There are large numbers of babies dying in America’s poorest neighborhoods. Ground zero for U.S. infant deaths is the poorest part of Memphis, Tennessee. More →

July 14, 2006

Expanding medical technologies continue to create a host of new ethical dilemmas. Researchers can now detect early in a pregnancy if a fetus has Down Syndrome. The condition usually results in some degree of physical and mental disability, and armed with that information, some expectant parents face the wrenching decision of whether to terminate the pregnancy. More →

March 31, 2006

Altruism is the phenomenon of generosity to others with no expectation of reward. For many, giving is a religious requirement; others just do good whether they are religious or not. More →

March 24, 2006

  BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: According to a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, solid majorities of all major American religious groups back stronger measures to protect the environment. Some conservative evangelicals are a little less likely … More →

January 13, 2006

Religion News Service senior editor David E. Anderson writes that the Bush administration’s explanations about the use of torture “have been curiously devoid of ethical reflection or moral reasoning.” More →

December 23, 2005

Terminally ill patients exercise their “right to die” when they want their suffering to end, but what about those who want to live? A British court ruled that a doctor can decide when to terminate a patient’s life. Leslie Burke suffers from cerebral ataxia and will eventually lose his ability to speak and swallow, yet he is concerned that doctors will choose to end his life against his wishes. More →

August 26, 2005

Mary Jo and Leslie, both Presbyterians, were confronted with the same agonizing dilemma. They were pregnant with fetuses that had major defects, and each woman had to decide whether to give birth or terminate her pregnancy. More →

April 15, 2005

“The administration has either declared that — as in the case of the Gonzales memo — international law is “obsolete” or “quaint” and therefore does not apply to it or, in the case of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, where even the administration acknowledges international law does apply, that it was “a few bad apples” who were responsible for the abuse.” More →

December 3, 2004

In Utah, people who get licenses to carry concealed weapons can carry them even in church. If a church does not want its worshippers armed, it can either post a “No Guns” notice at the door or register with a state agency as a no-guns site. That has provoked a battle between the gun lobby and the Mormon church, on one side, and several other churches, on the other. More →

July 23, 2004

Read the R&E interview with Archbishop Thomas Kelly of Louisville, Kentucky about end-of-life issues. More →

May 21, 2004