Denouncing Sliding Scale of Human Value



Franciscan Brother Daniel Sulmasy, a medical doctor and bioethicist, has criticized the direction of modem bioethics away from the absolute value of human life, whether disabled or not.

At a meeting of the President's Council on Bioethics February 2, Sulmasy spoke against the growing move among some hospital ethics committees towards involuntary organ donation from severely disabled patients. Sulmasy said, “Because human dignity is equal for all, doctors cannot take the life of a severely developmentally disabled person to harvest organs to save the life of a scientific genius such as Albert Einstein.”

Sulmasy said there is no sliding scale of “inalienable dignity.” He said the “foundational bedrock of a moral system” is the intrinsic dignity of every person, which should be the guiding force in bioethics.

Sulmasy is a prominent figure in the US bioethics world. He has spoken out against the use of embryos for research and the encroachments of utilitarianism in end-of-life issues.

Read more about Br. Sulmasy and bioethics.

(This article courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)

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