Disputes in Bioethics: Abortion, Euthanasia, and Other Controversies (2020)

This book addresses some of the most debated questions in contemporary science about the beginning and end of life. This collection of essays addresses questions about the dawn of human life, including: Should we have children with three (or more) parents? Is it better never to have been born? and why should a child live? This volume also asks about the twilight of human life: is death with dignity a dangerous euphemism? Should euthanasia of children be allowed? Does assisted suicide harm those who do not choose to die? Finally, Christopher Kaczor critiques some of the most recent and influential positions of bioethics, while being wary of consequentialism and capitalism. This one shows how Catholic bioethical teaching is rationally justified in terms that people of good will, secular or religious, can accept. Starting from a natural law perspective, Duck defends the inherent dignity of all human beings and argues that they deserve protection of their basic human goods because of this inherent dignity. Philosophers interested in applied ethics, as well as law students and professors, will benefit from this reading.