DARRY BLANCIA THEO II INSTRUCTION DIGNITAS PERSONAE ON CERTAIN BIOETHICAL QUESTIONS INTRODUCTION The dignity of every human being, from conception to natural death, should be central to ethical reflection in biomedical research, as emphasized by the Church's Magisterium. Donum vitae remains valid in its principles and moral evaluations, but new biomedical technologies have raised questions in research on human embryos, stem cell use, and experimental medicine. In light of reason and religion, the Catholic Church aims to give moral guidelines and judgments about biomedical research on human life. The Church strives to include all supportive aspects of human activity as well as religious and cultural customs that show respect for life. The Magisterium believes that science is necessary for human life and dignity. The Church regards scientific research with optimism, believing that many Christians will devote themselves to biomedicine and bear witness to its advancement. The Church's view is full of hope, for life will triumph because of truth, goodness, joy, and development. The Instruction tackles anthropological, religious, and ethical issues, as well as reproduction issues and embryo manipulation processes. First Part: Anthropological, Theological and Ethical Aspects of Human Life and Procreation Medical science has made great advances in its understanding of human existence, biological structures, and generation processes. These innovations can be beneficial in terms of resolving diseases and restoring normal human reproduction, but they can also be detrimental in terms of creating damage, violating dignity, or undermining the essential good of humans. They are negative and cannot be utilized when they involve the destruction of human beings or when they employ means which contradict the dignity of the person or when they are used for purposes contrary to the integral good of man. The Instruction Donum vitae emphasizes the importance of unconditional respect for human beings from conception, treating them as individuals.4 This includes the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life, emphasizing the need to recognize and respect the human being's rights as individuals. It denotes an inherent link between the ontological dimension and the unique value of every human life. The human embryo has full anthropological and ethical significance, allowing for a personal presence when a human life first appears. Respect for that dignity is owed to every human being because each one carries in an indelible way his own dignity and value.6 The origin of human life is rooted in marriage and family, where a man and woman express reciprocal love. Marriage is instituted by God to carry out his loving plan in humans. Through reciprocal gifts, husband and wife perfect each other, cooperating with God in procreation and raising new lives. Natural law, at the root of true equality, inspires the relationship between spouses in their responsibility for begetting new children. The transmission of life is inscribed in nature, with its laws standing as an unwritten norm.7 The Church believes that human beings are not only respected by faith but also purified, elevated, and perfected. God created man in his image and likeness, and in the Incarnation, the Son confirmed the dignity of the body and soul. Christ did not disdain human bodylines but fully disclosed its meaning and value. The Church, by expressing an ethical judgment on some developments of recent medical research concerning man and his beginnings, does not intervene in the area proper to medical science itself, but rather calls everyone to ethical and social responsibility for their actions.10 What the Church is trying to imply is only to evaluates recent medical research, promoting ethical and social responsibility. It emphasizes respect for human existence and personal actions, while the Magisterium contributes to conscience formation and moral order. DARRY BLANCIA THEO II Second Part: New Problems Concerning Procreation Techniques which assist procreation “are not to be rejected on the grounds that they are artificial. As such, they bear witness to the possibilities of the art of medicine.12 New medical techniques for treating infertility must respect three fundamental goods: human life and physical integrity, unity of marriage, and human values of sexuality. Techniques assisting procreation must be evaluated based on human dignity. In vitro fertilization and the deliberate destruction of embryos All techniques of in vitro fertilization proceed as if the human embryo were simply a mass of cells to be used, selected and discarded.14 In vitro fertilization often involves the deliberate destruction of embryos, with approximately a third of women succeeding in having a baby. These losses are accepted as the price for positive results, but research focuses on achieving better results and not addressing the right to life of each individual embryo. The practice of multiple embryo transfer implies a purely utilitarian treatment of embryos.15 The majority of IVF embryo losses are unintentional or against the desires of parents and medical experts. However, many examples include the deliberate abandonment, destruction, and loss of embryos. Couples frequently use artificial methods of conception for genetic selection, resulting in a high number of embryo transfers and selfish treatment of embryos. This method exposes people to new dangers in their lives. The Church moreover holds that it is ethically unacceptable to dissociate procreation from the integrally personal context of the conjugal act:16 Human procreation is a personal act of a husband and wife, not a technical procedure. The Church acknowledges the desire for a child but does not override the dignity of every human life. Researchers may surrender to subjective desires and economic pressures, but the Magisterium of the Church proclaims the sacred and inviolable character of every human life. