making sense of bioethics – Madison Catholic Herald

Often we envision donating our organs after we are dead, but we can also choose to become an organ donor while we are alive if we share part of our liver or donate one of our kidneys.

The proposal to give one of our two kidneys away, though, does raise some ethical and safety concerns. There can be long-term risks for the donor. Donating a kidney, moreover, would not be therapeutic for us —only for someone else — and in fact, might slightly increase our own risk for experiencing renal failure in the future.

Ethical issues surrounding organ donations

Often we envision donating our organs after we are dead, but we can also choose to become an organ donor while we are alive if we share part of our liver or donate one of our kidneys.

The proposal to give one of our two kidneys away, though, does raise some ethical and safety concerns. There can be long-term risks for the donor. Donating a kidney, moreover, would not be therapeutic for us —only for someone else — and in fact, might slightly increase our own risk for experiencing renal failure in the future.

The Pill as health care?

Physicians will sometimes prescribe a hormonal regimen (in the form of a hormonal contraceptive like the Pill) to treat certain gynecological problems like heavy menstrual bleeding, dysmenorrhea (painful periods), PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome), endometriosis, or other conditions like severe acne. In these cases, the Pill is used not as a contraceptive, but as a therapy for a medical condition.

This can be morally permissible under the principle of double effect, which allows for the treatment of a serious medical problem (the good effect), while tolerating its unintended consequences, when other less harmful treatments are not available. In this case, the unintended consequences would be the impeding of one’s fertility and the potential health risks and side effects of the Pill (the evil effect).