July 19, 2017

Melissa Moschella, assistant professor, philosophy, was quoted in a Catholic News Agency story on parental rights of a baby born with a disabling medical condition.

London, England, Jun 22, 2017 CNA/EWTN News.- Legal efforts to bar the parents of a British baby born with a disabling medical condition from seeking treatment overseas are based on deep ethical errors, a Catholic expert in medical ethics has warned.

“It seems to me completely wrongheaded that the state should be stepping in here when the decision that the parents are making is really aimed at the best interests of the child,” Dr. Melissa Moschella, a Catholic University of America philosophy professor, told CNA.

“It’s not crazy, it’s not abusive, it’s not neglectful. It’s the decision of parents who want to, however they can, to give their very sick child a chance for life.”

She said such a decision “should be completely within the prerogative of the parent,” citing the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to Moschella, that declaration “clearly indicates that the parents, not the state will have primarily responsibility.” ...

Continue reading in the Boston Pilot.

Robert Destro, professor, law, and director, IPR, was quoted in an Our Sunday Visitor story about Charlie Gard and parental rights.

... “This is exactly the kind of case where parents acting in the best interests of their children ought to be given the final word,” said Robert Destro, a law professor at The Catholic University of America.

In 2005, Destro argued in court on behalf of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s unsuccessful efforts to preserve a state law that would have kept Terri Schiavo alive with a feeding tube. Destro echoed other Catholics’ concerns that the National Health Service is usurping the rights of Charlie’s parents.

“In the NHS, people really don’t have any control over what kind of treatments they get,” Destro said. “So the question becomes: Is the NHS making these decisions in Charlie’s best interests? Or is the NHS making these decisions in NHS’s best interests?”

Continue reading in Our Sunday Visitor.

 

  • July 19, 2017

    July 19, 2017