Christian Perspectives on Bioethics: Religious Values and Public Policy in a Pluralistic Society

Ian W. Toal is a registered nurse in Barrie, Ontario.

Advances in medicine and biotechnology have had enormous impacts on how
we may be conceived, live our lives, and end our lives. It is possible
now for children to be conceived in a test tube and born to women who
are not genetically related to them. The child may have frozen
“brothers” and “sisters,” embryos fertilized at the same time
but held, in suspended animation, in liquid nitrogen. The developing
fetus can be checked for a number of genetic disorders (or even sex);
based on the results, a decision can be made to continue or abort the
pregnancy. All of these possibilities contain within them the seeds of
an ethical crisis. How do we act when faced with options never before
encountered in the history of humanity? Bioethics, a relatively new
field of ethical study, attempts to offer guidance in these matters.

This well-written book examines the Christian response to problems
raised by biotechnology and, more specifically, the “influence of
Christianity on public policies dealing with bioethical issues.” The
author, who is clearly familiar with his subject, looks at a range of
bioethical dilemmas, from abortion, to allocation of health-care
resources, to euthanasia. He also offers some suggestions as to how
churches might work to ensure that Christian values are reflected in new
laws governing biotechnology. Recommended for those with a keen interest
in the subject.