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Who was Professor Jérôme Lejeune?

Posted: May 5, 2015
By: Dr. Pilar Calva, M.D.

I studied medicine with a constant scientific outlook, with the honesty required by a search for truth. When I finished medical school, I had a few months before being able to begin a program specializing in genetics. My dad suggested … Read

Caring When There Is No Cure – Part 2

Posted: April 28, 2015
By: Dr. Pilar Calva, M.D.

In my previous brief, we focused on providing palliative care, when curing is not possible. Today, we continue our discussion with the promised focus on proportionality. First, however, we should review a few terms: Euthanasia is when one person brings … Read

Ending Piecemeal Abortion – State By State

Posted: April 23, 2015
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

A thought experiment. Imagine a woman falling asleep in 1955—the year the “The Mickey Mouse Club” debuted—and waking in April 2015 to hear the reply of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fl.) to Rand Paul’s question: “Is it okay to … Read

Caring When There Is No Cure

Posted: April 2, 2015
By: Dr. Pilar Calva, M.D.

The Pontifical Academy for Life dedicated an assembly last month to the elderly and palliative care, a difficult issue when decisions for loved ones have to be made. Euthanasia etymologically means “a good death (eu thánatos),” to die well. Nevertheless, … Read

Suicide Risk And 21st Century Man

Posted: March 17, 2015
By: Frank J. Moncher, Ph.D.

The statistical risk of committing suicide among men in their late 40s to late 50s has increased almost 50% in the past decade. While the vast majority of men don’t experience such serious despair that they consider harming themselves, the … Read

The Greatest Encyclical of St. John Paul the Great Turns 20 – Honoring Evangelium Vitae

Posted: March 12, 2015
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

Twenty years ago this month, on the solemnity of the Annunciation, St. John Paul II published Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life). It was the 17th year of his pontificate. He was 75 years old. The idea for an encyclical … Read

Progress And Controversy: Abortion In The 114th Congress

Posted: January 27, 2015
By: Margaret Datiles Watts, J.D.

The 114th congress, with a Republican-controlled House and Senate, offers a renewed chance to successfully advance laws protecting women and the unborn. Yet, last Thursday, January 22, pro-life House Republicans were outraged when Reps. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) and Jackie Walorski … Read

Is Teaching And Preaching Against Same-Sex Marriage “Hate Speech?”

Posted: December 29, 2014
By: Margaret Datiles Watts, J.D.

The conjugal view of marriage as between one man and one woman has increasingly been characterized by same-sex proponents as based on bigotry and prejudice, and contrary to human rights. Organizations that advocate for re-defining marriage refer to the conjugal … Read

Suffering Lives Are Worth Living

Posted: November 11, 2014
By: Frank J. Moncher, Ph.D.

This past week, the media, large and small, observed the lives of two individuals whose commonalities are strikingly obvious: both in their 20s, both dedicating their lives to serving others, and both living with terminal brain cancer—and the unavoidable prognosis … Read

Catholic Social Teaching And My Friend Tommy

Posted: November 1, 2014
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

My friend Tommy recently spent a week with my family and me in Colorado. I met Tommy 10 years ago when we were neighbors in the Del Ray section of Alexandria, VA, when he was just out of prison, on … Read

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