Author Archive for Rebecca Taylor

What Happened to My Beloved Oxford?
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What Happened to My Beloved Oxford?

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by on Mar 27, 2012 in Cloning, Embryo Research & Genetics, Contraception & Abortion, Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide, Featured
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My junior year of college I took a year off from my chemistry studies and went on an adventure.  I spent a year studying English literature, philosophy and Latin at Blackfriars College, a part of University of Oxford.  Academically, I got my butt handed to me.  Once, after spending days poring over a philosophy text […]

Should We Engineer Our Children to Save the Planet?
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Should We Engineer Our Children to Save the Planet?

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by on Mar 22, 2012 in Cloning, Embryo Research & Genetics, Featured
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Radical environmentalism and transhumanism are the two movements that I think are very pernicious.  Radical environmentalism wants the plague of humanity to be reduced (or disappear all together) so the Earth can be “healthy” again.  Transhumanism wants to radically engineer man to be “posthuman” which includes, but is not limited to, living forever through enhancements. […]

Morally Tainted: Products Made Possible By the Destruction of Innocent Human Life
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Morally Tainted: Products Made Possible By the Destruction of Innocent Human Life

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by on Mar 12, 2012 in Cloning, Embryo Research & Genetics, Contraception & Abortion, Featured
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Oklahoma State Senator Ralph Shortey has introduced a bill to Oklahoma’s state legislature that has caused quite a stir.  SB 1418 says it would ban any product for human “consumption” that contains aborted human fetal tissue or where the research or development of any of the ingredients required the use of aborted fetal tissue. Now, […]

Ethics of Genetic Testing, Part II
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Ethics of Genetic Testing, Part II

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by on Mar 07, 2012 in Cloning, Embryo Research & Genetics, Featured
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Previously, I wrote about the morally acceptable aspects of genetic testing. There are many.  Now I want to talk about the unethical uses of genetic testing. Most of genetic testing is like money.  That is, it is neither moral nor immoral.  Money can be used for good or evil, but it in and of itself it […]

The Ethics of Genetic Testing: Part 1
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The Ethics of Genetic Testing: Part 1

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by on Mar 01, 2012 in Cloning, Embryo Research & Genetics, Featured
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I have found that many Catholics are confused about genetic testing and the ethical issues that surround it.  So I have decided to write a two part series on the ethics of genetic testing. Part 1: Genetic testing is not all bad. Many Catholics are wary of the Human Genome Project (HGP) and genetic testing, […]

A Healthy Child Can Never Be Guaranteed
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A Healthy Child Can Never Be Guaranteed

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by on Feb 23, 2012 in Catholic Bioethics, Featured
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A couple in Texas is suing a sperm bank in New England because their child has cystic fibrosis.  Cystic fibrosis is a devastating disease that is caused by mutations in the CFTR gene.  People with cystic fibrosis have mutations in both their copies of the CFTR gene; one mutation from their father and one mutation […]

Controlling Human Genetic Engineering Before it Controls Us
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Controlling Human Genetic Engineering Before it Controls Us

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by on Feb 17, 2012 in Catholic Bioethics, Featured
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We do have the ability to control human genetic engineering without it controlling us.  To do that we must draw a line in the sand between morally laudable therapy and human altering enhancement. My previous article, What is the Catholic View on Genetic Engineering, was all about the distinction between gene therapy and genetic enhancement.  Now, […]

What is the Catholic View on Genetic Engineering?
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What is the Catholic View on Genetic Engineering?

