When Church Teaching Seems Unfair
When Church Teaching Seems Unfair
Is it ever okay to use IVF? Is abortion okay to save the mother? Plus, BIG NEWS
It’s Advent. Happy New Year!
New year, new look for this newsletter. What do you think?
The new newsletter, Brave New Us: Faith + Bioethics, will bring you commentary on emerging trends in medicine, ethical research, and reproductive technologies along with the mind-blowing recommendations you’ve come to cherish.
Why the change? Your numbers are growing, dear readers, a cause for celebration indeed! But here’s a behind-the-scenes glance at writer life: it was actually costing quite a bit to continue communicating with you. Substack allows me to do that completely free and the monthly newsletter you’ve been receiving will also stay free.
Here’s the BIG NEWS: In addition, it allows me to offer you, the reader, the chance to support my independent Catholic take on emerging biotechnologies. The hidden costs of mom writer life include website fees, email hosting, babysitting costs, and generous tips to my barista. Your support will allow me to do more of what I love and provide you with more critical, thoughtful commentary on the world of bioethics. Here’s a preview of the new subscriber-only content you can expect to see:
“The Future of Embryonic Experimentation and What We Can Do to Stop It”
“The One Big Question Missing from the Abortion Debate”
“Whose Breasts Are They Anyway? Lactogenesis for Non-Gestational Parents”
“Are Fertility Clinics Lying to Potential Parents?”
“Fetal Tissue Research: How Is It Being Used and What Can We Do To Stop It”
I’m so excited to start I can barely select which post to work on first. Maybe you have a suggestion?
I am also reserving a section of the new newsletter just for comments from subscribers, whom I have affectionately dubbed the Peanut Gallery. It is no insult; Wikipedia identifies the Peanut Gallery as the rowdiest bunch in the crowd, and there’s no question that the rowdy crowd was my favorite during my teaching days. (Of course we have favorites. We are human beings. Come to think of it, so was Jesus, and Peter, James, and John were clearly the rowdiest of the bunch.)
All this to say, I do love hearing from you. Keep the rowdy coming.
And thank you to so many of you who signed the petition to halt LMU’s Planned Parenthood fundraiser last month. The event may have gone forward, but our efforts shed light on some of the deeply poisonous fruit that grows when our Catholic institutions fail to keep Christ at their center. Here’s to some decisive pruning in their future.
AMDG
Samantha
PS Those who subscribe now through the Feast of the Immaculate Conception get 20% off. For a whole year.
AROUND THE WEB
Is the Catholic Church’s Ban on IVF Unfair?
In January 2020, two couples in Los Angeles found themselves exchanging 3-month-olds after discovering that their embryos had been switched during in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Is Abortion Justifiable to Save the Life of the Mother?
Pro-life and pro-choice circles alike are abuzz over the newest attempt to limit abortion in the United States. Texas Senate Bill 8 (“The Texas Heartbeat Bill”) prohibits abortion of a fetus with a heartbeat.
Recommendations
And here’s a little something leftover from 2020 that’s getting a lot of attention this season.
The BEST Subscriptions for Catholic Families (Boxes, Periodicals, Apparel, Oh My!)
Here’s the rundown on the most fabulous Catholic subscriptions to give to loved ones this Christmas season. Feel free to circulate this list around to grandparents and godparents as your family’s official “wish list” this Christmas!
Says the Peanut Gallery
“The Brave New Us podcast has helped me explore my relationship with my brother and with others who are disabled. As a healthcare professional, it also has provided further insights into my role in patient care and in the medical field as new technologies arise and present new challenges for us to face.”
“Most of us are familiar with the daily tasks of running a household. Mama Prays is a beautiful new way of looking them and finding God!”
Thanks, guys!
Recent Interviews
After making a ruckus over my alma mater’s recent decision to allow a student group to host a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood on campus, I was invited to discuss the utter nonsense with a few outlets.
The Open Door “Theology, Bioethics, and Evangelizing the Culture”
LifeSite Podcast “This Is My Body: Embracing the Feminine Genius”
EWTN News Nightly (LMU segment begins at 18:00)
