Applies church teaching as it relates to biomedical technology.

Provides the Church's teaching on the ethics and morality surrounding the developments in reproductive technology.

In a single convenient resource, this book organizes and presents clearly the documents of the Catholic church pertaining to medical ethics. Introductory chapters provide the context for interpreting the Church's teachings and guide the reader in applying the teachings to particular ethical quandaries. This third edition has been updated to incorporate the statements issued since the preparation of the second edition. The authors have revised the introductory chapters to include ideas from the papal encyclical Splendor Veritatis and "Instruction of the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian," published by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, concerning the various levels of the teachings of the Church. Other new statements included in this edition are relevant topics from the papal encyclical Evangelium Vitae (abortion, euthanasia, amniocentesis, suicide and withdrawing life support); the Vatican Congregation of Doctrine and Faith on uterine isolation; the U.S. bishops on the care of anencephalic infants, genetic testing, and cloning; and the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference on the treatment for rape in Catholic hospitals.

In 1987, the Vatican presented a document, The Instruction on respect for human life in its origin and on the dignity of procreation, confronting the moral dilemmas inherent in the newer reproductive technologies. These papers, first presented at a conference at Georgetown U., consider the clinical and technical aspects, the moral-theological foundations, and the impact on legislation and public policy of these reproductive technologies in light of the Vatican Instruction, which is also included. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

In this revised and expanded edition of Marriage: The Rock on Which the Family is Built, internationally-renowned theologian William E. May makes the case for marriage's foundational role for family, with marriage defined as the union of one man and one woman. Drawing on Pope John Paul II's "theology of the body," he explains the person-affirming, love-enabling, life-giving, and sanctifying nature of marriage. He shows how marriage is necessarily a complementary union of man and woman and how this rules out the idea of "same-sex" marriage.

The Council Fathers express a desire to engage in conversation with the entire human family so that the Church--whose role it is so scrutinize the signs of the times and interpret them in the light of the Gospel--can help solve contemporary problems. Acknowledging the positive and negative realities of this new age of human history, Church teachings about man's relationship to economics, poverty, social justice, culture, science and technology, and ecumenism are explored.

By all indicators, the reproductive health of Americans has been deteriorating since 1980. Our nation is troubled by rates of teen pregnancies and newborn deaths that are worse than almost all others in the Western world. Science and Babies is a straightforward presentation of the major reproductive issues we face that suggests answers for the public. The book discusses how the clash of opinions on sex and family planning prevents us from making a national commitment to reproductive health; why people in the United States have fewer contraceptive choices than those in many other countries; what we need to do to improve social and medical services for teens and people living in poverty; how couples should "shop" for a fertility service and make consumer-wise decisions; and what we can expect in the futureâ€"featuring interesting accounts of potential scientific advances.