Bioethics CE Page

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

• Define the biological development stages of the human embryo from fertilization through early organogenesis (zygote → blastocyst → embryo).
• Identify the embryological evidence (genetic uniqueness, continuous development, onset of cardiac activity) that supports recognition of the embryo as a distinct human organism from conception.
• Analyze common scientific, legal, and philosophical objections to full moral status for embryos and critically evaluate their validity in light of current embryological data.
• Evaluate how recognition of the embryo’s humanity from conception should inform ethical clinical practice, especially in OB-GYN settings, assisted reproductive technologies (ART), and perinatal care.
• Recognize policies and care protocols for clinicians and institutions that protect embryonic life, respect human dignity, and align with Catholic bioethical principles.
• Define the biological and clinical status of cryopreserved human embryos as living human organisms.
• Identify the medical, ethical, and legal challenges associated with long-term embryo cryopreservation and disposition.
• Analyze moral arguments surrounding embryo storage, destruction, research use, and “embryo adoption.”
• Evaluate clinical responsibilities in counseling patients about embryo creation, storage, and disposition options.
• Recommend ethically sound institutional policies that protect embryonic human life and maintain professional integrity.
• Define from theological and philosophical perspectives what constitutes a human person and describe how this applies to the embryo from conception.
• Identify key Christian-theological and biblical concepts (e.g., creation in the image of God, human dignity, the commandment to love one’s neighbor) that underpin the moral status of the embryo.
• Analyze prominent secular and medical arguments that deny full moral status to embryos — such as gradualist or “developmentbased” approaches — and compare them with the theological-personhood view.
• Evaluate contemporary bioethical theories and medical literature regarding embryo status and moral standing, in light of theological moral principles.
• Recommend how clinicians, researchers, and institutions can adopt practices, policies, and professional commitments that uphold the dignity and protection of embryonic human life.
• Describe the biological and clinical realities of early human development and embryo viability.
• Identify ethical and professional risks associated with IVF, embryo cryopreservation, and embryo disposition practices.
• Analyze real-world clinical and research cases involving embryos, using sound bioethical reasoning.
• Evaluate how moral, theological, and professional standards can be integrated into clinical decision-making under institutional or legal pressure.
• Recommend ethically sound, life-affirming strategies for patient counseling, policy development, and professional advocacy.
• Define ethical courage and moral integrity in the context of modern clinical practice.
• Identify institutional and societal pressures that challenge adherence to the Hippocratic Oath and Church teaching.
• Analyze strategies to maintain professional and moral boundaries in ethically complex or controversial situations.
• Evaluate approaches for fostering a culture of conscience protection and life-affirming care within healthcare institutions.
• Recommend practical methods for staying faithful to ethical, moral, and Church-guided standards in daily practice.
• Define the core principles of a Christian ethic of end-of-life care, including the sanctity of life and the moral limits of palliative interventions.
• Identify practices that constitute ethically permissible pain and symptom management versus interventions that intentionally hasten death.
• Analyze clinical scenarios in light of Christian moral principles and professional ethical standards.
• Evaluate current institutional and legal trends related to end-of-life care and their implications for ethical practice.
• Recommend strategies for providing compassionate, life-affirming care while upholding moral and professional integrity.
• Describe the historical and legal origins of brain death criteria in the United States (e.g., UDDA, clinical guidelines).
• Identify the standard clinical and ancillary tests used to determine brain death, and explain their limitations or potential for misdiagnosis.
• Evaluate arguments for and against brain death as a valid definition of human death from both medical and ethical perspectives.
• Analyze the ethical implications of accepting or rejecting brain death criteria for medical practice, patient rights, and organ donation policies.
• Define the clinical practices of palliative sedation and terminal analgesia, and distinguish them from active life-ending interventions.
• Identify major ethical and clinical critiques of applying the Doctrine of Double Effect to end-of-life sedation and analgesia, based on recent peer-reviewed scholarship.
• Analyze the moral risks posed by deep sedation or continuous opioid regimens — especially the potential for intentional or de facto euthanasia under the guise of “pain relief.”
• Evaluate when sedation and analgesia may — or may not — meet morally acceptable criteria for end-of-life care from a Catholic bioethical perspective.
• Recommend ethically sound protocols for pain and symptom management at end of life that respect human dignity, preserve the possibility of spiritual preparation, and avoid life-ending intent.