATION, AND ETHICAL ASSESSMENT

6.1 Introduction In spite of the overwhelming scientific evidence on the life of the unborn, there are a number of arguments offered in support of legalisation of abortion. Such reasons originate in a variety of fields: medicine, human rights, anthropology, pragmatism, emotional reasons, etc. All these reasons converge in the need to legalise abortion so as to solve alleged problems. This movement calls for the de-criminalisation, de-penalisation, and finally legalisation of abortion. A question arises: how is it possible that often persons who under no circumstances would kill another human person, do support abortion, the killing of an unborn person? The conjecture could be advanced that this is possible because abortion is a faceless crime: the face of the victim is hardly ever seen. And a face is the summary of a life, of his or her history, circumstances, etc. Supporting abortion, since it has no valid reason, becomes an expression of irrationalism and of the culture of death. Thus, the following reasons have been reported from the media: - abortion is legal in Italy if the life of the mother is at risk or the foetus is malformed; - abortion is a rescue method to prevent unwanted pregnancy... it may be used in case of failure of any contraceptive method in use; - the right to reproductive health should be entrenched in the Constitution. The only way we can reduce maternal fatalities is by making abortion rare, safe and legal; - a foetus has no constitutional right; - in African cultures there was a way of dealing with babies born of incest or as a result of unwanted pregnancies. They were even killed; - unsafe abortion has reached the magnitude of a public health problem. In Kenya, abortion contributes to about 40% of maternal mortality. Outlawing abortion will only make the issue go underground and the situation will get worse; - womens struggle for better reproductive and sexual health is a potential struggle for control over their bodies; - [regarding a nine-year-old girl in Brazil] no compassion was shown for the girl, traumatised and subjected to incest, yet meant to bring up another child thought not past [the age of] childhood herself; - [regarding religious leaders opposing abortion], religion, just like abortion, is an individuals choice which they should let women make. In Kenya, the Draft Reproductive Health and Rights Bill (June 2008), gives the following six reasons for abortion:

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PART IV - TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY 13. (1) A pregnancy may be terminated if a trained and certified Health Care Provider, after consultation with the pregnant woman, is of the opinion that: (i) The continued pregnancy would pose a risk of injury to the womans physical or mental health; or (ii) There exists a substantial risk that the fetus would suffer from a severe physical or mental abnormality; or (iii) Where the pregnancy resulted from sexual assault, defilement, rape, or incest; (iv) The pregnant woman, on account of being a mentally disordered person, is not capable of appreciating pregnancy; (v) The pregnancy is a result of contraception failure; (vi) Extreme social deprivation.

The following sections will group and analyse reasons advanced, showing their inner contradiction. 6.2 Unsafe abortion (i.e. illegal abortion) causes maternal deaths Argument: penalising abortion is the cause of illegal and therefore unsafe abortions, i.e. performed in substandard medical conditions. This causes many maternal deaths. Society should no longer ignore this. Conclusion: it has become necessary to legalise abortion so that mothers may have access to safe abortion done in proper medical facilities. Legal and safe abortion would stop unsafe abortions and thus maternal deaths. Ethical assessment: (a) All abortions are unsafe for the child: he or she always gets killed, even if performed by the top surgeon in the world. Notice that the term unsafe and safe abortion is a case of usage of slanted language. (b) All legislation should be in harmony with the moral law. (c) Following the same logic, why not legalise robbery, delinquency, carjacking? it is a case of reduction to absurdity. (d) Ironically, empirical evidence shows that in countries where abortion is legal, illegal abortions have continued e.g. in Japan between 1950 to 1970 there were 50 million abortions of which 30 million illegal; in France in 1979, 155,000 legal and 145,000 illegal). In Russia (1996): 1,200,000 births; 2,600,000 legal abortions; 6 to 8 million illegal abortions. (e) As a side information, the figure of 700 Kenyan women dying daily due to unsafe abortion is grossly inaccurate. (f) The solution to unsafe abortion is penalising abortion and applying the law. 6.3 Therapeutic abortion: presumed risk to the mothers health

25 Argument: it may happen that a pregnancy endangers the mothers health. Therefore the argument is brought forth that it is preferable one person dying (i.e. the unborn child through abortion) than two persons dying (i.e. the mother and the unborn if abortion is not performed). So, therapeutic abortion should be allowed as part of health care. Ethical assessment: As a preliminary consideration, it is a well known fact that the current state of healthcare has substantially eliminated dilemmas accompanying high-risk pregnancies. A true choice between the life of the unborn child and the life of the mother is a rare medical circumstance. At times the presumed risk to the mothers health is exaggerated, including as risks to life anything that affects the physical or even psychological health of the mother. Moreover, doctors can rarely predict with certainty the death of their patient. Therefore: (a) even if the above situation arose, nothing justifies direct elimination of a person. The right to life is much higher than the claimed right to dispose of life as part of the right to receive health care. (b) Abortion causes more serious mental disturbances than any psychological problems associated with pregnancy. (c) Even if the two were to die (mother and child), one should distinguish dying from killing: dying is not the same as killing. In considering therapeutic abortion, the choice is not between two deaths or one death; the choice is between two deaths or one killing i.e. taking innocent life. One should never confuse loosing a patient (every doctors drama) with killing a patient. The first case has no moral guilt (unless there is medical negligence) since it is an act of the body beyond the doctors control. The second case is gravely unethical, since it is an intentional act of the person: qualified murder, the supreme act of hatred. (d) Therapeutic abortion goes against the basic, self-evident ethical principle stating, The aim does not justify the means. A wrong deed done for the right reason is still a wrong deed. The commendable aim of saving someones life does not justify taking someone elses life. (The Bible supports this principle: see Romans 3:8.) 6.4 The unwanted baby (unwanted pregnancy) Argument: there may be situations in which the pregnancy is not wanted; so no one should be forced to continue with the pregnancy. Ethical assessment: (a) to impose wantedness as a condition for enjoying the right to life is dictatorial, as it makes the right to life relative to someones decision, i.e. it is no longer absolute; (b) if a baby is unwanted by the mother, then society will take care of him, mostly through adoption.

26 Note that the question should I have the baby? is contradictory: the mother already has the baby once she has conceived.

6.5 Risk that the foetus would be born abnormally: eugenic abortion Argument: at times it is possible to detect during pregnancy some foetal abnormality; then abortion would avoid a child to be born, whose quality of life would be a burden for himself and for the parents. Examples of this are Downs syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities diagnosed, or when mother contracts some sickness during a critical stage of gestation that may lead to defective foetal development. Ethical assessment: (a) life is valued for its intrinsic dignity (abnormality notwithstanding, i.e. it is irrelevant); (b) God has his own plans when he allows birth of a challenged person: everyone has a mission in life; (c) the rejection of a challenged person is a kind of racism of the healthy (chromosomal racism the Nazi regime supported such views). 6.6 Pregnancy resulting from sexual assault, rape, or incest Argument: the victim has been traumatized, and pregnancy (in the rare case it occurs) aggravates the future of the victim. Legal abortion would solve this situation. Ethical assessment: (a) a victim does not get un-raped through abortion; (b) abortion does not remove the trauma of aggression, but adds a new trauma; (c) punishing with death the innocent child so as to pay for the sin of the aggressor is unfair; (d) the children conceived can have a good future, as anyone else: they are not predestined to evil; (e) the solution to rape is public decency and education in chastity; (f) the solution to incest is strong family bonds; (e) the argument proposed goes against basic moral principles: two wrongs dont make one right, and the end does not justify the means. 6.7 Pregnancy of a minor or a mentally challenged Argument: a mentally disordered person would not be capable of appreciating pregnancy and become a caring mother; legalising abortion would prevent this situation from arising. Ethical assessment: the same reasoning as cases of rape or incest applies. Strong families remove the possibility of such situations to occur; and ensure that the new-born baby is well taken care of. Besides, a minor or mentally challenged girl would not be completely free in deciding whether to keep her baby or not: someone else would decide for her. And if she goes for an abortion, she would suffer the con-

