Catholic teachings on Select Pharmacology Topics

In prayerful response to the Apostolic Constitution ExCorde Ecclesiae of

Pope John Paul IIS. Carpenter, MSN, RN

Catholic Teachings

• Oral contraception• One Great web site to link your students to if you cover

this content: www.ccli.org (This is the couple to couple league that discusses and compares natural family planning (the only form of birth regulation which adheres to Catholic teachings) to other forms of contraception that are considered immoral by the Church, such as direct sterilization, oral contraceptives, IUD’s, and condoms. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” (Jeremiah:1-5).

• Another wonderful reference is the book “Love and Responsibility” by Karol Wojtyla (written before he became Pope John Paul II. )

• “Let all be convinced that human life and the duty of transmitting it are not limited by the horizons of this life only: their true evaluation and full significance can be understood only in reference to man’s eternal destiny.” (Cathechism of the Catholic Church #2371)

• Married couples may limit the number of their children by natural means. The Church cannot approve contraceptive interventions that “either in anticipation of the marital act, or in its accomplishment or in the development of its natural consequences, have the purpose, whether as an end or a means, to render procreation impossible.” Such interventions violate “the inseparable connection, willed by God… between the two meanings of the conjugal act; the unitive and procreative meaning.” (Ethical and religious directives for Catholic health care services, p.18)

Abortificiants

• Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life. (Cathechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2270)

• “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” (Jeremiah:1-5) also found in (Job 10:8-12) and (Ps 22:10-11)

• “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.” (Ps 139:15)

• “You shall not kill.” (Exodus 20:13) and (Deuteronomy 5:17

• Abortion (that is, the directly intended termination of pregnancy before viability, or the directly intended destruction of a viable fetus) is never permitted. (Ethical and Religious directives for Catholic Health Care Services)

• Catholic health care providers should be ready to offer compassionate physical, psychological, moral, and spiritual care to those persons who have suffered from the trauma of abortion.

• One such ministry is the “Project Rachel.” Students can learn more about it on the link hopeafterabortion.com

Fertility Drugs

• Couples who discover that they are sterile suffer greatly. “What will you give me, “ asks Abraham of God, “for I continue childless?” (Genesis 15:2) and Rachel cries to her husband Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” (Genesis 30:1).

• Research aimed at reducing human sterility is to be encouraged, on condition that it is placed “at the service of the human person, or his inalienable rights, and his true and integral good according to the design and will of God.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraph 2375).

• “When the marital act of sexual intercourse is not able to attain its procreative purpose, assistance that does not separate the unitive and procreative ends of the act, and does not substitute for the marital act itself, may be used to help married couples conceive.”(Ethical and Religious Directives Page 18) (for example: fertility drugs are ok, but invitro and invivo artificial insemination techniques are not morally acceptable, according to the Catholic Church, because these techniques separate procreation from the marital act)

• Those techniques of assisted conception that respect the unitive and procreative meanings of sexual intercourse and do not involve the destruction of human embryos, or their deliberate generation in such numbers that it is clearly envisaged that all cannot implant and some are simply being used to maximize the chances of others implanting, may be used as therapies for infertility. (Ethical and Religious Directive number 39 page 18). (I.e.) fertility drugs

Surrogates?

• Because of the dignity of the child and of marriage, and because of the uniqueness of the mother-child relationship, participation in contracts or arrangements for surrogate motherhood is not permitted.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research

• “Nontherapeutic experiments on a living embryo or fetus are not permitted, even with the consent of the parents. Therapeutic experiments are permitted for a proportionate reason with the free and informed consent of the parents or, if the father cannot be contacted, at least of the mother. Medical research that will not harm the life or physical integrity of an unborn child is permitted with parental consent.”(Ethical and Religious directives p. 20.)

What is the purpose of having Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic

Health Care Services?

• 1. To affirm the ethical standards of behavior in health care that flow from the Church’s teaching about the dignity of the human person.

• 2. To provide authoritative guidance on certain moral issues that face Catholic health care today.

