16. An
Ethical Conundrum: A woman is four months pregnant when she is diagnosed with
cancer. The doctor tells her if she doesnt take the chemo treatment, she will
die within two weeks, but if she does take it, the baby will die. What does the
Church teach?
A. She should do
nothing
B. She can take
the treatment even though it will probably kill the baby
THE ANSWER IS
. B
. The woman may take the treatment because it is an intrinsically good,
life-saving act (as opposed to a intrinsically evil act like putting a knife to
the babys heart) If she does nothing, the baby will die anyway. The babys
death is the unintended, bad side effect.
On the other hand, the Church teaches that an
evil act cannot be tolerated even if the result is a good one. But as we
mentioned, a good act can be acceptable even if there is a bad effect, if and
only if there is balance.
Therefore, a mother could not in good conscience
take a medicine for a non-fatal condition that would lead to the babys death.
Nor could she take a medicine for a cold that would cause the baby to be
permanently blind or cripple.
The life of both human beings is equally sacred.
The Church teaches that the good desired from an
action must be equal to or outweigh the damage done by the action.
Again, the Church rejects the views of
Renaissance philosopher Nicolo Machiavelli, who said the ends justifies the
means. But the Church adds that a bad end can sometimes be tolerated if the
means, or the action taken, is good, and if all steps are taken to attempt to
prevent the bad end. This is called the principle of the double effect.
But again, no evil action can be permissible to
justify a desirable outcome. For example, a woman who says she will become a
prostitute for a week to raise money for the poor is committing a grave wrong.
Similarly, the Church, although it vigorously
encourages and funds research for advanced medical cures and treatments, and
for technology that will cure the worlds ills, condemns any research or
procedures which involve immoral, intrinsically evil actions.
Finally, when a person is faced with two
unavoidable evils, the Church teaches we must choose the lesser of the evils.
The example provided by Beginning Apologetics #5: How to Answer Tough Moral
Questions by Father Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham is the pilot who at the last
second must choose between crashing into a home or a school. He must choose the
home.
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