Pillar

The Human Person

The first pillar of a decent society is respect for the human person, which recognizes that all individual human beings have dignity simply because of the kind of being they are: animals whose rational faculties allow them to know, love, reason, and communicate. It also recognizes that human beings are persons, members of the human family who flourish in a community that respects their fundamental rights and who long to discover transcendent truths about the nature of reality.

Sexuality & Family, The Human Person

It’s “Time to Think” about the Irreversible Damage of Shoddy Sciences: A Review of Hannah Barnes

By Devorah Goldman

Learn more about the Human Person: get your free eBook today!

March 1, 2012
Education & Culture, The Human Person

March 1, 2012
Bioethics, Culture, Science

Reproductive Technologies and the Quest for Immortality

By Alana S. Newman

The fertility industry is booming because we desire genetic and memetic immortality—the preservation and reproduction of our bodies and ways of life.

February 28, 2012
Business & Economics, Politics & Law, The Human Person

February 28, 2012
Conscience Protection, Healthcare, Religion and the Public Square

The Bishops and the Mandate: Principled Witness vs. Politics as Usual

By Robert P. George, Sherif Girgis and Ryan T. Anderson

The controversy over the HHS mandate is not a spat about wonkish detail or tribal privilege. It remains a struggle for the principle of religious freedom, the soul of civil society.

February 23, 2012
Politics & Law, The Human Person

February 23, 2012
Conscience Protection, Religion and the Public Square

Equality versus Freedom?

By Helen Alvaré

Lawmakers must look past the “equality versus religious freedom” standoff, and consider the substantive merits of each particular case.

February 21, 2012
Business & Economics, Politics & Law, The Human Person

February 21, 2012
Conscience Protection, Constitutional Law, Healthcare

Obama’s Contraception Cram-down: The Pork Precedent

By Michael Stokes Paulsen

An ancient example of resistance to a tyrant’s attempt to coerce violations of religious conscience provides an interesting perspective on resistance to the Obama administration’s recent healthcare coverage mandate.

February 20, 2012
Politics & Law, Sexuality & Family, The Human Person

February 20, 2012
Conscience Protection, Healthcare, Natural Law, Religion and the Public Square

Mandates and Bad Law

By Christopher O. Tollefsen

Were the central task of government to be seen as that of aiding citizens in their own self-constitution, oriented towards real human goods including the good of religion, the HHS mandate would be seen for the unjust imposition it is.

February 16, 2012
Politics & Law, Sexuality & Family, The Human Person

February 16, 2012
Abortion, Constitutional Law, Marriage

Justice Kennedy, Abortion, and Same-Sex Marriage

By Carson Holloway

If marriage is to be preserved in the present struggle, our task is to sort through the influential kinds of arguments about same-sex marriage and abortion that have been introduced by Justice Kennedy.

February 15, 2012
Politics & Law, The Human Person

February 15, 2012
Conscience Protection, Constitutional Law, Healthcare

The HHS Mandate and Legal Precedent

By Michael A. Fragoso

Contrary to what Obama supporters would have us believe, there’s no precedent for the HHS mandate.

February 14, 2012
Politics & Law, The Human Person

February 14, 2012
Conscience Protection, Constitutional Law, Healthcare, Religion and the Public Square

Morals and Mandates

By Sherif Girgis and Robert P. George

Morality is not about keeping as long a leash as you can on the harms you cause. It is about keeping upright intentions and rejecting unfair tradeoffs—neither of which Obama’s proposed revision even pretends to affect.

February 13, 2012
Politics & Law, The Human Person

February 13, 2012
Abortion, Bioethics, Conscience Protection, Constitutional Law, Healthcare, Religion and the Public Square

President Obama, the Right Not to Do Wrong, and the Politics of Ruse and Delay

By Matthew J. Franck

No one can be rightly coerced by the state to be directly complicit in the commission of a wrong. This goes for any businessman, employer, insurance company, or individual, regardless of faith.

February 7, 2012
Education & Culture, Politics & Law, The Human Person

February 7, 2012
Abortion, Culture, Religion and the Public Square

A Muslim View on Respecting Life

By Suzy Ismail

Life’s fragility should remind us of the greatness of God, and the goodness of God’s creation should inspire us to respect life. Adapted from remarks made in the Princeton University Chapel for Respect Life Sunday.

