Steubenville University

Steubenville University

Steubenville University Bioethics Conference Addresses Current Pro-Life Topics

Steubenville, OH (LifeNews.com) -- With presentations ranging from discussions about current legislative battles over end-of-life decisions to the legal status of the unborn, Franciscan University of Steubenville's fall bioethics conference offered attendees a sweeping overview of current issues in bioethics. Dr. Patrick Lee, the director of the Institute of Bioethics at Franciscan University, described The Value of Human Life Conference as a response to Pope John Paul II's call for "a general mobilization of consciences and a united ethical effort to activate a great campaign in support of life. He said, "All of us here-professors, students, and others-are intellectuals, and we have an obligation to defend the weakest of our brethren." The speakers and paper presenters took up the challenge with vigor. Among many other conference speakers, Dr. Andrew Trew, a professor of bioethics at St. Mary's Seminary and John Carroll University in Cleveland, discussed "Love for Life," comparing Catholic bioethics with a secular bioethics. In a similar vein, plenary speaker Dr. Francis Beckwith, professor of philosophy and church-state studies at Baylor University, examined "Human Dignity and Its Discontents." Beckwith explained that in the internal debates among bioethicists, there exists a category of thinkers who repudiate the idea of human dignity because of two main philosophical positions: enlightenment liberalism and scientific materialism.