27 sequences later, especially in the case of the minor, after becoming aware of what had happened; or else, her conscience would be damaged in such a way that she may recur to abortion as a routine. 6.8 Abortion as contraceptive Argument: at times abortion and or abortifacients are proposed as one more contraceptive method, or as a follow-up in case of contraceptive failure. Ethical assessment: the act of contraception is different from abortion: contraception prevents new life, abortion kills new life. Ethically, the second is far worse than the first. 6.9 Freedom of choice of the woman Argument: the State should not impose ethical views on its citizens it is a matter of the relationship between personal and public ethics in a pluralist society. Society should respect their freedom of conscience. A modern democracy should be founded on the basic principles of liberty and equality, which ensure that individuals are free to make their most intimate decisions without governmental interference and discrimination. This is called the principle of non-imposition. Now, abortion is an individuals choice, which they should let women make; thus, a woman is claimed to have a right to choose to bear a child or to terminate a pregnancy. Abortion is regarded as a legitimate expression of individual freedom, to be acknowledged and protected as an actual right. Therefore, the State should legalise abortion so as not interfere with a womans right to choose. This is the core argument of the position called pro-choice movement. Ethical assessment: (a) it is true that State and society at large must respect a persons ethical choices, and no one should impose by force a particular ethical view. But this is not the same as saying that every choice can be allowed in society: any freely chosen behaviour that damage living in society must be stopped, even if using the coercive power of the State. Civil freedoms are not a license to aggression; (b) the social rights and freedoms of one individual end where the rights of the other begin, in this case, the rights of the unborn. No one can claim his/her freedom of choice to mistreat others by denying others their rights; (c) the laws of a State must follow the universal moral laws in as much as the basic human rights are concerned. Civil law should be in harmony with moral law otherwise it becomes an unjust law; (d) Freedom is for the good; an evil action is a sign of fallible freedom. If someone uses freedom to do evil, the State has a role to play whenever that behaviour affects living in society and human rights. (e) The principle of non-imposition is already an ethical principle a valid one, within the terms discussed above.

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6.10 The womans right to control her body Argument: womens ability to control their reproductive lives is part of their control over their bodies: My body belongs to me; Our womb is our possession. Legalising abortion allows for this right. Ethical assessment: (a) the unborn child is a human being different from the mother the foetus is not a mere appendage of the mothers body as seen above; (b) the unborn childs right over his/her own body should be respected. One should note that a persons control over his/her body is limited. 6.11 Penalising abortion would be an invasion of privacy Argument: there is a sphere in a persons life that belongs to his or her private life, in which the State has no say: this is the right to privacy. This right encompasses the right of every woman to weigh the personal, moral, and religious considerations involved in deciding whether to begin, prevent, continue, or terminate a pregnancy. Abortion belongs to the private sphere; therefore it should be left to the private decision of the woman, and the State should not penalise it. Ethical assessment: the State and society must respect the right to privacy, avoiding invasion of privacy. However, this argument fails to see that pregnancy is not a private affair: there is a third person involved. 6.12 Delayed inception of human life: ensoulment Argument: the inception or beginning of human life would be uncertain; hence there is no objection to abort before human life starts. Ethical assessment: (a) theologically and philosophically human life begins at the moment of conception; (b) even if retarded animation is assumed, life already exists; this life demands the souls infusion; (c) Neither the existence of the soul or its non-existence can ever be physically demonstrated; but the mere possibility of killing a man-tobe is sufficient so as not to run the risk of doing so; (d) biologically (genetically), as already mentioned, the genetic code (a meticulous program of the DNA in coded language) of the fertilized ovum is distinct from that of the father and mother; this program is immediately activated at the moment of fertilization. 6.13 Penalising abortion would be imposing a religious opinion

29 Argument: neither the State nor society should impose religious beliefs; religion, just like abortion, is an individuals choice which they should let women make. Some religions reject abortion, but then not all follow those religious beliefs. Ethical assessment: it is true that the State should not impose religious beliefs, since religion presupposes freedom: the right to religious freedom should be respected by all. But abortion is not an exclusively religious issue, but an ethical issue stemming from human dignity, to be respected by all, regardless of their religious beliefs. An embryo exists regardless of the religious beliefs of the parents. Religion comes to the help of the most vulnerable members of society. 6.14 The womans Reproductive Health Rights requires access to safe abortion The so called reproductive health rights have been discussed above. Argument: the UN International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo 1994, set a Programme of Action for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). It includes a section on Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health, in which unsafe and safe abortion are mentioned. In 2000, the UN set the Millennium Development Goals, to be achieved by 2015. It included the need to improve reproductive and maternal health (Target 5 b). In 2003, the Maputo Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003), adopted by the African Union; says: States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to... protect the reproductive rights of women by authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus (Article 14, 2, c) In conclusion, the right to reproductive health as defined (at times only implicitly) by those documents includes access to safe abortion. So denying abortion would go against such right. Ethical assessment: (a) killing is not a medical treatment supporting health; (b) It is worth noting that these alleged rights are flawed in its treatment of the rights of the unborn, of the husband (and father of the unborn), of parents of minors seeking reproductive health services, and of health practitioners unwilling to comply. It fails to acknowledge conscience right; (c) ones rights are limited by other peoples rights. 6.15 Abortion shows compassion to the mother

30 Argument: in some extreme situations, a mothers future lifestyle would be severely jeopardised if she continued with the pregnancy. Abortion becomes a difficult decision but nevertheless compassionate. Ethical assessment: abortion shows no compassion for the unborn child: a case of selective compassion accompanied by selective cruelty. 6.16 Other reasons supporting abortion 6.16.1 Abortion laws are only permissive legislation Argument: no one is forced to abort. Ethical assessment: (a) no one should be allowed to infringe the rights of others, yet abortion denies the right to life of the unborn ones rights end where others rights start; (b) such a permissive law is extremely unjust, since it grants impunity to murder. 6.16.2 Extreme social deprivation The marginalised population needs development and education, not abortion. 6.16.3 Harvesting embryonic stem cells for the advancement of medicine The end does not justify the means. 6.16.4 Prevention of single-motherhood See below.

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7 PROTECTING THE LIFE OF THE UNBORN

7.1 Messages for mothers 7.1.1 To parents who aborted a child (1) John Paul II entrusts the souls of the aborted children to Gods mercy (see below). (2) This means that such children hold no grudge against the parents, but intercede before God for the mother, and all those responsible for their death; (3) those involved should do Penance, saying sorry to God who is always ready to forgive; (4) the trauma that follows abortion could be borne as penance; (5) they could become a messenger of life, as it has been reported in some cases. In recent times, therapies for treating post-abortion trauma have been developed. 7.1.2 John Paul II words "I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion. The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly. If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. To the same Father and his mercy you can with sure hope entrust your child. With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people, and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of everyone's right to life. Through your commitment to life, whether by accepting the birth of other children or by welcoming and caring for those most in need of someone to be close to them, you will become promoters of a new way of looking at human life (John Paul II, Gospel of Life, no. 99). 7.1.3 To pregnant girls A pregnancy outside wedlock brings dishonour to the mother. Single-mothers should not be victimised, although the situation should not be considered normal. Here follow ideas of what to tell and do when a friend gets pregnant: a) keep calm, dont panic, it is not the end of the world; b) dont blame the boy if he runs away: it is a sign of immaturity;

32 c) d) e) f) consider your blessing: every child is a gift of God; do Penance for the sin committed: once forgiven, God forgets the sin; offer help to inform her parents, to buy new clothes, etc.; make her consider that fidelity makes up for a fall: a faithful and chaste life overcomes past dishonourable behaviour, and helps to obtain a husband; g) God rewards faithful single-mothers remember Hagar, the mother of Abrahams first son Ishmael, who was sent away and whom God help and eventually became the ancestor of the twelve tribes of Ishmaelites (Genesis 21:520); h) i) pray through the intercession of Saint Margaret of Cortona, a single-mother; j) consider that fidelity makes up for the scandal given, even if it takes some time. 7.2 Initiatives to protect the unborn 7.2.1 Advocacy Legislative - The case of US Federal Funds (different policies between the previous and the current US administration). See http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/newsissue/pro-abort-policy/ Executive - Selection of staff in policy centres Judiciary - Offering legal services 7.2.2 Creation of public opinion Type of arguments: It should be noted that emotional arguments can be very effective to stop abortion: have compassion for the child, you will make it as a mother, as so many did, once the baby is born, it will be a great joy for you, etc. The aim is encouraging expectant mothers. See: Paul Swope, Abortion: A Failure to Communicate, on First Things): http://www.firstthings.com/article/2008/11/004-abortion-a-failure-tocommunicate-49 (highly recommended article, especially to female students). 7.2.3 Education - Dissemination of scientific findings on the life of the unborn. The case of Dr Bernard Nathansons documentary The Silent Scream; Dr. Jerome Lejeune; etc.

