Human Dignity

Are we our bodies? Or are our bodies simply something we have, something we can control, alter, suppress, or even redesign to conform to who we believe ourselves to be? Nearly half a century ago, St. John Paul II began delivering the 129 lectures that would become known as the Theology of the Body. But far from being simply a Catholic teaching about sex and marriage, Theology of the Body offers a sweeping vision of what it means to be human, and it may be more relevant now than ever. In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. John Grabowski, Professor of Moral Theology and Ethics at The Catholic University of America, to explore St. John Paul II’s understanding of the Read More ›

Our culture prizes autonomy, independence, and self-sufficiency. But what happens when we inevitably need someone else? From the preborn child who is completely dependent on his or her mother, to the person living with profound disability, to the elderly patient who can no longer care for himself, some of the most vulnerable human beings are also the most dependent. So if we equate dignity with autonomy, what happens to human dignity when autonomy disappears? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, Arina Grossu Agnew sits down with Leah Libresco Sargeant, author of The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto, to challenge one of the most powerful assumptions in modern culture: that human flourishing means needing other people as little as possible. Read More ›

When your child is born with a severe brain injury, how do you grieve the future you imagined while fully embracing the child in front of you? Where do you find hope when doctors, therapies, uncertainty, and endless medical decisions become your new normal? In this powerful episode of Bioethics Babe podcast, Arina Grossu Agnew sits down with Anja Baker—pro-life advocate, wife, mother of four, and disability parent—to share the remarkable story of her son, Hershey, who suffered a severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) brain injury at birth. Anja opens up about the heartbreak of receiving a devastating diagnosis, the realities of medical parenting, and how her family’s faith, community, and supportive school helped them find hope and to “dream again.” Read More ›

And what, exactly, is “human dignity?” Do we all possess it as a matter of objective truth, simply and merely because we are human, or must we earn our status by possessing particular capacities? Do AI and biotechnological advances threaten human dignity and diminish our moral standing? If so, what should public policy do about it? These are among the important — nay, crucial — questions with which we must grapple as we rush, so far with few regulatory brakes, toward a brave new world. Now, an ideologically odd pair of United States senators — the conservative Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and the progressive Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.) want to do something about that. They are co-sponsoring the Human Dignity Read More ›

Artificial intelligence is transforming medicine, health care, education, scientific research, and nearly every aspect of modern life. But as AI becomes more powerful, one question rises above all the others: What does it mean to be human? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, Arina Grossu Agnew explores Pope Leo XIV’s groundbreaking encyclical Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”) and examines how Catholics, and everyone concerned with human dignity, should think about artificial intelligence. Topics include: The stakes could not be higher.  Technology should always remain the servant of humanity—not its master.   For the latest episodes, episode resources, and general resources, please visit www.bioethicsbabe.com. Please subscribe to my YouTube page:  https://www.youtube.com/@BioethicsBabe Thank you for tuning in!XOXO,Bioethics Babe Follow BB on social media:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BioethicsBabeFacebook: Read More ›

The attacks on one of the fundamental essences of being human — free will — continue apace. The latest example can be found in the BBC’s Science Focus feature, in which Stanford biology professor Robert Sapolsky — a recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant for his work on the physiological effects of stress — redefines us as merely robotic biological machines incapable of making truly free decisions. We only think we “could have done otherwise” than what we did, claims Sapolsky. From the BBC interview: Acting on something and knowing you could have done otherwise is often necessary and sufficient to decide that free has just happened. Where I come in pulling my hair out is that doing that misses Read More ›

As I am sure readers know, Ben Sasse is dying from pancreatic cancer. But that doesn’t mean he is through. The former senator has refused to allow illness to push him into a darkened room. Instead, he has continued a very public life and conducted several candid interviews about his circumstances — perhaps most notably with our friend Peter Robinson on Uncommon Knowledge.

Sasse recently also launched a new podcast of his own, called (tongue in cheek) Not Dead Yet, co-hosted with NewsNation’s political pundit Chris Stirewalt. The podcast is aimed at helping listeners live lives “of meaning, hope, and joy,” no matter how long that life might last. (The comedian Conan O’Brien was the most recent guest.) Listening to Sasse, one can’t help but be uplifted by his continuing good humor and undiminished gusto.

Sasse’s sunny public face reminds me of the late Rush Limbaugh’s last year of “excellence in broadcasting.” Fans may remember him announcing on his show that he had terminal lung cancer. But that did not stop him. For about a year, El Rushbo continued on with his program — if anything, with greater energy than before — only taking time off periodically during “treatment week.”

I saw Dan’s comment on the repose of Jesse Jackson. I think he left a mixed legacy (don’t we all?), but I will always be grateful to him for lending his full-throated support to the Schindler family in opposition to the dehydration of Terri Schiavo — proving that those who worked so hard to save her life were not just religious conservatives (Ralph Nader also opposed the dehydration publicly). Jackson even traveled to Florida to literally stand shoulder to shoulder with Terri’s family. Terri’s brother Bobby Schindler issued the following statement of appreciation and mourning in the wake of Jackson’s death: My family is saddened to learn of the passing of Rev. Jesse Jackson. During the final days of my Read More ›

The New England Journal of Medicine is again promoting failed progressive public policies. This time, it is “harm reduction.” From “The Erosion of Harm Reduction,” by Joshua Barocas, M.D. (citations omitted):

Unlike the targets of many other recent attacks on public health and medicine in the United States, harm reduction is not a formal bureaucracy, but a philosophy and an approach to health care. As defined by the Drug Policy Alliance, it is “a set of ideas and interventions that seek to reduce the harms associated with both drug use and punitive drug policies.” Harm reduction is embodied in syringe-services programs (SSPs), naloxone distribution, overdose education, overdose-prevention centers [i.e. “safe injection sites”], and decriminalization of drugs.

Barocas decries the Trump administration’s executive order that limits such policies:

Perhaps most concerning, an executive order focused on homelessness and civil commitment issued on July 24, 2025, prohibits federal SAMHSA discretionary grants from being used to fund harm-reduction activities, proposes a freeze on federal funding to organizations that provide “drug paraphernalia,” and threatens legal action against harm-reduction organizations. The executive order states that these approaches “only facilitate illegal drug use and its attendant harm.”

My wife, the Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Debra J. Saunders, covered San Francisco’s harm reduction drug policies extensively back when she worked for the San Francisco Chronicle. It started with “needle exchange,” which she initially supported as a means of preventing the spread of HIV. The idea was for addicts to “exchange” dirty needles — a prime source of HIV transmission — for clean ones. The rule was: no used needle, no free clean replacement. Unfortunately, the program led to greater drug abuse. “Harm reduction” zealots eventually dropped the exchange requirement, which resulted in dangerous used needles littering San Francisco’s sidewalks and even children’s playgrounds.

It is always good to see someone wrestling with truth. A progressive columnist in The Guardian writes about how she is coming to understand that human life has intrinsic dignity, but she doesn’t quite understand why. Still, something very important is stirring within her. From, “I Am a Rational Liberal, Yet a Question about the Sanctity of Life Floored Me,” by Sonia Sodha: Liberalism has much to offer, but there are risks in embracing it as an overarching political philosophy without a degree of humility about its shortcomings: its hollow silence over how to navigate knotty ethical issues where society needs some kind of shared understanding. This queasiness about morality means liberals sometimes look the other way when others smuggle Read More ›