• “Employees of a Catholic health care institution must respect and uphold the religious mission of the institution and adhere to these directives. They should maintain professional standards and promote the institution’s commitment to human dignity and the common good.” (Ethical and Religious directives p. 8. )

Advance Directives

• In compliance with federal law, a Catholic health care institution will make available to patients information about their rights, under the laws of their state, to make an advance directive for their medical treatment. The institution, however, will not honor an advance directive that is contrary to Catholic teaching. If the advance directive conflicts with Catholic teaching, an explanation should be provided as to why the directive cannot be honored.

Euthanasia or assisted suicide

• The truth that life is a precious gift from God has profound implications for the question of stewardship over human life. We are not the owners of our lives and, hence, do not have absolute power over life. We have a duty to preserve our life and to use it for the glory of God, but the duty to preserve life is not absolute, for we may reject life-prolonging procedures that are insufficiently beneficial or excessively burdensome. Suicide and euthanasia are never morally acceptable options.”(Ethical and Religious Directives Page 21).

• Some state Catholic conferences, individual bishops, and the NCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities have addressed the moral issues concerning medically assisted hydration and nutrition. The bishops are guided by the Church’s teaching forbidding euthanasia, with is “ an action or an omission which of itself or by intention causes death, in order that all suffering may in this way be eliminated.” These statements agree that hydration and nutrition are not morally obiligatory either when they bring no comfort to a person who is imminently dying or when they cannot be assimilated by a person’s body.

• Directive 58 states that there should be a presumption in favor of providing nutrition and hydration to all patients, including patients who require medically assisted nutrition and hydration, as long as this is of sufficient benefit to outweigh the burdens involved to the patient. (Ethical and Religious Directives p. 31).

Aborted fetal tissue research

• Catholic health care institutions should not make use of human tissue obtained by direct abortions even for research and therapeutic purposes. (Ethical and Religious directives, page 24).

Genetic counseling

• “Genetic counseling may be provided in order to promote responsible parenthood and to prepare for the proper treatment and care of children with genetic defects, in accordance with Catholic moral teaching and the intrinsic rights and obligations of married couples regarding the transmission of life.” (Ethical and religious directives p. 20).

Prenatal Diagnosis

• Prenatal diagnosis is permitted when the procedure does not threaten the life or physical integrity of the unborn child or the mother and does not subject them to disproportionate risks; when the diagnosis can provide information to guide preventative care for the mother or pre- or postnatal care for the child; and when the parents, or at least the mother, give free and informed consent. Prenatal diagnosis is not permitted when undertaken with the intention of aborting an unborn child with a serious defect. (Ethical and religious directives Page 20.)

Who can baptize in an emergency?

• To confer baptism in an emergency, one must have the proper intention (to do what the Church intends by baptism) and pour water on the head of the person to be baptized, meanwhile pronouncing the words: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” (Ethical and religious directives page 31).

We cannot assume that what is technically possible is always

morally right.• “Catholic health care is a response to the

challenge of Jesus to go and do likewise. Catholic health care services rejoice in the challenge to be Christ’s healing compassion in the world and see their ministry not only as an effort to restore and preserve health but also as a spiritual service and a sign of that final healing which will one day bring about the new creation that is the ultimate fruit of Jesus’ ministry and God’s love for us.” (Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health care services p. 28)

Prayer

• One thing that I have found that has really made a difference in the climate of my classroom is to say a prayer before each class.

• I was surprised to hear so many students tell me what a difference this had made to them. Students shared their faith journeys and struggles, and sent me emails asking for prayer.

Blessings

• This reinforced for me the statement in ExCorde Ecclesiae “By its very nature , each Catholic University, makes an important contribution to the Church’s work of evangelization. It is a living institutional witness to Christ and his message, so vitally important in cultures marked by secularism, or where Christ and his message are still virtually unkown.” (ExCorde paragraph 49)

Catholic Web sites for students to in case you would like more information about any Catholic

Teachings

• www.catholic.net

• www.vatican.va

• www.catholicanswers.org

• www.catholicity.com

• www.catholic.org