September 27, 2017
(The Conversation) – Today, a primary goal of both movements aimed at care of the dying – palliative care and euthanasia – is to eliminate suffering. These are underpinned by the idea that a good death is a painless death. … Read More
September 22, 2017
(The Atlantic) – Willie Parker is an imposing ob-gyn who has been traveling across the deep South providing abortions since 2012. At times, he has been one of the few providers in the only abortion clinic for hundreds of miles. … Read More
September 18, 2017
(STAT News) – The rapid growth of Catholic-affiliated hospitals in the U.S. could significantly reduce access to inpatient sterilization procedures, according to a new study that examines the rising influence of religion on reproductive health services. The study, published by … Read More
August 7, 2017
(Irish Times) – The Catholic Church in Ireland has voiced its total opposition to the use of embryos in research following a breakthrough study by scientists who “edited” human genomes to remove mutations linked to heart failure. Scientists believe such … Read More
June 30, 2017
(The Globe and Mail) – January 11 was the day my best friend, Beverly, chose for her physician-assisted death. After 18 months of trying to outsmart lung cancer and agreeing to stick around through Christmas, the relief in her voice … Read More
May 31, 2017
(PBS Newshour) – A controversy was brewing. Delmonico, a leading voice on ethical organ transplantation, had planned a February 2017 summit in Rome for representatives of more than 40 countries to discuss the ethics of transplanting organs and to sign … Read More
April 24, 2017
(USA Today) – Increasing fertility options for couples who can’t naturally conceive trigger questions about ethics. About a third of American adults say in vitro fertilization is morally acceptable, according to a Pew Research study. The conditions around IVF, mainly … Read More
April 19, 2017
(The Guardian) – Many transhumanists such as Kurzweil contend that they are carrying on the legacy of the Enlightenment – that theirs is a philosophy grounded in reason and empiricism, even if they do lapse occasionally into metaphysical language about … Read More
March 29, 2017
(The Atlantic) – Conservative Catholics and left-wing feminists often find each other on opposite sides of political debates, especially when it comes to what women should do with their bodies. Yet in Europe, there is a reproductive rights issue on … Read More
March 24, 2017
(Medscape) – A recent Medscape article examined rituals used by hospice staff and others who care for patients at the end of life. “Rituals are symbolic activities that can provide comfort, meaning, and support and relieve anxiety associated with uncertainties, … Read More
March 6, 2017
(The Atlantic) – When people believe their lives are meaningful, according to psychologists, it’s because three conditions have been satisfied: They feel their existence is valued by others; they are driven by a sense of purpose, or important life goals; … Read More
February 9, 2017
(BBC) – The Vatican has defended its decision to invite China to a conference on organ trafficking despite its record of using executed inmates as organ donors. The head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS) admitted he did not … Read More
February 7, 2017
(The Guardian) – Vatican officials have defended their decision to invite a Chinese former deputy health minister to a conference on organ trafficking despite concerns that China still relies on the organs of executed prisoners in its transplant programme. Medical … Read More
February 6, 2017
(The Atlantic) – While most theologians aren’t paying it much attention, some technologists are convinced that artificial intelligence is on an inevitable path toward autonomy. How far away this may be depends on whom you ask, but the trajectory raises … Read More
January 20, 2017
(STAT News) – Nearly one-third of Colorado’s hospitals are refusing to offer terminally ill patients the option of physician-assisted suicide — even though voters last fall overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative legalizing the practice. And two of the state’s biggest … Read More
January 13, 2017
(NPR) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered government agencies to expand access to contraception, especially for poor women. By 2018, he instructs, all poor households in the country should have “zero unmet need for modern family planning.” Duterte’s executive … Read More
January 6, 2017
(Quartz) – Despite the fact that psychedelic drugs have been used for millennia as medicine in ritualistic ceremonies, there remain many questions in the scientific community about the relationship between their spiritual qualities and healing potential. Researchers at Johns Hopkins … Read More
January 5, 2017
(STAT News) – A transgender man sued a Roman Catholic hospital Thursday, saying it cited religion in refusing to allow his surgeon to perform a hysterectomy as part of his sex transition. Jionni Conforti’s sex and gender discrimination lawsuit comes … Read More
January 5, 2017
(NPR) – Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s former Anglican archbishop and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, recently celebrated his 85th birthday with an interesting message: He wants the option of an assisted death. Tutu has largely retired from public life, but … Read More
November 22, 2016
(The Wall Street Journal) – Pope Francis on Monday indefinitely extended the power of priests to forgive the “grave sin” of abortion, one of his signature gestures from the Catholic Church’s just-ended Jubilee Year of Mercy. The pope’s move, which allows priests … Read More
October 10, 2016
(The Washington Post) – Now, as I turn 85 Friday, with my life closer to its end than its beginning, I wish to help give people dignity in dying. Just as I have argued firmly for compassion and fairness in … Read More
August 29, 2016
(U.S. News & World Report) – Debates over religious liberty are as old as the republic, but recent policies have reignited the public’s interest in them. Whether it’s President Barack Obama’s signature health care law or an expansion of LGBT … Read More
August 1, 2016
(USA Today) – The Supreme Court’s defense of religious freedom may be on the decline. Still reeling from the death of its most devout justice, Antonin Scalia, the high court has put preventing discrimination above protecting religion in a series of cases … Read More
June 22, 2016
(Pew Research Center) – Abortion is still a difficult, contentious and even unresolved issue for some religious groups. The United Methodist Church provides one example of a religious group whose stand on abortion is not entirely clear. At its quadrennial … Read More
June 8, 2016
Christian Journal for Global Health (vol. 3, no. 1, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Christians and the SDGs” by H. Elliot Larson “Theological Foundations for an Effective Christian Response to the Global Disease Burden in Resource-Constrained Regions” … Read More
