Reproductive Ethics Annotated Bibliography

This book by a philosophy professor examines the moral, legal, psychological, and sociological impact of reproductive technologies from an orthodox Roman Catholic perspective. Definitions of and positions on marriage and parenthood, procreation, the family, specific assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), and surrogate motherhood are based primarily on teachings and principles contained in the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (Encyclical of Pope Paul VI on the Regulation of Birth, July 25, 1968), the Vatican pastoral paper Donum Vitae (Instruction on Respect for Human Life in Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation: Replies to Certain Questions of the Day, 1987) , and Pope John Paul II's "Theology of the Body" (expressed in papal addresses given from September 1979 through November 1984). Given their high costs and high failure rates, ARTs also raise issues of social justice and possibly exploitation, asserts DeMarco. A 13-page index facilitates the location of arguments pertaining to specific techniques and doctrines.