33 - Education in the virtue of chastity 7.2.4 Assisting expectant mothers - Pre-natal healthcare - Adoption of children; Malaysias baby hatch (July 2010) 7.2.5 Others - Pro-life groups: hotline, marches for life, etc.: - Therapeutic support for parents of aborted children. - TV programmes: MTV TV Mamme per caso, Sixteen and Pregnant; The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Episodes typically end when the baby is a few months old. (Note: some content is morally questionable.)

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8 CARE FOR THE LIFE OF THE SICK

8.1 Sickness and suffering in general Origin of sickness: - Sin of Adam and Eve: Gen 3:16 (to Eve): To the woman he said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." - Some personal sins: STI, alcoholism or drug abuse. NB: to be sick is not a sign of sin: John 9: (the man born blind) - Natural Decay B XVI: Spe Salvi, no. 10: [D]o we really want thisto live eternally? Perhaps many people reject the faith today simply because they do not find the prospect of eternal life attractive. What they desire is not eternal life at all, but this present life, for which faith in eternal life seems something of an impediment. To continue living for ever endlesslyappears more like a curse than a gift. Death, admittedly, one would wish to postpone for as long as possible. But to live always, without endthis, all things considered, can only be monotonous and ultimately unbearable. This is precisely the point made, for example, by Saint Ambrose, one of the Church Fathers, in the funeral discourse for his deceased brother Satyrus: Death was not part of nature; it became part of nature. God did not decree death from the beginning; he prescribed it as a remedy. Human life, because of sin ... began to experience the burden of wretchedness in unremitting labour and unbearable sorrow. There had to be a limit to its evils; death had to restore what life had forfeited. Without the assistance of grace, immortality is more of a burden than a blessing [De excessu fratris sui Satyri, II, 47: CSEL 73, 274]. Value of suffering - Human value: it prevents pride, arrogance, lack of compassion (Spe Salvi) - Supernatural value: when sanctified, suffering cooperates with Redemption. Often it becomes a wake-up call. 8.2 Care for the sick Ethical rule: Individuals and society must take care of the sick in their midst. CCC 2276 Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible.

35 Basic health care is a fundamental human right that follows the right to life. Distinction between ordinary and extraordinary care: - the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted (CCC 2279). - One can refuse over-zealous treatment: Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate (CCC 2278). - The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable (CCC 2279).

8.3 Care for special cases - Physically challenged: by birth or accident; overcome initial rejection, facilitate movements, entertainment, company. Avoid humiliating. - Mentally challenged: accept it, it is humiliating for victim and the family. Give understanding, learn how to handle the sick; if pathologic, then no logic. Overcome stigma of some social groups; to believe in bewitchment is a sin of superstition. - Senility: value of old age JP II Letter to the Elderly. - Alcoholic: see them as victim rather than villain. Read about addiction. Stages: first denial (Im a social drinker), then defeatism. Give them encouragement rather than scolding; show them respect, help them to rest at home; make them feel better at home than in the pub.

8.4 Care for the dying Introduction Notwithstanding medical advances, man reaches a point when neither physician nor medicine can do more for him. The dying patient needs an extremely delicate attention. Likewise he has the right to be informed about the gravity of his illness, especially about the use of extraordinary therapeutic means to support his life. The Terminal Patient

36 A terminally ill patient must be helped to have a good death, i.e. relieve pain and anxiety; provide moral support. Terminal Disease Syndrome (Incurable Disease Syndrome) Terminal illness is considered as the final phase of many progressive chronic diseases when all available treatment has been exhausted and the vital level of irreversibility has been reached. Surgery is not advisable at the terminal stage. Assisted ventilation, renal dialysis and related manoeuvres are considered impractical, futile and even risky when the illness is already irreversible. The doctor should explain the above to the relatives, etc. Attitudes Toward Terminal Patients The actual concept of terminal syndrome of a disease is oriented to three important areas of actions. Their concrete objectives are: 1. Communication. Information to patient and relatives. Respect for their will. Emotional aspects: stage 1 - rebellion and negation; stage 2 - frustration and negotiation; stage 3 - depression and acceptance. 2. Treatments and specific attention. Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. Palliative care [alleviating pain without curing] is a special form of disinterested charity (CCC 2279). Life support. Feeding, hygiene (Goal: To improve the quality of life of the patient, thus: - a) effective control of pain [the common symptom of terminal illness]; - b) management of anxiety and depression; - c) twenty-four hour watch. 3. Organisation in order to continue giving care. Foreseeing help (Need to establish centres to provide total quality care Hospices). 8.5 Euthanasia a) Nature and Definition1
1

Euthanasia as suicide implies depression or mental derangement generally. self-destruction; totally indefensible, gravely sinful. campaign: hemlock Society (Derek Humphry: book on different ways of committing suicide - extreme cases as common cases - religion and God are against: if you think that God is - foster fear; to die slowly, painfully, pensively - death as annihilation; no future, life, heaven the Lord of your destiny, stop reading.

Euthanasia as homicide (utilitarianism)

37 Euthanasia derives from the Greek eu (good) and thanatos (death); hence it etymologically signifies a good, pleasant, gentle death, without awful suffering. It is defined as an action or omission that by its very nature, or in the intention, causes death, for the purpose of eliminating pain. The intention is good. b) Different Kinds of Euthanasia Suicidal Euthanasia: subject himself with or without help terminates his life. Homicidal Euthanasia (2 forms): a) pious homicide (performed to liberate from an agony) b) social or eugenic euthanasia (seeks to eliminate lives devoid of vital value - to purify the race. Ortothanasia (from normal death): person left to die by omitting medical assistance. Positive or Negative Euthanasia: Positive seeks to provoke death (=homicidal euthanasia); Negative omitting necessary medical support (=ortothanasia) Active (Direct) Euthanasia & Negative (Indirect) Euthanasia: The former would mean to procure death in order to eliminate pain (=euthanasia properly speaking); the latter seeks to alleviate patient of his suffering with a possible risk of shortening life). c) Moral Evaluation Euthanasia in the strict sense is gravely illicit because it implies homicide; no reason (commiseration, humanitarianism etc.) can justify the act. The fundamental principle of natural law, over and above medical science is the absolute respect for human life. Refusal of over-zealous treatment: Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected (CCC 2279). Killing is not the same as letting someone die. Specifically: 1) Suicidal euthanasia is just another form of suicide.
Prolongation of life in terminal (cases) illness extremes - means of sustaining life: nutrition, rest relaxation. man is not expected to sustain his life at all costs no one is held to extraordinary and very difficult means to preserve his life unless his life is necessary for the common good. - extreme pain, danger of death, excessive expense, great, subjective repugnance - summary (photocopy)

38 2) Ortothanasia is professional negligence. 3) Eugenic euthanasia is universally condemned today. 4) Compassionate euthanasia is also illicit; compassion does not change the morality because what remains an issue is the direct suppression of life. d) Vital Testament This is distinct from the Living Will of the partisans of euthanasia; this Christian vital testament was inspired by the Declaration about Euthanasia by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1980. He that subscribes to it pleads that: he be not subject to active euthanasia neither disproportionate nor extraordinary treatment be applied to him should the situation become critical. he be administered adequate treatment in order to alleviate his sufferings.

