COVID-19 RESOURCES
Articles, fact sheets, interviews, FAQs and other COVID-19 related resources. (more…)
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DEFENDING THE FUNDAMENTAL DIGNITY AND HEALTH CARE CIVIL RIGHTS OF ALL
For Immediate ReleaseWashington, D.C., November 19, 2020 The member organizations of the Health Care Civil Rights Task Force are publishing this statement to protect the health, dignity, civil rights, and…
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RELIGIOUS LIBERTY DURING COVID-10 (PODCAST)
Michael Vacca of the Christ Medicus Foundation joins NCBC's Joe Zalot to discuss how First Amendment religious liberty protections have been challenged during the coronavirus pandemic. (more…)
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NATIONAL REVIEW: DR. JOSEPH MEANEY ON COVID VACCINES AND FETAL CELL LINES
National Review interviewed Dr. Joseph Meaney, Executive Director of the National Catholic Bioethics Center and Health Care Civil Rights Task Force member, about the controversy over the COVID-19 vaccine, including…
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THE RIGHT NOT TO BE FORCED TO DIE ALONE
As the historic COVID-19 pandemic is intensifying worldwide and draconian emergency measures are being reinstituted in Europe and elsewhere, I see an urgent need to repeat a defense of the…
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PATIENT ADVOCATES ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED: PART II
PATIENT ADVOCATES PUT COMPASSION INTO ACTION Visiting the sick is a work of mercy. Patient advocates manifest mercy by showing compassion to sick and suffering people. Compassion means “to suffer…
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BASIC CARE, HUMAN DIGNITY, AND CARE FOR MEDICALLY VULNERABLE PERSONS
Physical and cognitive disability should not mean one’s situation is considered “end of life,” yet too many persons who are not dying are described this way. Earlier this year, Oregon’s…
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PATIENT ADVOCATES ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED: PART I
PATIENT ADVOCATES NURTURE HOPE I have served as a volunteer patient advocate for 35 years. The deepest kinds of suffering I encounter are profound unhappiness and loneliness, resulting in loss…
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DISCERNING ORDINARY VS. EXTRAORDINARY MEANS IN CATHOLIC BIOETHICS
One of the most important tasks in bioethics is distinguishing between ordinary and extraordinary means when it comes to medical care. The reason this distinction is so vital is that…
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HEALTHCARE ADVANCE DIRECTIVES
Healthcare advance directives are legal documents by which individuals express their wishes regarding medical treatment and/or appoint a trusted person to speak for them any time they are unable to make…
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ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY MEANS
In assessing when there is a duty to preserve life, the Church distinguishes between ordinary and extraordinary means.[1] Ordinary means must be taken to preserve life, and extraordinary means can…
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PALLIATIVE CARE AND HOSPICE
When a healthcare provider recommends palliative care or hospice, patients and their families need guidance so they can make the most life-affirming decisions possible in their circumstances. The Task Force on…
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EUTHANASIA SUPPORTERS TOUT AUTONOMY OF VIOLENCE
Attacks on autonomy and human dignity appear to be intensifying. Autonomy, of course, refers to our ability to act as independent human beings, with an innate and inviolable human dignity…
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PROTECT THE INSTITUTIONALIZED AND DEFEAT THE INHUMANITY OF EUGENICS
In 2006, I was invited to speak in Alkoven, Austria at a conference on human rights located adjacent to Hartheim Castle. Hartheim Castle was built in the ninth century and,…
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TERRI SCHIAVO, THE BRAIN INJURED AND CHURCH TEACHING
The Catholic teaching is clear: “The ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted.” (CCC 2279) Two Jesuit priests, Father John J. Paris, a professor emeritus at…
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