Bioethics
Written on 19 Jun, 2001 at 9:13 in
Bioethics | Author:
Jean Guifoyle
Beyond the visible horizon line of the United Nations Conferences during the 1990s, a group of internationally-based scientists, high-powered attorneys and government-associated ethicists bid in a high stakes game for access to the human person for research. Their mission, loftily described as the "ethics of life," has been the scientific "transformation of human beings by human beings." This not-so-new-game is conducted within the International Bioethics Committee (IBC) of the ... (Continue reading)
Written on 19 Jun, 2001 at 9:03 in
Bioethics | Author:
Tim Bloedow
Does not acknowledge that embryonic stem cells are
unnecessary for medical progress
In their recent paper on stem cell research, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research acknowledges the existence of non-controversial sources of stem cells, including adult tissues, but maintains that they are not as useful as embryonic cells, which are derived from "left-over" embryos created through in vitro fertilization: "Recent evidence that adult stem cells may have broader potency than first ... (Continue reading)
Written on 28 Nov, 2000 at 9:11 in
Abortion, Bioethics, Fetal Rights, Pro-Life | Author:
Paul Tuns
A Canadian moral theologian criticizes the use of new productive technologies when they leads to the objectification of people.
Bridget Campion, assistant professor of moral theology at St. Augustine's Seminary in Toronto, told The Interim that recent uses of in vitro fertilization (IVF) have created a whole new moral problem that goes beyond how human life is created to the uses to which it is put.
On Oct. 2, newspapers around the world announced that doctors at Chicago's Reproductive Genetics Institute were ... (Continue reading)
Written on 27 Sep, 2000 at 13:30 in
Bioethics, Fetal Rights | Author:
Paul Tuns
Britain, meanwhile, is poised to allow cloning of humans
By Paul Tuns
U.S. President Bill Clinton issued an executive order August 23 reversing a prohibition on the federal funding of research performed on human embryos, a sure boon to those that see a promise of cures for various diseases in the deaths of the tiniest unborn children.
In the last few years, research into human stem cells - precursor cells that can give rise to multiple tissue types - has held great promise ... (Continue reading)
Written on 14 Apr, 2000 at 13:14 in
Bioethics, Marriage and Family | Author:
Californians reject gay marriage
California voters have said an emphatic "no" to the question of same-sex marriage. Results of the state's direct democracy plebiscite indicate that voters have turned thumbs down to a proposal that would give official sanction to homosexual unions. The plebiscite, which contained 31 propositions, asked for a yes or no vote to the proposal: "Only a marriage between a man and a woman is ... (Continue reading)
Written on 14 Apr, 2000 at 10:45 in
Bioethics | Author:
Winifride Prestwich
By Winifride Prestwich
The Interim
A National Post article, "Patent office challenged over human cloning" (Feb. 22, 2000), mentions a United States Supreme Court ruling almost twenty years ago which gave "the green light" to patents on "living things." The article refers to the Court's ruling in Diamond vs. Chakrabarty, June 16, 1980. Briefly stated, these are the facts.
(1) Amanda Chakrabarty, a microbiologist at the University of Illinois Medical Centre, applied ... (Continue reading)
Written on 14 Feb, 2000 at 8:45 in
Abortion, Abortion Law, Activism, Bioethics, Columnist, Euthanasia, Politics, Pro-Life | Author:
Tim Bloedow View from the Hill
I sat down to write this column and as I was thinking about what to say, I realized that it was going to be in the January, 2000 issue of The Interim. Yes indeed, this would be my first column for the new year - and for a new millennium! And then, all of a sudden, I thought, "If there is a new millennium." Just think! ... (Continue reading)
Written on 7 Jan, 2000 at 8:17 in
Bioethics | Author:
By Tim Bloedow
The Interim
Three years ago the Liberal government introduced a bill, C-47, to criminalize and regulate various aspects of the reproductive and genetic technologies industry, but the 1997 election was called before the bill could be passed. Despite repeated promises that they would reintroduce legislation governing reproductive technologies, the Liberals have yet to do so, and they have avoided being specific in terms of indicating when ... (Continue reading)
Written on 7 Jan, 2000 at 7:57 in
Bioethics | Author:
By Tim Bloedow
The Interim
Three years ago the Liberal government introduced a bill, C-47, to criminalize and regulate various aspects of the reproductive and genetic technologies industry, but the 1997 election was called before the bill could be passed. Despite repeated promises that they would reintroduce legislation governing reproductive technologies, the Liberals have yet to do so, and they have avoided being specific in terms of indicating when a new ... (Continue reading)
Written on 22 Oct, 1999 at 9:22 in
Bioethics, Donald DeMarco | Author:
By Donald DeMarco The Interim
The 1973 science-fiction film, Soylent Green, horrified audiences when they realized just what went into the manufacture of the food product from which the film gets its name. In the story, food has become so scarce in the year 2022 that the government decided to feed its citizenry re-processed human corpses.
The protagonist, played by Charlton Heston, discovered what this curious food was made from. He was at considerable pains, however, ... (Continue reading)
Written on 19 Apr, 1999 at 11:15 in
Bioethics | Author:
Charles Moore
By now, most Interim readers will have heard about young Tyrell Dueck of Saskatchewan. A judge ordered the 13-year-old bone cancer victim to undergo chemotherapy, and possibly amputation, against his and his parents' wishes. Tyrell underwent two court-ordered courses of chemotherapy, but terminated the treatments at the end of February.Tyrell's parents, Timothy and Yvonne Dueck, wanted to send him to a clinic in Tijuana, ... (Continue reading)
Written on 16 Mar, 1999 at 7:51 in
Bioethics | Author:
Tony Gosgnach
Reciting the ancient Hippocratic Oath was once the high point of any medical school convocation. Now, the noble pledge of traditional medical ethics is being altered or even suppressed to accommodate modern prejudices and taboos. Interim associate editor Tony Gosgnach tells us ... (Continue reading)
Written on 9 Jun, 1998 at 9:22 in
Bioethics | Author:
A recent press report has disturbing inplications for all concerned with the sanctity of human life.
The report described efforts by health officials in California to pay crack cocaine-addicted women to undergo sterilizations. According to the report, the program is a privately run enterprise involving Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union.
The program is known by the provocative name CRACK (Children Requiring a Caring Community).
Both Planned Parenthood and the civil liberties unionbelieve that cash in exchange for ... (Continue reading)
Written on 8 Apr, 1998 at 9:29 in
Bioethics | Author:
Alex Schadenberg The Catholic Church and Christian tradition teach that sexual intercourse belongs only within the bond of marriage. Marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman with God. Only within marriage do ideal conditions exist for raising children. Christians respect sexual intercourse and recognize it to contain both a gift of love (union) and a gift of life (procreation).
Through sexual intercourse, married couples become co-creators with God, who has made the gift ... (Continue reading)
Written on 6 Feb, 1998 at 14:09 in
Bioethics | Author:
BRISTOL, Tenn. (LSN) -- The Christian Medical and Dental Society, which represents more than 11,500 doctors and medical students nationwide, condemned plans announced Jan. 6 to begin cloning humans for profit.
Dr. David Stevens noted that an individual would have to sacrifice hundreds of lives just to attempt a cloning procedure.
Cloning a single animal, the sheep Dolly, involved killing 277 developing embryos and resulted in some duplicate ... (Continue reading)