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9 HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION
(cf The Gospel of Life, John Paul II, paragraphs 53; 34-35;11-13) 9.1 Introduction Medical science continuously advances; a necessary step in these developments has been experimentation with human beings Over-enthusiasm for experimentation has led to unethical practices which can be considered as an attempt directed against man. Now, the goal of medicine is to cure man; therefore, it is sometimes necessary to subject man to tests (In 1885 Pasteur vaccinated the young Joseph Meister to prevent rabies. Pasteur did not know what to expect, i.e. he was experimenting on his patient. All ended happily; but he took the risk). It is then advisable to define the problem in its basic terms by qualifying the very concept of experimentation. In a wide sense, experimentation is defined as any surgical intervention or pharmacological therapy not known or tested sufficiently, applied to a sick patient, in despair, as a last resort in the face of inevitable death. Provided there is prior consent of the patient (consent at least implicit), experimentation thus understood does not present any ethical problem. In a stricter sense, scientific experimentation defined as those medical or surgical procedures, brought with certain risks applied to a human subject, not so much for his own sake but for the sake of humanity through medical progress. 9.2 Ethics of Scientific Experimentation the prerequisite for lawfulness is the following: in any moral act, the object, the end and the circumstances of the action must be good or at least not evil. E.g. one may not perform evil acts with the intention of achieving good results. Thus, despite foreseen benefits for humanity, it is not licit to use contemptible methods (lies, fraud, distortion of experimental data to adjust it to the hypothesis, experimentation of with human subjects without any guarantees, etc.) with the subjects consent [cf. the Tuskegee Experiment in Alabama in 1932 and the World War II Nazi experiments - see Monge p. 167]. From the ethical standpoint, medical science has established specific norms based on general ethical principles. The Nuremberg Code (1947) gives guidelines after the crimes committed by the Nazi doctors: 1. The consent of the human subject is essential.

40 2. The experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good of society, unobtainable by other methods or means of study and not random and unnecessary in nature. 3. The experiment should be conducted avoiding all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury. Later, these principles were widened and perfected by the Helsinki Declaration (1975): Clinical research: 1. must conform to the moral and scientific principles that justify medical research. It should be based on laboratory and animal experiments or other scientifically published facts. 2. must be conducted only by qualified persons 3. cannot be carried out unless the importance of the objectives is in proportion to the inherent risk of the subject. 4. project should be preceded by a careful assessment of inherent risks in comparison to foreseeable benefits for the subject or for others. 5. special caution should be exercised by the doctor in performing clinical research in which the personality of the subject is liable to be altered by drugs or experimental procedures. NB: cloning: cf. http://sagana/chaplaincy/morals/Cloning.html

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PART III: TRANSMISSION OF LIFE 10 HUMAN SEXUALITY

See P. Mimbi, The Overlooked Factor, Nairobi: Strathmore UP, 2007. (cited: PM)

10.1 Introduction: the two sexes There is a multiplicity of human powers. Human sexuality (reproduction, procreative power) is one of them. This is a natural power, so it is wanted by God God-given power, Human beings exist in two different modalities, masculine and feminine. Both sexes are equal in dignity, and are complementary. The sex (gender) is much more than the bodily aspects: masculinity/femininity vs maleness and femaleness. (PM 470) Sexuality therefore involves the whole person and every person, and not only bodily configuration. Physical, emotional, psychological and as well spiritual characteristics together are and should be either masculine or feminine. While sexuality [aka gender] is part of the personality of the individual, sex is merely a part of his/her corporeality. Somehow making a subtle distinction we may say that sexuality as a quality (masculinity and femininity) cannot be applied to animals while sex (maleness and femaleness) can be. Masculinity: more activity concerned; physically stronger; tendency to view fulfilment in terms of struggle, surpassing self and others; inclined to active competition, physical activity, violence and even cruelty. A man is inclined to provide thus when a man looses his job he invariably suffers a psychological jolt. Femininity: the inclination to motherhood has an immense stabilizing effect on her life. The woman character includes gentle warmth; untiring generosity; love for detail; quick-wittiness; intuition; simple and deep piety; constancy. The use of the power of procreation has a pleasure attached to it, as Gods reward and incentive, to facilitate its fulfilment. It is one of the strongest bodily pleasures. It has its own dynamics (Eros or libido), independent from the will.

42 10.2 Purpose and meaning of human sexuality The obvious inherent purpose of this power is the perpetuation of the human family regardless of the personal aim someone may have when using this power. In the human person, sexuality acquires another meaning: it becomes an expression of love. Strictly speaking, spouses dont have sex (animals, do): they give themselves in married love (conjugal union), in a loving and chaste marital intimacy. There can be an abuse of this, as is the case of fornication, adultery, incest, rape. Human love has its own characteristics according to the different types of love: filial, brotherly, fatherly and motherly, love of friendship, spousal, etc. Spousal love is permanent, exclusive, loyal, lifelong, conjugal, and fruitful. It is in this context that conjugal union becomes an act of self-donation. It does acquires a double dimension: it is a life-giving act (procreative meaning), and a love-giving act (unitive meaning) (see PM 478). Therefore, love is always an act of self-giving: it does not admit "calculations". It has to be complete and eternal forever; otherwise it cannot be true love. Due to this double meaning, the proper use of sexuality occurs exclusively within marriage. Only in marriage sexuality acquires its human characteristic. Marriage has a sacred dimension; it is a vocation, a call from God, a way to heaven. Sexuality, in which man's belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman (CCC 2337). One should notice that some sectors of the Western culture hold alternative views on the meaning of sexuality: 1. Hedonism views sexuality as a means to obtain pleasure, which, in its turn, is considered the only source of human happiness. 2. Sigmund Freud considered libido (satisfaction of sexuality) as the source of all human activity; therefore chastity is unhealthy, a source of psychosis. 3. Radical feminism and gay lobbies deny the differences of sexes. (For a balanced view on feminism, see Jutta Burgraff.) These inadequate erroneous views separate sex from love, destroying both. Sexuality becomes manipulative, violent and cruel, selfish possession, dehumanising revengeful, and finally harmful. 10.3 Moral disorder in human sexuality: lust

43 It is a widely experienced fact that almost everybody finds disorderly reactions in this power. Such reactions are called lust, impure temptations, etc. It provokes a person to use this power outside marriage. And, as mentioned, any use of this power outside marriage is always morally wrong, since it affects the use of reason and the transmission of new life. Lust entails a perverted inversion of purpose with means in the reproductive system (i.e, forgetting the real purpose of sexuality, and transforming sexuality which is a means into a purpose in itself). As a clarification: to feel lust, without consenting to it (i.e. rejecting it, resisting it), is not morally evil, since this can occur beyond the persons control. Regarding the origin of this disorder, the Judeo-Christian tradition goes back to the book of Genesis, when it states that Adam and Eve, after having disobeyed God experienced that the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths (Gen 3:7). This disorder is also called concupiscence (see I Jn 2:16). So, lust is one of the various negative consequences of original sin, a sin which affects all the other human powers. Lust inclines a person to seek the pleasure of the use of this power outside the context of married love, i.e. pleasure for this own sake. A comparison with the digestive system can bring some light. Its inherent purpose is nourishment for self-preservation. Hence there is a right and duty to eat and drink. In order to facilitate the fulfilment of this duty, God through nature has attached pleasure in eating As long as pleasure in eating (means) is subordinated to the goal (self-preservation) we witness good eating and drinking habits. Now should this order be inverted, bad eating and drinking habits ensue The evil nature of lustful acts can be seen by their negative results at all levels: personal (selfishness, individualism, manipulation, cruelty, STI), at a family level (broken families), at a social level (violence, abortion, prostitution slavery, deterioration of public health). Humans become brutalised. It is worth noting that the Bible considers sins of lust as a punishment in themselves (see Rom 1:24-27). Thus arises the need to humanise sexuality arises, to harmonise this power within the context of love. This task is done through virtue of chastity. There are various kinds of acts of lust, as studied in Moral Theology, that calls them sins of lust. All are seriously evil: Complete acts: with oneself: masturbation; with someone else (it is called promiscuity): fornication, concubinage (co-

