Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
May 22, 2002
By Michelle Martin
CHICAGO (CNS) — The phrase "begotten, not made" should describe the way all children come into the world, moral theologian William May said in a keynote address at a conference on "Human Dignity and Reproductive Technology" in Chicago March 4.
The conference, organized by the Integritas Institute of the University of Illinois-Chicago and sponsored by the John Paul II Newman Center, the Catholic Medical Association and the Society of Catholic Social Scientists, examined the way new technologies have changed the way babies are brought into the world, and the way society's thoughts about children have changed.
Several speakers argued that the plethora of new or potential procedures runs the risk of making people think of babies as products, manufactured to specifications, instead of as gifts from God, created with dignity equal to that of their parents from the moment of conception.
"There is considerable philosophical and moral discussion, even confusion," said Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George in his opening remarks. The cardinal noted the conference was sponsored by Catholic professionals who wanted to bring their faith and their professions together, to have an impact on the culture.
"But for there to be an impact, then we need great clarity about the scientific goals and the technological procedures," he said. "We need also a deepening of understanding of exactly how principles derivative from faith might lead us to take part in this conversation. We need a certain moral stamina or courage in order to sustain the conversation, even when we don't know exactly how it will turn out or when in fact there is considerable opposition to our positions."
May, a professor at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, prefaced his arguments by noting that all babies, no matter how they got here, have the human dignity that comes from being in "the image and likeness of God."
But the only good way for babies to come into the world, he argued, is through the "marital act," in which the husband and wife freely give themselves to one another. "They are not `making love,'" May said. "Love is not a product. It is a gift of self. In this way, babies are `begotten, not made.'"
For parents to pursue the creation of a child through other means reduces the status of the child, May said. "Their aim may be to receive the baby into an authentic parent-child relationship," he said. "But their immediate end is `to make a baby.' Thus the child has the status of a product."
Speakers throughout the daylong conference supported the Church's teaching that all people, starting from conception, are imbued with human dignity.
"The human embryo is identical to the thing who is going to walk and talk and eventually paint pictures if he or she is not killed," said Patrick Lee, a professor of philosophy at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. "The science is on our side. If you want to say anything else, then you need to bring in philosophical arguments."
If people believe an embryo is not a fully dignified human being, and can be used for its parts, as in embryonic stem-cell research, or discarded because of genetic problems, it's a short stretch to say that those "defective" embryos that make it to birth need not be given the same respect or dignity as other people, said Jean Bethke Elshtain, an ethics professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
Elshtain said reducing a person to his or her genetic code creates a kind of "biologic fundamentalism." By suppressing negative traits, such as by pressuring the mothers of Down syndrome fetuses to have abortions, society will eventually narrow the definition of what is acceptable, and find it easy to offer no support to the families of people who do not meet that definition.
At the same time, families who can afford it could be offered the option of creating babies with "designer genes," choosing hair color, height or increased athletic ability, she said.
"Human cloning belongs to the eugenics project," Elshtain said. "It is the most despotic form of genetic manipulation."
While human cloning apparently has not yet resulted in the creation of a baby, the in vitro fertilization procedure has become almost commonplace in the effort to help infertile couples have children. But the procedure generally results in the creation of "spare" embryos, to be left frozen or destroyed, and often involves the implantation of several embryos in the woman's uterus — some of which may be destroyed later to create a better growing environment for those that remain.
The Church must preach and teach against in vitro fertilization and other reproductive technologies that might deny human dignity, said Stephen Bozza, director of family ministries for the Diocese of Camden, N.J., but when dealing with couples who are experiencing infertility the Church must do so in a pastorally sensitive way.
"We must give reasons as to why these problems (with some fertility treatments) exist," said Bozza, who experienced infertility and the stress it placed on his own marriage. "But we have to emphasize the good of the couple."`Begotten, not made' should apply to all children, conference told
Medical technologies risk causing people to think of babies as products, Catholic speakers say
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