In February 2009, the Religious Institute published an “Open Letter to Religious Leaders on Assisted Reproductive Technologies,” calling on the nation’s religious leaders to “engage the ethical considerations of assisted reproductive technologies and to become stronger counselors and advocates for the safety, effectiveness and accessibility of these technologies.”

The Religious Institute, a multifaith organization based in Westport, Conn., in September 2009 published “A Time to be Born: A Faith-Based Guide to Assisted Reproductive Technologies.” The guide is descibed as “the first multifaith resource to address the scientific and ethical complexities of reproductive technologies from a religious perspective.”

In November 2009, the Catholic bishops of the United States approved a document called “Life-Giving Love in an Age of Technology,” which explains the Catholic Church’s opposition to a range of infertility treatments and addresses certain developments in biotechnology in light of church teaching. Among other things, the document notes that while the church regards frozen embryos […]

David Cummiskey is a philosophy professor at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He specializes in medical ethics, including the right to die.

The Rev. Richard H. Gentzler Jr. is director of the Center on Aging & Older Adult Ministries for the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church. The center provides resources and training for leaders of midlife and older-adult ministries. He’s the author of numerous books, including The Graying of the Church and Aging: God’s Challenge to Church and […]

Marie T. Hilliard is a senior fellow with the National Catholic Bioethics Center, where she also serves as director of bioethics and public policy. The center offers a resource guide on Catholicism and the use of vaccines.

See the text of Pope Benedict XVI’s Nov. 7, 2008, address on organ donation and defining death.

See an Oct. 9, 2009, report from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly that explores end-of-life issues. 

Read a Feb. 3, 2010, New York Times article that discusses the results of the new brain imaging study.