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) Intracytoplasmic sperm injection is intrinsically illicit: it causes a complete separation between procreation and the conjugal act.17 In good manner (ICSI) is increasingly used to treat male infertility, but it is intrinsically illicit as it separates procreation from the conjugal act. It is performed outside the couple's bodies through third parties, entrusting the embryo's life to doctors and biologists, and establishing domination over the human person's origin and destiny. Conception in vitro is not achieved or positively willed as a result of conjugal union. Freezing embryos Cryopreservation is incompatible with the respect owed to human embryos. 18 In vitro fertilization techniques involve multiple attempts to obtain oocytes, followed by cryopreservation. However, this method exposes embryos to risks, including death or physical harm. Many frozen embryos remain "orphans," with their parents often lost. The ethical implications of using these embryos for research, disease treatment, or infertility treatment are debated. Some propose prenatal adoption, while others argue for halting production. John Paul II appealed to scientific authorities to protect the rights of these frozen embryos, as they are subjects of essential rights and should be protected by law. DARRY BLANCIA THEO II The freezing of oocytes In this regard it needs to be stated that cryopreservation of oocytes for the purpose of being used in artificial procreation is to be considered morally unacceptable.19 To avoid ethical difficulties, oocyte freezing has advanced in in vitro fertilization techniques. Once there are enough oocytes, only those that will be transferred into the mother's body are fertilized, while the rest are frozen for future fertilization and transfer if the first attempts fail. The reduction of embryo Embryo reduction is an intentional selective abortion.21 Artificial procreation techniques, such as transferring multiple embryos into the mother's womb, increase the frequency of multiple pregnancies, leading to embryo reduction. This ethically questionable procedure involves the direct elimination of innocent human beings, often justified by analogies with natural disasters or lesser evil principles. Preimplantation diagnosis Preimplantation diagnosis connected as it is with artificial fertilization, which is itself always intrinsically illicit is directed toward the qualitative selection and consequent destruction of embryos, which constitutes an act of abortion.22 Preimplantation diagnoses is a form of prenatal diagnosis that involves genetic testing of embryos before being transferred into a woman's womb. This method is connected to artificial fertilization and is considered an act of abortion. This treatment of embryos as "laboratory material" undermines human dignity and discrimination, as sick and disabled people are part of the human condition and should be legally recognized and protected. New forms of interception and contra gestation Methods are interceptive if they interfere with the embryo before implantation and contragestative if they cause the elimination of the embryo once implanted.23 Interceptive and contraceptive treatments work by interfering with the embryo before or after implantation to prevent conception. Although scientific evidence suggests that these procedures can result in abortions, they are mainly meant to prevent conception. Contraception is used to postpone menstruation; however, it also causes the termination of the implanted embryo. Abortion is regarded as a highly sinful act. Third Part: New Treatments Which Involve the Manipulation of the Embryo or the Human Genetic Patrimony. Research on embryonic stem cells has sparked interest, but lacks effective results. Concerns arise about potential medical advances justifying human embryo manipulation, requiring moral discernment in gene therapy. In stating the ethical negativity of these kinds of interventions which imply an unjust domination of man over man, the Church also recalls the need to return to an attitude of care for people and of education in accepting human life in its concrete historical finite nature.27 Gene therapy is a technique of genetic engineering used to treat genetically based diseases, including cancer. It can be applied to somatic or germ line cells, with somatic cell therapy aiming to eliminate or reduce genetic defects. However, it is morally licit for somatic cell therapy, as it restores the patient's normal genetic configuration and requires informed consent. Germ line cell therapy is morally illicit due to the potential harm to the offspring. This would harm the common good and favor some over others. DARRY BLANCIA THEO II Human cloning Human cloning is intrinsically illicit in that, by taking the ethical negativity of techniques of artificial fertilization to their extreme, it seeks to give rise to a new human being without a connection to the act of reciprocal self-giving between the spouses and, more radically, without any link to sexuality.28 Human cloning involves reproductive cloning that aims to satisfy specific desires, while therapeutic cloning aims to