Turner, J. V., & McLindon, L. A. (2018). Bioethical and Moral Perspectives in Human Reproductive Medicine. The Linacre Quarterly, 85(4), 385-398. https://doi.org/10.1177/0024363918816697
Turner JV, McLindon LA. Bioethical and Moral Perspectives in Human Reproductive Medicine. Linacre Q. 2018;85(4):385-398. doi:10.1177/0024363918816697
Turner, Joseph V., and Lucas A. McLindon. "Bioethical and Moral Perspectives in Human Reproductive Medicine." The Linacre Quarterly, vol. 85, no. 4, 2018, pp. 385-398.
Catholic authors argue IVF immoral, fertility awareness moral
The authors apply Humanae vitae to six real cases. In vitro fertilization is gravely immoral; fertility-awareness methods are morally acceptable, they argue. Double-effect reasoning governs three of the cases: a sterilization request, the pill, and male infertility testing. The other cases cover same-sex care and IVF with embryo donation.
Study at a glance, case studies: Catholic authors apply Humanae vitae to six real cases. Source: Turner JV et al., 2018, PMID 32431375.
Key Findings
On a request for bilateral salpingectomy at caesarean to lower cancer risk, the authors conclude double-effect reasoning does not justify surgery unless confirmed tubal or ovarian disease outweighs the resulting sterility.
On prescribing the birth control pill for conditions like heavy bleeding or acne, the authors say cooperation may be acceptable only with no other treatment available, weighing clot and stroke risk.
On male infertility testing, the authors describe a couple who had tried to conceive for 3 years. They cite evidence that semen collected during intercourse is more viable than a masturbatory sample.
On fertility care for same-sex couples, the authors say anti-discrimination law may require treatment despite moral objection, though in some jurisdictions a clinician may decline if that does not block legal care.
The authors judge IVF gravely immoral for couples facing years of infertility, but on donating 11 spare embryos to a friend, they praise the intent while calling such embryo use unacceptable.
Interpretation
This paper is a set of case studies built on Catholic moral reasoning. The authors use double-effect reasoning, a method from Catholic moral theology, to work through several of the six clinical scenarios. They draw on Humanae vitae, a 1968 Church document, as their main source. The authors cite some published evidence, such as studies on sperm collection methods. The conclusions reflect one religious viewpoint. The paper states the Catholic Church has no official position on embryo adoption, and that pro-life ethicists are divided on the question.
RRM Context
The authors work at the Australasian Institute for Restorative Reproductive Medicine. The paper names Billings, Creighton, Symptothermal, and Marquette as methods that fit its view. The paper argues from Catholic moral teaching. RRM's own case for these methods rests on a separate evidence base held elsewhere in this library, such as outcome studies. The paper's views on birth control and IVF are one religious argument, apart from RRM's evidence base for care.
Our editorial summary of this paper, not the article's abstract.
Abstract
A reductive reading of Humanae vitae seeks to limit its appeal to a ban on contraception. In truth, however, it offers a vision of human sexuality and conjugal love with broad and enduring relevance. In setting forth the intrinsic complementarity and irreducibility of the unitive and procreative dimensions of the conjugal act, Paul VI has given us a hermeneutical key for assessing many contemporary ethical dilemmas in human reproductive medicine. From this perspective, this article seeks to apply the logic of Humanae vitae to several real-life scenarios confronted by medical practitioners, educators, and ethicists working in the field of fertility and reproductive health. These include a consideration of the ethics of prescribing hormonal contraceptives, the possibilities of investigating male infertility, issues of cooperation in counseling and assisting conception in same-sex relationships, the ethics pertaining to assisted reproductive technology (ART), the contested case of prenatal adoption, and the application of double-effect reasoning.
Summary
On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the promulgation of Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae vitae, this article seeks to defend its enduring relevance to modern-day society, through application of its reasoning to contemporary dilemmas in reproductive medicine. It considers real cases of the ethics of prescribing hormonal contraceptives, of investigating male infertility, of cooperating in counseling and assisting conception in same-sex relationships, of ART, of prenatal adoption, and the application of double-effect reasoning.
