YOUCAT Lesson 390, June 8, 2015
YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic
youth
390 Is it permissible
to experiment on a live human being?
Scientific, psychological, or medical experiments on a live
human subject are allowed only when the results that can be expected are
important for human well-being and cannot be obtained otherwise. Everything, however, must take place with the
free and informed consent of the subject in question. [2292-2295]
Wanda Poltawska a Polish physician
was a Nazi prisoner at the Ravensbruck concentration camp in the German Reich and,
with other women prisoners, was subjected for four years to medical experiments
and then left for dead. ….. 390
To make human beings the subjects of
research against their will is a crime.
The fate of the Polish resistance fighter Dr. Wanda Poltawska, a close
confidant of Pope John Paul II, reminds us what was at stake then and still is
now. During the Nazi period, Wanda
Poltawska was a victim of criminal human experiments in the Ravensbruck
concentration camp. Later Dr. Poltawska,
a psychiatrist, advocated a reform of medical ethics and was among the founding
members of the Pontifical Academy for Life.
“One after the other they wheeled us out,
powerless, helpless. Along the corridor
in front of the door to the operating room we were anaesthetized by Dr.
Schidlausky with an intravenous injection.
Before going to sleep a thought flashed through my mind that I could no
longer express: ‘But we are not guinea pigs.’
No, we are not guinea pigsl We
were human beings!” Wanada
Poltawska (b. 1921) auther of “And I Am
Afraid Of My Dreams”.
II. RESPECT FOR THE DIGNITY OF PERSONS
[2292-2295]
Respect for the person
and scientific research
2292 Scientific, medical, or psychological
experiments on human individuals or groups can contribute to healing the sick
and the advancement of public health. --Catechism
of the Catholic Church, Second Edition
2293 Basic scientific
research, as well as applied research, is a significant expression of man's
dominion over creation. Science and technology are precious resources when
placed at the service of man and promote his integral development for the
benefit of all. By themselves however they cannot disclose the meaning of
existence and of human progress. Science and technology are ordered to man,
from whom they take their origin and development; hence they find in the person
and in his moral values both evidence of their purpose and awareness of their
limits. --CCC
2294 It is an illusion to
claim moral neutrality in scientific research and its applications. On the
other hand, guiding principles cannot be inferred from simple technical
efficiency, or from the usefulness accruing to some at the expense of others
or, even worse, from prevailing ideologies. Science and technology by their
very nature require unconditional respect for fundamental moral criteria. They
must be at the service of the human person, of his inalienable rights, of his
true and integral good, in conformity with the plan and the will of God. --CCC
2295 Research or experimentation on the human being cannot
legitimatize acts that are in themselves contrary to the dignity of persons and
to the moral law. The subjects' potential consent does not justify such acts.
Experimentation on human beings is not morally legitimate if it exposes the
subject's life or physical and psychological integrity to disproportionate or
avoidable risks. Experimentation on human beings does not conform to the
dignity of the person if it takes place without the informed consent of the
subject or those who legitimately speak for him. --CCC
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