The Biden Scorecard: Abortion

Five months into the Biden presidency, the administration has demonstrated a dedication to expanding access to and funding for abortion both in the United States and abroad. This is antithetical to the administration’s repeated claim that President Biden is a devout Catholic, as abortion is considered an intrinsic evil under Catholic teaching. His appointments, executive actions, and proposed budget all suggest that the administration will accept no limits on abortion and will, in fact, work to expand both funding and access throughout his presidency.

Revising the ERDs for the 21st Century

Since their inception in 1948, The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDs) have guided Catholic health care ministries in the United States, aiding in the application of Catholic moral tradition to modern health care delivery. The ERDs have undergone two major revisions in that time, with about twenty years separating each revision. The first came in 1971 and the second came twenty-six years ago, in 1995. As such, a third major revision is due and will likely be undertaken soon.

The Ethics of COVID-19 Vaccine Passports

COVID-19 vaccine passports run the risk of creating a divided society where social privileges or restrictions based on “fitness” lead to discrimination based on immunization status. Individuals have a strong right to be free of coercion to take a COVID-19 vaccine, and we should be very leery of further invasion of private medical decisions. These concerns are shared both internationally and in the United States, and the World Health Organization, the Biden administration, and many US governors oppose COVID-19 vaccine credentials. In addition, regulations for COVID-19 vaccine credentials face practical barriers, including lack of access globally, especially among the poor; and lack of scientific data on the efficacy of these vaccines.

Response to Austriaco on Vaccine Passports

This essay clarifies the author’s objections to COVID-19 vaccine credentials voiced in “The Ethics of COVID-19 Vaccine Passports.” The author’s objections centered on discriminatory practices based on vaccine status for domestic social and work activities, but he agrees with the World Health Organization that these credentials should not be required for international travel. In addition, there is a significant ethical different between currently available COVID-19 vaccines and the yellow fever vaccine because the former are produced or tested using abortion-derived cell lines. The yellow fever vaccine is much less ethically problematic. This situation could change with the approval of new COVID-19 vaccines without links to abortion-derived cell lines.

Pandemic Visitation Restrictions at the End of Life

Dying today looks dramatically different than it did a century ago, largely due to wider treatment options and more specialized medical practices. Often missing from these advancements is the focus on factors relative to a patient’s total circumstances. Especially in light of the recent pandemic, it is incumbent upon Catholic health care providers to treat who whole person rather than simply focus on more utilitarian philosophies of care.

Reflections on Revising Part 3 of the ERDs

This article is fourth in a series on the Ethical and Religious Directives, examining their formation, structure, and potential revisions to the directives. Part three, “The Professional—Patient Relationship,” is the focus of this installment. It covers directives specific to caring for individuals, as well as new issues that have arisen since the last major revision of the directives. This article gives valuable insight on both the past and potential future of the ERDs.

Protecting Patient Goals in Palliative Care and Hospice

Palliative care and hospice, while distinct programs, are quite often given to the same individuals. The complexities of achieving goal-oriented care often lead to utilitarian ethics in health care, particularly as societal respect for human life and dignity weakens. This article examines these complexities with a particular emphasis on ensuring personalized care from physicians who know the goals of the patient.

The Vital Importance of Conscientious Discernment

Conscientious discernment—which involves the ability to see right and wrong clearly—is an important task that all people must undertake on a daily basis. It is difficult to properly form one’s conscience, which is not a feeling or a mere moral intuition. To the contrary, it is rooted in object truth and reason; and through conscience, a person recognizes the morality, or immorality, of an act. As a result, moral education—teaching the difference between virtue and sin—is a crucial responsibility of parents. But young people are highly sensitive to hypocrisy, so we must live as examples, resisting complacency and continuing to form our consciences throughout our lives.

Points to Consider on the Use of COVID-19 Vaccines

The NCBC recognizes an ethical hierarchy among COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccines that do not use abortion-derived cell lines in any phase of design, manufacture, or testing are the best ethical choice if they are reasonably available, safe, and effective. Vaccines that do not use abortion-derived cell lines in the manufacturing process but did use them at one point in development, such as for confirmatory testing, are preferable to those that utilize abortion-derived cell lines in more than one phase of development and, in particular, in the manufacturing process. Nonetheless, for grave reasons, people could decide in good conscience to accept vaccines that use abortion-derived cell lines in their development and production to protect their own lives and health and that of others in the absence of any satisfactory alternative. The use of an ethically problematic vaccine, however, may be done only “under protest.”

The Use of Preferred Gender Pronouns

Some Catholic institutions have adopted policies of using persons’ preferred gender pronouns. But is this the best response? The use of preferred gender pronouns would constitute formal cooperation in a falsehood about a person because the body is an integral part of the revelation of who the person is both to himself or herself and to the other. Similarly, the principles of toleration and totality do not justify preferred pronoun usage. Pastoral care of transgender persons ought to seek to balance truth and respect of the human person in order to facilitate real friendship which leads to true healing.