44 habitation, come we stay CCC 2390-2391), adultery, incest (CCC 2388), prostitution. If these acts are done in an unnatural way: homosexuality. Incomplete acts: external: impure conversations, glances, touches, dances, child abuse (CCC 2389); internal: impure thoughts (present), desires (future), memories (past). Notice that the evil quality of these internal acts is also mentioned in the Bible: Mt 5:27-28 27* "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Regarding homosexuality, a distinction should be made between homosexual acts and homosexual tendency. All homosexual acts (sodomy, lesbianism) are intrinsically evil, whereas homosexual tendency is a personal disorder usually beyond the control of the person. This tendency is an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction towards persons of the same sex. ... Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained (CCC 2357). It receives different names, such as same-sex attraction, genderidentity disorder, etc. Homosexual persons are called to chastity as everybody else, striving to control this tendency. In addition, they should try to correct it into the normal inclination. In recent years a medical treatment has been developed called reorientation therapy, with a high success rate in correcting this objective disorder. 10.4 The virtue of chastity Chastity is the virtue that helps to obtain self-control on ones sexuality. Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being (CCC 2337). It is part of the broader cardinal virtue called temperance. Chastity is not repression, but controlling a disordered drive, placing it under the powers of reason and will, and thus humanising it. It is comparable to the virtue of meekness that gives self-control on the disordered drive of anger. Thus chastity is a positive endeavour of gaining ground, growing in controlling the drive. This endeavour (struggle) goes very closely associated with growth in love for neighbour. Part of this virtue entails knowledge of the facts of life (PM 472)

45

10.5 Tips on Chastity Tips on Chastity

Means of practicing and growing in the virtue of holy purity a) Chastity gives one control over concupiscence, which is an important aspect of self-control. This control is a task which lasts ones whole life and presupposes a repeated struggle that can be especially intense at certain times. Chastity should grow continually through Gods grace and ascetical struggle (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2342). b) Charity is the form of all the virtues. Under its influence, chastity appears as a school of the gift of the person. Self-mastery is ordered to the gift of self (Catechism, 2346). c) Important means in the struggle to live this virtue are: 1. dedication to God for love: seek friendship with God; 2. reading and praying about chastity, acquiring the conviction that this virtue is possible to live, easy, and very fruitful; 3. prayer: asking God for the virtue of holy purity with humility; in particular, it is appropriate to pray and be docile to the Holy Spirit, so as to obtain the fruit of chastity (Galatians 5:23); 4. frequenting the sacraments (Eucharist and Penance, which are medicine for our weakness); 5. intense work; avoiding laziness: idleness is the workshop of the devil; 6. dedication to others for love: Purity gives wings to love, A fly never enters a boiling pot, love kills lust, lust kills love (because sin divides people, whereas grace unites them). 7. forgetting about oneself and serve others, avoiding self-pity; 8. organize sound entertainment: weekends should not be an option between boredom or sin; avoid immoral dances; 9. fighting temptations as soon as one becomes aware of them, without dialoguing with them: the best way of rejecting temptations is praying to the Blessed Virgin Mary and keeping busy. 10. moderation in food and drink, giving the body a little less than it asks: practicing self-denial (small mortifications); 11. guarding ones eyes: seeing without looking; 12. care in the details of modesty and refinement in dress, etc.; 13. avoiding conversations about impure things, not even to lament them: it is stickier than tar (see The Way, 131); 14. avoiding the reading of questionable books, magazines or newspapers; 15. avoiding watching immoral shows (television, films). The rule of conduct isnt doing as others do. Christian naturalness often requires that we go against the current; 16. use prudence to foresee occasions (those which were foreseeable) and so avoid them: never be alone with a person of the other sex, unless a close relative. 17. treat girls/boys as sisters/brothers (see 1 Timothy 5:2); 18. having the courage to be cowards, i.e. fleeing from occasions against purity: Dont be such a coward as to be brave. Flee! (The Way, 132). For a living dog is better than a dead lion (Ecclesiastes 9:4); remember Joseph at Pharaohs Captains house (Gen 39: 7). Also, remember the chaste Susanna: scream! (Daniel 13:24); 19. being very sincere in spiritual direction: its better to speak before than afterwards; 20. having a great devotion to Mary Most Holy, Mother of the Fair Love. d) Finally, everyone should aim at spreading this message, creating an enabling environment for purity. Bibliography

46
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2331-2400. John Paul II, Gospel of Life (1995), nos. 42-43. Pontifical Council for the Family, The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality. Guidelines for Education within the Family, Rome: 1995 St Josemara Escriv, homily For They Shall See God, in Friends of God, nos. 175-189. , The Way, Chapters Holy Purity, Heart. J. Babendreier, The Faith Explained Today. Textbook ed. Nairobi: Focus, 2007. Chapters Respecting Marriage and Keeping Mind and Heart Pure. J. Soria, Is Purity Possible?, Manila: Sinag-Tala, 2006.

10.6 Education in chastity Education of children in the meaning of the power of sexuality and in its control through the virtue of chastity is the competence of parents. It is an important part of family education, that includes an overall basic moral education.

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11 COURTSHIP
11.1 Notion It is a time of preparation for marriage; the time to learn if a man and a woman are suited for marriage; a time to understand: - if this is a person I can help to be better, and who can help me to be better. -if this is the person I would choose as a parent for my children. Reaching such a conclusion may take time, but if a person is sure (this is not the one I will marry), it would be unfair to prolong that relationship and stealing precious time from their lives. Courtship is a time of research. It implies a gradual unveiling of ones real personality to the other. A journey of hope by which each learns to respect & trust the other and his/her world; especially his/her family (it is difficult to really love a person without knowing his origins). A school of love, in which a man and a woman, while getting to know each other, learn self-sacrificing generosity with each other. It is a training in fidelity and chastity. 11.2 Love The motivation should be love, before meeting, or afterwards (as in traditional societies where parents agree). True love is primarily rooted in reason and in the will: a choice of seeking someones good for the others sake. Types of love: filial, brotherly, parental (one does not choose the members of his own family); friendship, spousal (following a choice). It is beyond affections: love is not merely a mutual and emotional attraction, nor only a product of our feelings (blind love). Loving is giving oneself personally and becoming spiritually one with the beloved. Uncontrolled passionate feelings debase the spiritual bond, leading to selfishness: an accidental coincidence of desires. Stages: feeling attraction, liking someone, infatuation (strong feelings for unknown), trance (floating, fixation), loving. It should be inspired not by a desire of receiving, but by a spirit of giving, understanding, respect, and gentle consideration (Conversations with , 105) 11.3 Stages a. Personal: Feeling the call for marriage

48 Meeting people: create an atmosphere of wholesome friendship, where you will likely meet your future spouse. Seek company of worthy persons, who share your morals and, if possible, your faith (or at least, necessarily, someone who respects it: otherwise, it would mean that he/she doesn't love you). Choice: (1) look at the moral standing; what can change and what not; (2) matching: education, social standing, age, religion, etc.; beauty helps, but it is limited. b. Courting: He courts, she is courted. He does the chasing, she draws attention. c. Mutual: Informal commitment: going steady. Mutual knowledge: character, family, work, friends. Conquering the heart, not only the eyes. d. Social: Engagement: public commitment (some men get scared!) Immediate preparation for marriage. 11.4 Guidelines Meetings (going out, dating): they should be in the open, not so frequent that they become slavery. Plan and use the time spent together wisely. Need for modesty and decorum. The two should never be alone: never alone with a man/woman, except your father, brother, husband; and also thou shall not visit your boyfriend. Duration: not too short (give time to know each other), nor too long (too lengthy courtships invite temptations). Not to delay marriage unnecessarily: life is an adventure you both want to face together. Those who marry late run the risk of starting the adventure on their own; and the spouse rather than a co-star in the story would be a guest, or even an intruder, in your life. Start at the proper age: maturity. Seek advice from those who want the best for you: parents and other spiritual guides. Study and understand the proper concept of marriage. Have the right intention: to create a home, for the happiness of your future spouse and children; seeking the good of the other person. Pray together for a holy and happy marriage. Mutual improvement: each part should be ready to change for the better; the saying applies Good men are not born, they are made. Treat him/her like a brother/sister. 11.5 Manifestations of love during courtship