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by on Feb 09, 2012 in Catholic Bioethics, Featured
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The genetic engineering of humans is not yet a reality.  But, with advancements in gene therapy and cloning, it will be and it is critical that Catholics be ahead of the rhetorical curve on this one, instead of behind. Now is the time to look at the genetic engineering of humans and what the Church […]

Scientists Want to Engineer "Three-Parent" Human Beings
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Scientists Want to Engineer “Three-Parent” Human Beings

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by on Feb 06, 2012 in Catholic Bioethics, Featured
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The 3-genetic parent embryo is back in the news.  This time it is Australia that wants to attempt to genetically engineer a human embryo to have 3 genetic parents. Why would scientists want to engineer an embryo with the genetic material from 3 people?  Because, they think it will “prevent” the inheritance of mitochondrial disease.  Not all […]

Reverberations of Roe v. Wade Go Far Beyond Abortion
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Reverberations of Roe v. Wade Go Far Beyond Abortion

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by on Jan 22, 2012 in Catholic Bioethics, Featured
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Thirty-nine years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in Roe v. Wade, that the laws outlawing abortion in Texas were unconstitutional because a woman had a right to privacy, guaranteed by the Constitution.  Suddenly, the unborn had no legal protection in the United States.  But Roe v. Wade did not just deny legal protection to […]

New Drug for Depression Likely Developed with Cells from Aborted Fetus
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New Drug for Depression Likely Developed with Cells from Aborted Fetus

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by on Jan 16, 2012 in Catholic Bioethics, Featured
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I have suffered from depression my whole adult life.  Symptoms of depression and anxiety run in my family.  So any story about new treatments for depression always catch my eye.  But this one caught my eye for another reason.  One of the indications of depression is a reduced hippocampus, a part of the brain that […]

Transhumanism's Roots in Eugenics
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Transhumanism’s Roots in Eugenics

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by on Jan 10, 2012 in Catholic Bioethics, Featured
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I talk about transhumanism a lot because I believe it is the greatest threat to humanity that no one knows about.  Transhumansim is a philosophy that wants to use technology to surpass treating or preventing disease and use it to enhance otherwise healthy humans beyond natural capabilities.  They envision a world where you can leave […]

The Best and Worst in Biotechnology for 2011
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The Best and Worst in Biotechnology for 2011

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by on Jan 03, 2012 in Catholic Bioethics, Featured
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Reflecting on 2011, I began thinking of the 5 events in biotechnology that were the greatest threats to the sanctity of human life. True to my mission though, I couldn’t just talk about what is bad in the biotech arena. I also have to celebrate the 5 ways biotechnology has improved or preserved human life. […]

IVF: Is This Really Good for the Children?
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IVF: Is This Really Good for the Children?

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by on Dec 30, 2011 in Catholic Bioethics, Featured
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I have heard countless times that parents that undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF) must love their children so very much to go through such an expensive and invasive process to have children.  I have no doubt that parents undergoing IVF believe they are doing what is best, but looking at the realities of IVF that […]

Is the U.S. Behind the Rest of the World in Advancing Embryonic Stem Cell Research?
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Is the U.S. Behind the Rest of the World in Advancing Embryonic Stem Cell Research?

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by on Dec 23, 2011 in Catholic Bioethics, Featured
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I am beginning to believe that it is true that Americans in general have no idea about how things really are in the rest of the world.  For example, I am sure that many in the “Occupy” crowd have no idea that they are among the richest people in the world.  And the cancellation of […]

<em>Fatherless, Motherless, Childless</em>: Great Pro-Life, Catholic Fiction
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Fatherless, Motherless, Childless: Great Pro-Life, Catholic Fiction

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by on Dec 13, 2011 in Featured, Life Issues & Bioethics
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Fiction is as instructive as non-fiction, maybe even more so.  The best fiction catches us up in a world outside our own all the while teaching us truths about ourselves and humanity.  The pleasure of reading a great story cements those truths into the deepest corners of our mind.  Dean Koontz has been quietly reeducating […]

Why Does the Catholic Church Oppose Embryonic Stem Cell Research?
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Why Does the Catholic Church Oppose Embryonic Stem Cell Research?

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by on Dec 05, 2011 in Catholic Bioethics, Featured
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A reader recently asked the following fantastic question about the Catholic Church teaching on embryonic stem cell research: While my views in connection with research are opposed to those of the Pope and the Catholic church, I am very open to dialogue.  Simply for the sake of clarity (and not in any way seeking to […]