February 6, 2012
Politics & Law, Sexuality & Family, The Human Person

February 6, 2012
Abortion, Conscience Protection, Marriage, Natural Law, Politics, Religion and the Public Square

Personally Opposed, but Sleeping with the Enemy

By Stephen J. Heaney

Personally opposed, but actively supporting…well, it’s complicated.

January 31, 2012
Education & Culture, The Human Person

January 31, 2012
Bioethics, Philosophy

The Importance of Dignity: A Reply to Steven Pinker

By Christopher Kaczor

From its ancient Stoic origins to its modern Kantian formulations, human dignity is an important concept for sound ethical thinking. We must distinguish dignity as attributed, dignity as intrinsic worth, and dignity as flourishing.

January 25, 2012
Education & Culture, Politics & Law, Sexuality & Family, The Human Person

January 25, 2012
Abortion, Marriage, Philosophy, Religion and the Public Square

Keeping Mom, Dad, and Baby: Social Conservatism and the Republican Platform

By Deirdre Cooper

In order to win, do Republicans really need to stop talking about abortion and marriage?

January 24, 2012
The Human Person

January 24, 2012
Abortion, Down Syndrome, Human Dignity, Religion

Disability: A Thread for Weaving Joy

By Charles J. Chaput

While some people resent the imperfection, the inconvenience, and the expense of persons with disabilities, others see in them an invitation to learn how to love deeply without counting the cost. God will demand an accounting. Adapted from remarks delivered at the Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life.

January 23, 2012
Politics & Law, The Human Person

January 23, 2012
Abortion, Bioethics, Constitutional Law

The Unbearable Wrongness of Roe

By Michael Stokes Paulsen

39 years ago, the Supreme Court delivered a radical, legally untenable, immoral decision. It has forfeited its entitlement to have its decisions respected, and followed, by the other branches of government, by the states, and by the people.

January 13, 2012
Politics & Law, The Human Person

January 13, 2012
Conscience Protection, Constitutional Law, Religion and the Public Square

Hosanna in the Highest!

By Michael Stokes Paulsen

In a recent decision, the Supreme Court has held that the First Amendment provides additional and independent rights to religious organizations, beyond those to which non-religious groups are entitled.

January 11, 2012
The Human Person

January 11, 2012
Bioethics

Purpose, Palliative Care, and Respect for Human Life

By Adam J. MacLeod

Aiding the deliberate destruction of human life has no place in the doctor’s job description.

January 4, 2012
The Human Person

January 4, 2012
Abortion, Bioethics, Book Reviews

A Life of Passion: Progressive Eugenics and Planned Parenthood

By Angela Franks

A new biography of Margaret Sanger fails to confront the Planned Parenthood founder’s ideological commitment to eugenics and population control.

December 1, 2011
Politics & Law, Sexuality & Family, The Human Person

December 1, 2011
Abortion, Book Reviews, Foreign Affairs, Natural Law

The Most Controversial Decision: Challenging Pro-Life Witness

By Christopher O. Tollefsen

The tradition of common morality does not permit us to excuse the atomic bomb as a “necessary” evil.

November 30, 2011
The Human Person

November 30, 2011
Conscience Protection, Healthcare

The Costs of Taking Conscience

By Michael A. Fragoso

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ABOG) are restricting opportunities for health-care professionals to object to abortion and contraception on grounds of conscience. This will accelerate the growing problem of physician shortage.

November 10, 2011
Education & Culture, The Human Person

November 10, 2011
Abortion, Bioethics, Culture, Down Syndrome

The Reckless, Profitable Elimination of Down Syndrome

By Mark W. Leach

A new Down syndrome test raises important questions.

November 9, 2011
Education & Culture, The Human Person

November 9, 2011
Abortion, Bioethics, Culture, Science

Nicholas Kristof and Toddlers: When You Really Need a Fact Checker

By Susan E. Wills

Think overpopulation, poverty, climate change, and abortion can all be solved by more birth control? Think again.

November 8, 2011
Education & Culture, Politics & Law, The Human Person

November 8, 2011
Bioethics, Culture, Religion and the Public Square

Being Human in an Age of Unbelief

By Charles J. Chaput

Four points in defense of human dignity. Adapted from an address delivered last night at the University of Pennsylvania.

October 24, 2011
Education & Culture, Politics & Law, The Human Person

October 24, 2011
Abortion, Constitutional Law, Culture

It’s a Girl

By Michael Stokes Paulsen

The Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence appears to protect a right to abortion even for reasons of sex selection. Yet this gruesome reality might provide an opening for a frontal assault on the premises of Roe v. Wade.

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The Human Person

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