49 Such manifestations nurture love. It is a matter of giving love rather than receiving. They should be pure, sincere and joyful; this demands mutual respect, understanding, and self-denial. True love is shown in deeds, in accepting and loving the defects of the future spouse, helping him to correct them. It requires a process of adaptation to the likes and needs of the other, which calls for self-forgetfulness. Physical proximity: expressions of affection that belong to married love are always a selfish love (see CCC 2350). Only within marriage does human sexuality achieve its full sense and perfection as a vehicle for a love that is mutual, exclusive, permanent and self-giving. The saying also applies: Treat him/her like a brother/sister. Do things together, do favours, pray together; and for girls: if you know how to do it... cook for him (a mans heart is reached through the stomach!). 11.6 Difficulties a. Lust: lust is the greatest enemy of love: lust kills love, love kills lust. This can originate in spontaneity of affection, leading to familiarity in physical proximity. Also, dangerous occasions of being alone are easy to occur: avoiding them demands good planning and determination. b. Unfair demands: at times, one party may abuse the mutual love, in the name of justice, leading to lust. Thus, girl comes with tears (I am suffering) born of self-pity, seeking compassion (crocodile tears), and consequently tempting the boy. Other times, the boy may bring false accusations or threats, asking for a proof of love, making her feel guilty if she refused, (e.g. you refuse me because you have another boyfriend, if you refuse me we cannot continue together). Then it is important to remember that true love waits: the girl could retort asking for a proof first, i.e. visit the parents, go to the Church for wedding arrangements, etc. If he is ready for the one, he should also be ready for the other. c. Doubts: the solution is prayer and asking for advice. d. Jealousy, possessiveness, domineering: generosity and right intention overcomes such feelings. e. Preparing lavish wedding parties: this can be a deterrent for marriage on due time. Bibliography: J. Socias, Marriage is Love for Ever, Scepter 1994. Conversations with Monsignor Escriv de Balaguer, nos. 105, 121.
:\96049195.doc.doc 29 April 2004 last revised 20 March 2008

50 11.7 Annex: Three Kinds of Love by Fulton Sheen Perhaps there is no word more often used in our language than the word love. And today it is so often stated that anything is all right provided you love. Now, let me tell you that it is not true, because love is not quite that simple. Unfortunately, we have one word in the English language for love and think of the ways in which we have to use it: I love the New York Nets; I love pickles; I love chickens; I love God. See how confusing it is? The Greeks had three different words for love. The first Greek word for love is Eros, it simply means friendship, human love. Eros was not something that pushed us toward an object, but something that pulls us, that was attractive, for example: the love of a friend, a man or a woman, the love of art, the love of philosophy, the love of the good life. Freud corrupted it by equating it to the erotic, the sexy. Philia, you know it because you know Philadelphia. Philia is love, adelfos is brother, so Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love. Philanthropic, Philia love, anthropos man: love of humanity that is the second Greek word for love, it means love for humanity. It was to be irrespective of feeling or of any class, race, color, or any other distinction. Agape, now we come to the third Greek word, and there is no English equivalent for this, so you have to learn the word A-G-A-P-E it was used before Christ, but never with any fixed meaning, but when a new love came to this earth, the love of God for man, the word Eros would not do, the word Philia would not do, so the Holy Spirit inspired the New Testament writers to seek about for some other word that would express this abounding, boundless love of God for man. You see we have to have a new word, the world has never thought of sacrificial love. It is easy to love those who love you, as our Lord said. But to love when you are unloved; thats heroic. God loves me, now I am not particularly lovable.

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12 MARRIAGE
12.1 Notion and aims Marriage is the permanent union of a woman and a man who agree to live as husband and wife. It establishes the spouses in a public state of life, with social consequences; therefore it is ordinarily celebrated in a public ceremony entailing the public exchange of consent. The social consequences are expressed in rights and duties of the spouses and children, that ought to be protected by public authorities. As mentioned above, due to its double meaning, the proper use of sexuality occurs exclusively within marriage. Conjugal love is exclusive, permanent and fruitful. It is love of friendship in the context of sexuality and new life. From the legal point of view, it is a free agreement to enter a natural institution. It gives rise to a mutual bond. The consent must be freely given, otherwise the marriage is invalid. This agreement, more than a "contract" is a "covenant". The difference is the following: a contract establishes a relationship, subject to the conditions agreed; if these are not respected by one of the parties, the contract can be broken unilaterally by the other party; in a covenant, there are no conditions: it is a commitment to be faithful in any event. Furthermore, in a "contract" the exchange between the parties is limited to whatever is agreed upon: i.e. a specific service for an agreed price. A covenant instead, is not an exchange of goods, but the whole person gives himself/herself. Marriage is the origin of a family. A man and a woman united in marriage, together with their children, form a family. This institution is prior to any recognition by public authority, which has an obligation to recognize it (CCC 2202). Every family has a life cycle: it starts in marriage, it is crowned with children, it experiences the emancipation, it experiences the inversion of relationship of dependence, and it ends with the death of the spouses only to be continued in eternal life. It is meant to be a school of love; there are few better schools of love than marriage. All religions have seen a sacred dimension to marriage. Christians believe that Jesus Christ raised the natural institution to a sacrament. The spouses see each other as a gift that God has prepared for them from all eternity:

52 marriage is the moment in which God is delivering his gift. Hence Christians marry in Church, which is the only valid marriage for them. Marriage is also a vocation, a call from God. The aims of marriage as such (regardless of the personal intention of the spouses) are the good of the spouses [and] the procreation and education of children (CCC 2201). The "good of the spouses means" that each spouse is there to help the other one to become a better person, to achieve his perfection in this life. Children, instead, are a gift from the Giver of Life, not a right that the spouses have, or a decision they make in an independent manner. 12.2 Properties of marriage Spousal love by itself is a total self-donation, self-gift, exclusive and lifelong. This is reflected in one of the wedding rites, that states I, N., take you N., to be my husband/wife ... for better, for worse in sickness and in health, until death do us part 2. Consequently, there are two main properties of marriage: unity and indissolubility. 12.2.1 Unity Marriage is between one woman and one man (one + one = one). For Christians this is very clear: Mt 19:5 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh. They are no longer two, therefore, but one flesh. So then, what God has united, human beings must not divide. This property is required by the task of educating the children and by mutual love, which implies equality between husband and wife. Both spouses equally and exclusively give themselves to each other; and they give themselves completely: a person cannot be given in parts; that would indicate that there is no true love. He who loves is aware of being (even if giving the whole of himself) an insufficient gift for his/her spouse. 12.2.2 Indissolubility (permanence, stability) Marriage is a lifetime commitment, since it is a total self-donation; it is a gift, not a loan (i.e. temporary agreement); only death can dissolve the bond. This property is required by the education of children (a joint endeavour in which they are engaged for life: one never ceases to be a parent), and by mutual love (perpetual, for better, for worse).
2

Notice that, contrary to divorcist views, to give such consent is a most natural consequence of being in love.

