Bibliographic information:
Richie, Cristina. “Applying Catholic Responsibility to In-Vitro Fertilization: Obligations to the Spouse, the Body, and the Common Good.” Christian Bioethics 18 no. 3 (2012): 271-286.
Description:
Description:
After the typical theological and bioethical questions about in vitro fertilization (IVF) are vetted, there remains a three-dimensional understanding of responsibility that is not typically considered in Christian bioethics. This paper will explore responsibility to the spouses’ loving union, their bodies, and society in order to ascertain the morality of IVF. In a marriage partnership, the spouses’ primary responsibility is to each other. Although in matrimony physical union is essential to marriage, children are not. The second dimension of responsibility focuses on the body—“the temple of God”—and on our responsibility to care for it. This concerns the woman, her husband, and even the newborn. Finally, the third understanding of responsibility leads us to address social concerns, with an emphasis on social dynamics, especially the cost of IVF procedures and how they siphon medical resources away from more urgent human needs in health care and within society.
Publisher:
Oxford University Press (website: http://cb.oxfordjournals.org/content/current)