Catholic Bioethics and Social Justice: The Praxis of US Health Care in a Globalized World

by M. Therese Lysaught (Editor), Lisa Sowle Cahill (Foreword), Michael McCarthy PhD (Editor)

Catholic health care is one of the key places where the church lives Catholic social teaching (CST). Yet the individualistic methodology of Catholic bioethics inherited from the manualist tradition has yet to incorporate this critical component of the Catholic moral tradition. Informed by the places where Catholic health care intersects with the diverse societal injustices embodied in the patients it encounters, this book brings the lens of CST to bear on Catholic health care, illuminating a new spectrum of ethical issues and practical recommendations from social determinants of health, immigration, diversity and disparities, behavioral health, gender-questioning patients, and environmental and global health issues.

458 pages, Paperback

Published January 10, 2019

Reviews

[Lisa]

Excellent book. With the exception of one misguided chapter (on transgender issues), this was a fantastic read and very useful for me as I am pursing a master’s in Catholic Clinical Ethics and taking a course on Catholic Social Teaching right now. I wish there were more on Value-Based Care and Catholic Social Teaching, as well as market principles and Community Benefit.

[Matthew Loftus]

A bit uneven -- some of the chapters are little more than the reigning ideology stamped with Catholic Social Teaching(TM), while others are incisive moral analyses of social justice issues. Fortunately, there are more of the latter than the former, and every chapter has an extremely practical focus.