produce embryonic stem cells with prearranged genetic patrimony to overcome immune system rejection. However, human cloning is intrinsically illicit and violates human dignity. Researchers have proposed new techniques to produce embryonic stem cells without destroying true human embryos. The use of embryonic stem cells or differentiated cells derived from them even when these are provided by other researchers through the destruction of embryos or when such cells are commercially available presents serious problems from the standpoint of cooperation in evil and scandal.32 They have been found to promote cell growth and regeneration in damaged tissue, opening new opportunities for regenerative medicine. Consequently, ethical evaluation involves considering methods of obtaining stem cells and risks associated with their clinical and experimental use. While there are no moral objections to licitly obtained stem cells, medical ethics should be respected, ensuring scientific rigor and patient safety. Attempts at hybridization Hybrid cloning procedures represent an offense against the dignity of human beings on account of the admixture of human and animal genetic elements capable of disrupting the specific identity of man.33 Hybrid cloning using animal oocytes for human somatic cell reprogramming involves ethical concerns about disrupting human identity and potential health risks. The use of human “biological material” of illicit origin. The use of human embryos or fetuses as an object of experimentation constitutes a crime against their dignity as human beings who have a right to the same respect owed to a child once born, just as to every person”. These forms of experimentation always constitute a grave moral disorder.34 Cell lines used in scientific research and vaccine production can be derived from illicit interventions against human life or integrity. This material, often obtained commercially or from governmental agencies, raises ethical issues about cooperation in evil and scandal. Researchers must respect the corpses of human embryos and fetuses, and ensure no complicity in deliberate abortion and avoid scandal. Healthcare professionals must remember their increased responsibility and the Hippocratic Oath, which requires absolute respect for human life. Conclusion The moral teaching of the Church is based on the recognition and promotion of all the gifts bestowed on man, including life, knowledge, freedom, and love. Man participates in the creative power of God and is called to transform creation by ordering its resources towards the dignity and wellbeing of all human beings. Human history shows progress in understanding and recognizing the value and dignity of every person, with legal and political prohibitions of racism, slavery, and unjust discrimination. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reiterates the dignity and fundamental rights of every human being, including those in the initial stages of existence, and states the need for protection and respect. DARRY BLANCIA THEO II Reflection Dignitas Personae to address bioethical issues concerning assisted reproduction and human genetics. The Declaration on the Dignity of the Human Embryo acknowledges the dignity of the human embryo and tackles topics such as embryo status, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, preimplantation diagnosis, embryo cryopreservation, contraception, and embryo reduction. It points out also the Church desire to emphasize the centrality of these principles for any healthy and relevant bioethical discussion. The document begins with the basic principle the respect of the dignity of human person from the moment of conception until death. This would imply that this fundamental principle must preserved its inviolable state. The document is very authoritative and for me as I read and examine the chapters, I could really say that this endeavor is thoroughly scrutinize. Dignitas personae provide a comprehensive and well-founded moral teaching in affirmation in preserving human dignity. Which derives itself in the word of God in the scriptures. In fact, with its parts though it deals about ethical implication in the sphere of sciences it shows excellent answers and questions regarding modern ethical issues. The three parts laid a strong foundation which based on reason and faith, even not neglecting the expertise and the promising innovation and help of modern sciences. In such a way that it supports science provided when it serves the benefit of life and human dignity. The Church proclaim its significance for it is intended to all who seek the truth, not just for believers. It states that modern advances and innovations are good in themselves if it does not violate human dignity. The paper draws its moral firmness in attaining and safeguarding human life. It reinforces prior Catholic Church doctrines, and applies them to new challenges, and shedding a strong foundation in denouncing the violation against life and dignity of every person. Lastly, the Dignitas Personae is valuable for understanding the Catholic Church's current bioethical thought specially on the prevalent human degradation and reducing humans as mere object for experimentation and research purposes. It also opens up the knowledge to the community regarding these alarming concerns, in fact it somehow resolves debates, and provide a substantial information and proposition regarding the violation against human in attaining its full personhood. As well as it gives and provides new arguments, and leaves other issues up for further discussions.
