Press Releases and Correspondence
CMA Welcomes New Vatican Document on Bioethical Questions
DATELINE December 12, 2008 – The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) welcomes Dignitas Personae, the new Instruction from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Kathleen M. Raviele, M.D., the CMA’s president, pointed out that it has been over 20 years since the last comprehensive teaching on this topic Donum Vitae (1987). “Back in the 1980s,” Dr. Raviele, whose specialty is obstetrics and gynecology, noted, “the development and implementation of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) was just beginning.” “Over the last 20 years, the variety and power of these technologies has increased, and the number of people seeking and providing ART procedures has grown dramatically. Today, 1% of children born inthe U.S. are as a result of in vitro.”
Dignitas Personae addresses a wide range of issues that have arisen since Donum Vitae, including embryo adoption, germ-line genetic engineering, human embryonic stem-cell research, and human-animal hybrids. According to Dr. Raviele, “Back in the 1980s, it was hard to imagine how quickly the technologies would develop, as well as how quickly many in the medical profession and society would accept such radical proposals as ‘therapeutic cloning.’ This new Instruction has been desperately needed.”
John F. Brehany, Ph.D., the CMA’s executive director, noted, “This entire area of biotechnology is being driven by powerful forces—on the one hand, people’s deep desires to overcome infertility and cure disease and, on the other hand, the technological imperative. Given the power of these forces—emotional, technological, and financial—we need clear principles to guide and channel them. Dignitas Personae provides these principles. Moreover, it provides a very positive approach in affirming the dignity of human life, marriage, and sexuality, and encouraging people to develop cures and techniques that respect these fundamental goods.”
Asked about next steps for the CMA, Brehany stated that, “We plan to educate physicians and help them guide their patients to the positive alternatives that exist. There is a profound harmony between faith and reason, and there are many options available that are clinically effective and ethically sound.”
The Catholic Medical Association is the nation’s largest professional organization of Catholic physicians. To learn more about the CMA and its publications, go to http://www.cathmed.org.
