Catholic Bioethics and Social Justice - by M Therese Lysaught & Michael McCarthy (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Catholic health care is one of the key places where the church lives Catholic social teaching (CST). Yet the individualistic methodology of Catholic bioethics inherited from the manualist tradition has yet to incorporate this critical component of the Catholic moral tradition. Informed by the places where Catholic health care intersects with the diverse societal injustices embodied in the patients it encounters, this book brings the lens of CST to bear on Catholic health care, illuminating a new spectrum of ethical issues and practical recommendations from social determinants of health, immigration, diversity and disparities, behavioral health, gender-questioning patients, and environmental and global health issues.

Review Quotes

"A welcome addition to the growing call for a Catholic bioethics that is richly informed by Catholic Social Thought. Theoretically sophisticated, yet grounded in the daily practice of Catholic health care, this collection breaks out of the traditional locus for bioethics in the clinic and at the bedside to give voice to marginalized communities and invisible populations. Here justice is not an afterthought or a fourth principle but the lens through which we question everything from how we weigh social investments in health care to what counts as a moral issue. Required reading for anyone concerned with the social construction of health, health care, and health policy and anyone who has ever wondered what bioethics from an option for the poor would look like."Maura A. Ryan, John Cardinal O'Hara, CSC, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, University of Notre Dame

"In an eloquent methodological shift, Catholic Bioethics and Social Justice offers a renewed vision of Christian bioethics rooted in Catholic social teaching, praxis, and the key of liberation. Bridging theological bioethics with interdisciplinary and clinical expertise, this volume provides a fresh ethical perspective from within marginalized communities and real-life complexities that daily challenge healthcare delivery in a US context. A must-read for undergraduate and graduate students interested in theological bioethics, as well as religious leaders and clinicians engaging the general underrepresentation within Christian healthcare debates concerning justice, the preferential option, and diverse participation across a range of emerging issues."Autumn Alcott Ridenour, PhD, Assistant Professor, Religious and Theological Studies, Merrimack College

"This collection of essays is a breath of fresh air for those working in Catholic healthcare ethics. It is courageous in challenging traditionalists to struggle with uncomfortable issues that have no easy answers, and yet remains hopeful that those challenges can be met and overcome. This text is highly recommended for high school, college, and professional libraries."Catholic Library World

"We talk about micro- and macro-ethics, clinical and social dimensions of health care ethics, but the specific clinical aspects--especially those around sex and reproduction--continue to absorb a disproportionate amount of ethicists' attention. This volume shows both the social context of health care ethics and the influence that social factors have on clinical issues we face. Reading this volume is almost like zooming out on a GPS so that you see not just the street corner, but the surrounding terrain and how we got to the street corner in the first place.

"This book is an important advance in our efforts to understand how social factors--violence, racism, mental illness, ecology, gender and business practices--affect health status and outcomes. It is a contribution to our ongoing efforts to make the person, `fully and adequately considered' the heart of our ethical undertaking."

Charles E. Bouchard, OP, STD, Senior Director, Theology and Ethics, The Catholic Health Association of the United States

"In one adroit volume, M. Therese Lysaught and Michael McCarthy bring together the rich tradition of Catholic social thought, a fresh reading of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, and key interdisciplinary thought leaders in service of the most pressing ethical issues healthcare faces today. Catholic Bioethics and Social Justice is a gift not only for ethicists, theologians, and mission leaders but for anyone interested in the integrity of Catholic health care."Michael Miller, Jr. System Vice President, Mission & Ethics, SSM Health

"Any reader interested in the implications of current conversations on US health care policy may well find Catholic Bioethics and Social Justice a welcome and instructive starting point."
Reading Religion

"This excellent volume is a blast of fresh air that invites readers into an expansive ethical inquiry outside the confining medical and research spaces where bioethicists often focus. Catholic Bioethics and Social Justice is both a scholarly and a teaching resource. When I select teaching texts, I seek just this combination of lively moral portraits and clear evidence to provoke discussion combined with substantive ethical concepts for students to exercise in sharpening their moral imaginations. Essays are accessible, compact, and substantive."
Monash Bioethics Review

"The volume laudably brings Catholic social thought to bear on Catholic bioethics and raises awareness of a host of important issues."
Journal of Moral Theology

"Social justice has been a primary concern in Catholic teaching for a long time. This book presents a collection of essays that open new avenues for the contemporary bioethical debate. It goes beyond the usual fixation on individual autonomy and addresses vulnerability, social responsibility, and solidarity. The authors also take the implications of globalization seriously while at the same time focusing on specific issues such as gun violence, human trafficking, racial disparities, just workplaces, outsourcing, and the environment. The book demonstrates how an `old' tradition of ethical concern can be revitalized in a new context."Henk ten Have, Professor of Healthcare Ethics, Center for Healthcare Ethics, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh

"The twenty-four essays in this book, along with the helpful introduction to Catholic social thought, spark the reader's imagination to reconstruct and reconsider the nature of Catholic bioethics. The `traditional' questions will never leave us, but considered by themselves, they simply do not do justice to the range of moral issues facing Catholic health care providers and institutions. This book pushes us. It is a creative project that is bound to shape what we do in Catholic bioethics."Bernard Brady, University of Saint Thomas, Minnesota