Books, articles, studies, videos, and podcasts to enhance your understanding of issues pertaining to early human life. Click on the image for help accessing the work.
Pediatrician and ethics professor Dr. William Stigall talks about the science and moral considerations behind in vitro fertilization. Top 3 takeaways: • The humans created in IVF are persons, not property, so they must be treated with dignity. • We can repair and assist the process of conception, but not replace it. We are not God. • The children born of IVF are children of God with infinite value, the same dignity as children conceived naturally. All children are a gift.
Father Nicanor Austriaco on “When Does Human Life Begin? The Scientific Evidence.“
“Charity and Clarity: Artificial Reproductive Technology” on Redeemer Radio. How to clearly and charitably speak about Church teaching on ART/IVF. 52 min.
Mary and Bioethics: An Exploration. Francis Etheredge. “There is an integral life and love that is expressed in the mystery of Mary…”
Brave New World. Aldous Huxley. Read the book. Skip the movie. Growing human beings in jars does not end well.
Film: eggsploitation. A documentary by the Center for Bioethics and Culture.
The Mother Machine. Embryo transfer in cows. Embryo transfer in women. “Informed consent” in the early days of human IVF. Eugenics. Sex Determination.
Human Embryos, Human Beings. “Condic and Condic have produced the most rigorous and most thorough philosophical and scientific defense of the reality that the life of a human being begins at conception.” -Ryan T. Anderson, PhD. The Heritage Foundation.
Embryo. A Defense of Human Life. Chapter 2: The Facts of Embryology.
dignitas personae. “The dignity of a person must be recognized in every human being from conception to natural death. This fundamental principle… must be at the center of ethical reflection on biomedical research ….”
On Conscience. “Can someone’s conscience be wrong?”…”How do we know the truth that our consciences should follow?” John M. Haas, PhD. From the Foreward.
The Concentration Can. World-renowned geneticist Jerome Lejeune presents a fascinating account of his testimony about the origin of human life during a historic court case in Marysville, Tennessee.
Acorns and Embryos. “But are human embryos human beings?” Robert P. George, Patrick Lee.
Thomas More Society: Embryo Amicus. “The Court in this case is being asked to decide the fate of two female embryos of Loeb (father) and Vergara (mother) cryopreserved in an IVF Clinic. The Court’s decision will significantly turn on what rights the embryos are accorded in their parents’ contest over a parenting plan for them.”
When Does Human Life Begin? A Scientific Perspective. “The debate in our society and others is not over when human life begins but is over at what point and for what reasons do we have an obligation to respect and protect that life. Before we can get to that argument, however, we need to clear the smog surrounding the question of when human life begins. This White Paper makes an invaluable contribution to that end” (from the Foreword). Paper author: Maureen L Condic, Ph.D.
