Once a year the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly is published around a particular
theme. This current issue addresses, from
various perspectives, a very influential moral theory which has developed over
the last several decades. It was
developed principally by German Grisez and several of his esteemed collaborators
who include John Finnis at Oxford University, Joseph Boyle at the University of
Toronto, William May, formerly at Catholic University, and Robert George at
Princeton University. The proponents of
this theory are courageous and faithful Catholics renowned for defending the
Faith and the natural moral law in the public forum.
The New Natural Law Theory (NNLT) has been used very
effectively, within our generally secularized and legalistic culture, to defend
Judeo-Christian teachings on the sanctity of human life from conception to
natural death, the nature of marriage as a life-long union between one man and
one woman, and the immorality of contraception and of such “reproductive
technologies” as in vitro fertilization and surrogacy. The concepts of the NNLT have helped its
proponents to engage in constructive moral dialogue with those of other faiths
and with those who may have no religious beliefs at all.
Despite the solid reputation for orthodoxy of these writers,
there has been concern among some Catholic philosophers and theologians who
believe that the NNLT entails certain departures from the generally received
Thomistic tradition which might lead to applications in the moral realm that could
be problematic. Perhaps the most
contentious position espoused by Grisez and some of his colleagues is that in certain
limited situations, namely when both mother and child would die because the
child cannot pass through the birth canal during delivery, it could be morally
permissible to perform a craniotomy. In short, they maintain, the baby’s skull could
be crushed in order to facilitate its passage through the birth canal, resulting
in the death of the child and the saving of the mother. As Grisez has put it: “The proposal can be
simply to alter the child’s physical dimensions and remove him or her, because,
as a physical object, this body cannot remain where it is without ending in
both the baby’s and the mother’s death.” The death of the child would be outside the intention (praeter
intentionem) of the physician and hence would not be a direct abortion.
The debate over whether or not this would constitute the
intentional killing of the baby has largely remained in the realm of
theory. However, some recent
high-profile clinical cases could lead to certain practices being adopted in
Catholic health care institutions with appeal to the NNLT. Hence, the debate over the adequacy of the
theory has become much more urgent.
This issue of the Quarterly does not address the specifically
clinical repercussions of the NNLT. Rather, it aims to address a broad range of
fundamental concepts that have been developed by the NNLT theorists such as the
relationship between theoretical and the practical (ethical) reason, what
constitutes a moral object, and the role of the natural order in the
formulation of moral proposals for action. The contributors to this volume are highly respected scholars such as
Father Kevin Flannery, S.J., of the Gregorian University in Rome, Dr. Stephen
Long of Ave Maria University, and Dr. John Goyette at Thomas Aquinas College in
California.
It is hoped that these published critiques of the widely
accepted NNLT will generate a vigorous and fruitful discussion of the theory
among scholars, who are encouraged to submit their own manuscripts to future
issues of the Quarterly. In the long term, it is hoped that a rich debate may
contribute to the refinement of practial moral guidance for all those charged
with the challenging tasks of health care policy-making and clinical
decision-making. Given the profound deference of the authors on all sides to
the authority of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, the NCBC is confident
that the discussion will be of great benefit to the faithful.
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