53 Difficulties in marriage are quite common; spouses should seek advice and support finding how to strengthen mutual love. Common prayer and tactful involvement of their children can greatly help spouses to solve difficulties. In extreme situations, the separation of spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate. Reasons for separation could be adultery, causing danger of soul or body to the other spouse or children, and making common life unduly difficult. When the reason for separation ceases, common conjugal life is to be restored. Provision is to be made for the due maintenance of the children (CIC 1151 ff). 12.3 Offences against the dignity of marriage 12.3.1 Polygamy Generic name: polygamy (a.k.a. polyginy); polyandry (more than one husband). It destroys the property of unity. It is unjust to the other spouse. Marriage is giving oneself, not sharing oneself. [P]olygamy is not in accord with the moral law. [Conjugal] communion is radically contradicted by polygamy; this, in fact, directly negates the plan of God which was revealed from the beginning, because it is contrary to the equal personal dignity of men and women who in matrimony give themselves with a love that is total and therefore unique and exclusive [179: FC 19; cf. GS 47 # 2.] (CCC 2387). The predicament of a man who, desiring to convert to the Gospel, is obliged to repudiate one or more wives with whom he has shared years of conjugal life, is understandable. The Christian who has previously lived in polygamy has a grave duty in justice to honour the obligations contracted in regard to his former wives and his children (CCC 2387). This issue was looked into by Aquinas in Summa Contra Gentiles, III, 124. Theologians have found difficulties to explain the polygamy of the Old Testament patriarchs and kings. 12.3.2 Divorce [See Mk 10, 9: What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder; CCC 2382 ff] Divorce is the legal claim of dissolution of the covenant to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. It is a fiction of legislation, since it acts beyond its competence. It is a grave injustice. Divorce is different from separation as seen above and from a declaration of nullity i.e. a legal statement on the invalidity of the consent given at the marriage ceremony. Nullity means that there was no marriage: not that the marriage is solved. Both situations separation and nullity are legitimate.

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Moral assessment: divorce is a grave offence against the natural moral law for the following reasons: (1) it brings grave harm to the deserted spouse; (2) it brings grave harm to children traumatized by the division of their parents and often torn between them; (3) it introduces disorder into the family as an institution; (4) it introduces disorder into society, that is based on the family. For Christians, divorce is evil also because it injuries the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble: Everyone who divorces his wife makes her an adulteress; and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery [i.e. the bond still exists] (Mt 5:32; see also Mt 19:9; Mk 10:11; Lk 16:18). He abrogates the accommodations that had slipped into the old Law (see Mt 19:7-9). Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture, since it is a situation of public and permanent adultery. It can happen that one of the spouses is the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law; this spouse therefore has not contravened the moral law. If civil divorce remains the only possible way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance, it can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offence. 12.3.3 Free or de facto unions [See CCC 2390] These are unions formed by a man and a woman who decide to live together and to have children without contracting marriage. They are also known as come we stay unions, concubinage, or cohabitation. The causes of these situations can be various, such as promiscuity, pregnancy outside wedlock, inability to make long-term commitments, obstacles from the family (bride-wealth, customary impediments, demands for lavish weddings, etc). Moral assessment: the partners commit fornication on a stable manner. Besides, such unions attempt against the very idea of marriage and of family, weaken the sense of fidelity, and cause scandal. None of the two partners could consider him/herself a victim ("he refuses to marry in church"): it should have never been accepted in the first place. This situation is not a genuine union, since the partners make no commitment to one another, each exhibiting a lack of trust in the other, in himself or herself, or in the future. The partners readiness for total self-giving in conjugal intimacy is shown in readiness to public commitment in the ce-

55 remony of wedding. As mentioned earlier, the public ceremony of wedding is necessary since marriage has social consequences. For Christians, it is also a sacrament that brings the necessary grace for the fulfilment of the obligations as a married person. 12.3.4 Trial marriage Some today claim a right to a trial marriage where there is an intention of getting married later. However firm the purpose of those who engage in premature sexual relations may be, the fact is that such liaisons can scarcely ensure mutual sincerity and fidelity in a relationship between a man and a woman, nor, especially, can they protect it from inconstancy of desires or whim. Human love does not tolerate trial marriages. It demands a total and definitive gift of persons to one another (CCC 2391) 12.3.5 Legal recognition to homosexual unions Homosexual tendency does not give rise to rights. Existing legislation can protect the rights sought in these immoral unions. While the homosexual tendency is not a moral evil, yielding to this tendency is morally evil. 12.4 The gift of a child (See CCC 2373 - 2379) Spouses should always keep in mind that the greatest good for them is, together with faithfulness to God and each other, the transmission of life as a sign of their love. A child is the supreme gift of marriage. A child is not something owed to one, but a gift: a child may not be considered a piece of property, an idea to which an alleged right to a child would lead. The spouses have the inalienable right to decide on the spacing of births and the number of children to be born, taking into full consideration their duties towards themselves, their children already born, the family and society (...). The activities of public authorities and private organisations which attempt in any way to limit the freedom of couples in deciding about their children constitute a grave offence against human dignity and justice (Charter of the Rights of the Family [1983], 3). Couples who discover that they are sterile suffer greatly. What will you give me, asks Abraham of God, for I continue childless?(Gen 15:2) And Rachel cries to her husband Jacob, Give me children, or I shall die!

56 (Gen 30:1). The Gospel shows that physical sterility is not an absolute evil. Should the gift of a child not be given to them, after exhausting all legitimate medical options, spouses can show their generosity by way of foster care or adoption or by performing meaningful services for others. In this way they realize a precious spiritual fruitfulness. Sacred Scripture and the Churchs traditional practice see in large families a sign of Gods blessing and the parents generosity. large families are an incentive for hard work and thrift. large families do not necessarily imply a lower quality of life; although they may have little access to high cost consumer goods, they have great access to intangible goods (love, care). Notice that spiritual goods increase all the more people share in them. large families enjoy economies of scale. the more children, the merrier the family. large families are a special school of love: they help to expand the heart. If problems may arise for a couple to have more children, then it is morally acceptable to regulate births. This is an aspect of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. It is objectively morally acceptable when (1) it is pursued by the spouses without external pressure; (2) when it is practiced not out of selfishness but for serious reasons (e.g. lack of physical or psychical health, financial constraints, etc.); and (3) with methods that conform to the objective criteria of morality, that is, periodic continence and use of the infertile periods (see Compendium 497). These methods respect the bodies of the spouses (CCC 2370). In normal circumstances, couples should count on Gods plan for them. 12.5 Contraception 12.5.1 Notion and methods The term means to avoid conception through immoral means. The main methods are: withdrawal (Onanism: see Gen 38:1ff); barriers (condom, diaphragms) chemical: spermicidal substances (foam, jellies); hormonal (pill, injection, sub-cutaneous inserts); surgical sterilisation One should notice that ECP (emergency contraceptive pill, i.e. morning after pill), and IUD (intra-uterine device, e.g. coil, loop) are abortifacients. Also, sterilisation (tubal-ligation, vasectomy) is a case of the morally evil practice of mutilation.

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12.5.2 Moral assessment As already mentioned, the conjugal act has a twofold meaning: unitive (the mutual self-giving of the spouses) and procreative (openness to the transmission of life). Self-giving is love-giving: the biological union implies a spiritual union. Contraceptive acts break the inseparable connection which God has established between these two meanings of the conjugal act by excluding one or the other of them. Thus, every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible is intrinsically evil. Contraception is like telling lies with the body. Since God fashioned our bodies male and female to communicate both life and love, every time that husband and wife deliberately frustrate this twofold purpose through contraception, they are acting out a lie. The body language of the marital act says, I am all yours, but the contraceptive practice adds, except for my fertility. So in actual fact, they are lying to each other with their bodies. Even worse, they are tacitly usurping the role of God. By thwarting the purpose of the conjugal act, they are telling God, You may have designed our bodies to help you transmit life to an immortal soul, but you made a mistake a mistake we intend to correct. You may be Lord of our lives but not of our fertility. Pope Paul VI said essentially the same thing when he issued his encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968): There is an inseparable link between the two meanings of the marriage act: the unitive meaning (love-giving) and the procreative meaning (life-giving). This connection was established by God himself, and man is not permitted to break it on his own initiative (see CCC 2370). This negative moral of contraception value arises from the moral object of the act, independently of the intentions of the spouses. Beneath the contraceptive mentality, at times some materialistic view of life can be found like pursuing a given life-style or quality of life, considering children as an asset for the parents, aversion to risk, over-concern on the family budget, etc. 12.5.3 Reasons advanced in support of contraception At times contraception is presented as a solution to problems, real or apparent the reasons that follow are taken from a survey. Notice that most of the reasons have a flawed view of sexuality, separating it from married love and ignoring the virtue of chastity. Ironically, contraception not only fails

