New Hamphire’s March for Life in Concord is a little less than seven weeks away. New Hampshire Right to Life has invited Jennifer Lahl to be the keynote speaker at the post-March gathering on January 14.
Ms. Lahl, a nurse by training, is an expert in bioethics. Here are links to two of her articles on bioethics issues. They make me look forward to hearing more from her in January.
Three-Parent Embryos: Harming Women to Save Lives (Public Discourse, 2/26/15)
[Excerpt:] I am often asked, isn’t egg donation like organ donation? In organ donation, the donor assumes risks to his or her own health in order to save another person’s life, someone who is sick and dying. Like organs, eggs are a non-replenishable resource. A woman is born with all the eggs she will have, unlike sperm, which is a replenishable resource. And for all the hundreds of thousands of eggs a woman is born with, only a few hundred will ever go through ovulation. However, the purpose of egg donation is importantly different, and therefore, it is not analogous to organ donation.
In egg donation, the recipient of the egg donor’s gametes is not sick or unhealthy—not a patient, but a consumer, purchasing a woman’s eggs for reproductive or research purposes. Society rightfully condemns selling or paying for organs. This prevents abuses and saves lives. In contrast, the large sums of money offered to egg donors exploit their need for money. Simply put, financial incentives impede freely given, truly informed consent.
Read the full article here.
Some Choices You Don’t Get to Make: What’s Wrong With Me Before You (Public Discourse, 6/10/16):
[Excerpt from article about a film that casts a favorable light on assisted suicide:] The title of the film—Me Before You—is curious. It left me wondering whether the message was meant to be that “me and my needs come before you and your needs.” If so, then this story is indeed a tale of autonomy run amok—a result of the radical and ludicrous idea that we do not live connected to, dependent upon, or in relationship with others. Lou pushed against this idea, clearly seeing the two of them together in relationship, deeply connected to one another just as they were. But Will could not accept his new condition or see beyond it to the importance of the relationships he had with others.
Read the full article here.
Leaven for the Loaf 