Opponents, led by the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops, say the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill RU-486 will “further numb our conscience to the violence of abortion.” More →

September 29, 2000

  BOB ABERNETHY: Sometime this month, scientists say they will announce that they have mapped almost all the human genome, the inherited instructions that tell our bodies what to do. The promise of the new knowledge is so vast, some … More →

June 16, 2000

Imagine the sadness of dying alone. To that dismal prospect, add the thought of dying alone in prison. Not long ago, one of the toughest prisons in the country created a hospice program to ensure that that doesn’t happen to its inmates. More →

March 17, 2000

To keep up with the skyrocketing demand for life-saving organ donations, Pennsylvania officials are trying an innovative and controversial program to offer financial incentives to organ donors. But it has already raised several ethical concerns about what could happen once money is attached to something that’s always been an altruistic act. More →

November 12, 1999

With modern neonatal technology and under federal law, doctors can keep alive tiny premature babies, even if the babies’ parents want to let them die. But often those babies survive to grow up significantly damaged and in pain. Should they be kept alive? Who should decide? More →

October 22, 1999

Many individuals are hoping to make places of worship more accessible to persons with disabilities. The issue goes beyond just being able to get up the steps or hear the sermon; it’s about changing attitudes toward the disabled. There is a large pool of disabled worshippers who want to be more than witnesses, who want to participate in or even lead religious services. More →

October 1, 1999

As death approaches, hospice care can impose a heavy burden, with great responsibilities on families. Palliative care is a method of treatment for terminally ill patients and their families that provides them with hospice-like care in a hospital. More →

July 9, 1999

November 27, 1998

The House is preparing to vote on a bill that could severely curb a doctor’s ability to prescribe lethal drugs for the purpose of suicide. That ability is at the heart of the Oregon law that went into effect last fall. At age 35, Brian Lovell was diagnosed with colon cancer and was given six months to live. Now, he is ready to use Oregon’s Death with Dignity law. More →

September 18, 1998