facebook
rss
twitter
  • About
    • Contact
    • Elementary & Secondary Education Department
    • Social Concerns Department
  • Legislative Review
  • Issues
    • Catholic Education
    • Faith and Politics
    • Health Care
    • Life and Dignity
    • Marriage and Family
    • Religious Liberty
    • Social Justice
  • Bishops’ Statements
    • En Español
  • Resources
    • Bulletin Inserts
    • Church Documents
    • PA Catholic Statistics
    • Related Sites
    • Send A Letter to The Editor
  • Subscribe
    • RSS Feeds
    • Via E-mail
  • Contact
  • Podcast

Ethical Debate Must Keep Pace with Technological Advances

April 05, 2016
by Blue
dismemberment abortion, House Bill 1948, Pain capable
Comments are off
Ultrasound of a baby at 20 weeks.

Ultrasound of a baby at 20 weeks.

The following is an op-ed written by State Representatives Kathy Rapp (R-Crawford/Forest/Warren), Bryan Barbin (D-Cambria/Somerset) and Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster).

Send a message to your legislator in support of this legislation at this link. 

Over the past 30 years, massive changes in technology have literally transformed American society. But have ethical standards been able to keep up with scientific improvements? When it comes to pediatrics, that answer is an emphatic ‘no.’

At roughly the same time that the first connections of the Internet were being plotted, pioneers of fetal surgery (many of them at Pennsylvania’s own Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) were dreaming of the possibilities of treating birth defects while the baby is still in the womb.

Now, nearly 30 years later, technological advancements have dramatically changed our everyday lives, and the radical notion of successful pre-birth surgeries is now a reality. Additionally, these same advances are giving increased hope to parents who are shocked when their babies are born far earlier than anticipated. These massive advances in science and medical technology require us to consider some profoundly important ethical questions.

Fetal surgery takes place as early as 18 weeks gestation. Prenatal surgery to help repair spina bifida – the most common neurological birth defect – takes place between 19 and 25 weeks gestation.

It’s important to note that anesthesia is used in fetal surgeries for both mother and child. Why? Significant evidence now shows that by 20 weeks of development, unborn children have the capacity to feel pain.

We have the opportunity to protect the unborn children in this country whose lives are being ended – in many cases brutally – at an age at which these children are capable of experiencing pain. To that end, we have introduced legislation which would amend the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act to reflect the scientific advances made over the last three decades.

Read the rest of the article at this link.

Send a message to your legislator here. 

About the Author
Social Share
  • google-share

News From Around PA

  • Candelmas at Saint Anastasia Church
  • USCCB: President of U.S. Bishops Conference on Bishops’ United Position Against the Evil of Abortion
  • After Biden comments, U.S. bishops say they have ‘united position’ on abortion
  • Victims of violence in Congo share their grief with pope
  • School Counselor, Long Term sub until June 2023 Oakland Catholic High School
  • Remembrance of the Living
Click To Read More

Post Archives

Unable to load Tweets

Follow

Recent Posts

PCC Capitol Wrap for Thursday, 2-1-23
Feb 02, 2023
PCC Capitol Wrap for Wednesday, 2-1-23
Feb 01, 2023
PCC Capitol Wrap for Tuesday, 1-31-23
Jan 31, 2023

All Issues

  • Catholic Education
  • Faith and Politics
  • Health Care
  • Life and Dignity
  • Marriage and Family
  • Religious Liberty
  • Social Justice

banner

Sign up to join the Catholic Advocacy Network today!

CClogo© 2021 Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Bookmark and Share Site by Halibut Blue® | Login