58 to solve such real or apparent problems, but it creates new problems far more difficult to solve. Contraception helps married couples who do not want more children. Ethical assessment: (1) the end does not justify the means: a good end should not be pursued through evil means; (2) natural family planning methods are always available when problems (real ones) may arise. Contraception prevents unwanted pregnancies that is, it allows unmarried people to avoid children. Ethical assessment: (1) an unwanted pregnancy is an unwanted child, a very cruel attitude; Contraception prevents teenage pregnancies. Ethical assessment: the problem here to solve is not teenage pregnancy, but teenage promiscuity which is a great tragedy solved with chastity. Contraception reduces risk of infection of sexually transmitted infections (STI). Ethical assessment: (1) it reduces the risk only partially in individual cases, but overall it increases the risk by fostering promiscuity, the major cause of STI. Contraception helps to plan the family, by reducing the burden of many children, and so have stronger and happier families. Ethical assessment: (1) the experience shows the opposite: families are much weaker now than before the advent of widespread contraception 40 years ago; (2) children are a source of happiness, not only of problems. Contraception reduces birth rate, and so it solves the problem of rapid population growth. Ethical assessment: (1) such population problems have been grossly exaggerated, in an alarmist way; (2) realistic social problems should be solved with morally good social policies or else the immoral solution creates greater problems than the ones intended to solve. Contraception allows young couples to be free to pursue their career goals Ethical assessment: (1) children can be a great motivation for parents to strive harder in their job; (2) the trade-off children/professional advancement is not always necessarily so. Contraception reduces abortion Ethical assessment: (1) statistically this has been proven false; (2) the end does not justify the means. Contraception is good for those not ready for parenthood. Ethical assessment: if not ready to assume parenthood, then he/she is not ready for marriage; they need to practice chastity. Enjoy sex without risk of children Ethical assessment: (1) experience shows that promiscuity and voluntary infertility leads to dissatisfaction in conjugal life; (2) babies are a gift, not a risk.

59 Session 11:

13 MEDICAL PROCEDURES FOR HUMAN FERTILITY

13.1 Introduction Of late there has been a rise in cases of infertility; this sad health situation seems to be associated with the current rise of STI cases reported. Research aimed at reducing human sterility is to be encouraged, on condition that it is placed at the service of the human person, of his inalienable rights, and his true and integral good according to the design and will of God (CCC 2375). There are existing techniques morally correct e.g. dilatation of uterine cervix, collection of semen found there, medical treatment, and re-introduction into the uterus. Unfortunately, in well-meant attempts to restore fertility scientists have often tried various procedures that are unethical. Two of such methods are discussed here: test-tube babies and artificial insemination. 13.2 In Vitro Fertilisation: Test-Tube Babies The proper medical name is in vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer (IVFET). It consists in placing sperms in contact with oocytes in a test tube, in a culture medium similar to the Fallopian tube. A large number of embryos must be produced in order to proceed with IVF. The selected fertilised ova (zygote) already in the embryonic stage are then transferred to the uterus. The first case of IVF done by Drs. Edward and Steptoe in England (1978) gave rise to Louise Brown. Regarding the non-selected embryos, some are discarded, others conserved (frozen) for other sessions; yet others are used in scientific research. In some cases the embryo is introduced in another woman, who acts as surrogate mother. In others, donors of are sought for the gametes. Consequently, a test tube baby can have up to five parents: the mother and the father who contracted the donors; the donors of the gametes (the biological parents); and the surrogate mother who incubated the child. 13.3 Artificial Insemination There are two types of artificial insemination (AI): (a) Homologous (HAI): the sperm originates from the husband, (b) Heterologous (DAI): the sperm originates from a donor other than the husband. Selected sperm is medically introduced in the uterus, and fertilisation takes place as normal. 13.4 Ethical Evaluation

60 These techniques represent a rupture of the unitive and procreative aspect of the conjugal act: it is not morally licit to give rise to a person with an act distinct from the marital act. A person cannot be the mere product of human experimentation; he is the result of a personal act of love. The above mentioned techniques dissociate the sexual act from the procreative act. The act which brings the child into existence is no longer an act by which two persons give themselves to one another, but one that entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person. Such a relationship of domination is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that must be common to parents and children. Under the moral aspect procreation is deprived of its proper perfection when it is not willed as the fruit of the conjugal act, that is to say, of the specific act of the spouses union. Only respect for the link between the meanings of the conjugal act and respect for the unity of the human being make possible procreation in conformity with the dignity of the person (CCC 2377). Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm or ovum, surrogate uterus), are more gravely immoral. These techniques (heterologous artificial insemination and fertilization) infringe the childs right to be born of a father and mother known to him and bound to each other by marriage. They betray the spouses right to become a father and a mother only through each other (see CCC 2376). They could be termed biological adultery; they presuppose anonymous paternity; moreover it carries the dangers of consanguinity. These techniques present a manipulation opposite yet similar to contraception: children without sex as opposed to sex without children. Besides, IVFET disregards the legal status of the embryo. Is it a human being or a thing? If the embryo is human, then what of the loss of embryos? Since it is human from conception (distinct DNA, different from those of the parents 3), the manipulation of embryos violates a fundamental right. How could the human individual not be a human person? One himan life through IVF is obtained at the cost of sacrificing many other human lives.

Scientists used to believe that identical twins share even their DNA since they emerge when a zygote splits into two embrios . A more detailed study published in 2008 by Jan Dumanski (University of Alabama), shows that even their genome presents small differences. The researchers analyzed 19 pairs of identical twins.

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Session 12

14 POPULATION GROWTH
Population growth is often viewed as a reason for public policies with strong anti-life contents, such as dissemination of contraceptives, legalisation facilitation of abortion, etc. This topic involves a number of issues; it can be considered at various levels. 14.1 Population growth and the family The average family size has a direct impact on birth rate and hence on population growth. Policies have been advanced to reduce family size. An extreme example of such policies is compulsory abortion for couples with more than one child (as it is the case in China). From the ethical point of view, as mentioned above, the principle holds: The spouses have the inalienable right to decide the number of children to be born. The activities of public authorities and private organisations which attempt in any way to limit the freedom of couples in deciding about their children constitute a grave offence against human dignity and justice (Charter of the Rights of the Family [1983], 3). The family holds priority over the state. 14.2 Population growth at a national level Economic theories have been advanced regarding the effect of population growth in the economy of a country. Both negative and positive effects have been pointed out. It seems that there is no firm evidence that population growth impairs development; there is evidence in both directions. Currently, the emergent economic powers in the world are countries with a very large population (China, India, Brazil, Mexico). From a theoretical point of view, it can be affirmed that problems arising from population growth can be solved, as any other social problem: there is no reason to conclude that are unsolvable. From the ethical perspective, the general principle stands: all public policy must conform to ethical norms. Otherwise, immoral policies are unjust and imply an abuse of authority. Ultimately, immoral policies cause greater damages than the problems intended to solve. 14.3 Population growth at a global level In a theist creationist perspective, to contemplate a global shortage of vital re-

62 sources contradicts the perfection of Gods Wisdom in Creation and in his Providence. The human capacity to acquire knowledge, theoretical and practical, has no limitation: man is open to infinity (finitus capax infiniti). One can trust that man will solve new problems as they arise, originating from population growth or from any other source. A sign of this is the tremendous advance in technology experienced in the Twentieth Century: there is no reason to think that this advance will stop. Finally, every new mouth to feed brings a new mind to think and two new hands to work. The person is also a producer, and not only a consumer: he is the ultimate resource the title of Julian Simons celebrated book.

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