Moral Quandry - Killing Innocents/ Defeating Evil

[Rete]

Is that why they remove the tube itself, since it doesn’t directly stop the life of the fetus?

I wonder if it would be just if doing so would rob the mother of fertility when directly aborting the fetus would not.

 

[Eleve]

Is that why they remove the tube itself, since it doesn’t directly stop the life of the fetus?

Yes. Because they do it that way, the death of the fetus isn’t a goal and it isn’t a means to anything. It’s just what happens when you remove the fallopian tube.

I wonder if it would be just if doing so would rob the mother of fertility when directly aborting the fetus would not.

I think the orthodox Catholic view would be that it is a bad thing that fertility is lost, but that an intrinsically evil act (i.e. a direct abortion) cannot be performed simply because some bad thing would happen otherwise.

 

[SonCatcher]

I quit.

Sorry if I scared you off. It really is good to work out these issues and I am more than glad to help you through it. St. Paul tells us to “work out [our] salvation in fear and trembling” which is why I think you brought it up in the first place. Indeed, another time you will likely return the favor to me.

 

[Rete]

As it happens, I think that the Catholic Church is wrong on this point, and that the Doctrine of Double Effect is wrong. But it’s pretty clear what the Catholic Church and the traditional formulation of the Doctrine of Double Effect say. And what you’re saying does not line up with that.

So what are your criticisms of the doctrine of double effect?