1. The Human Person and Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

2. Basic Affirmations Principle #1: Life and Dignity of the Human Person
CCC, 2258 – “Human life is sacred…”
The Human Person is made up of body and soul
To be a human being is to be a member of the human species

3. Basic Affirmations… Principle #3: Human Rights and Responsibilities
All human beings have fundamental basic rights – just because they lack certain “abilities or skills” does not make them less human.
CCC, – “This same duty extends to those who think or act differently from us.”
Human beings are complex.

4. Basic Affirmations
Principle #2 and #6: Community and the Common Good and Call to Solidarity
Human beings exist in communities
The next-worldly reality must be taken into consideration
There has to be a consensus of basic human need and goods.
CCC, 1942: “The virtue of solidarity goes beyond material goods…”

5. Health
The definition of health has to be understood in a wholistic sense – physical/biological, mental/psychological, spiritual/ethical, social
There is no uniformed norm for defining health.
Optimal Function vs. Anatomical Function

6. Health…
Humans are living organisms. There exists an interrelationship within the body and between the other dimensions
Definition: Homeostasis
Prognosis: Acute, Chronic, Terminal (Initial, Advanced, Final)
Dying is a process. Death is an event.
The body is an organism, not a machine.
One can still have an “illness” and take steps to “manage” it.

7. Basic Affirmations: Part II (Christian Perspective)
The human person is a unity of body and soul: how we treat the body affects the soul and vice versa.
Therefore what you do and how you live your life matters.
Life is a basic good, but it’s not absolute. We safeguard the gift of life, but we also embrace death with the hope of the resurrection. Christians are not vitalists (CCC, 2289).
We have the primary responsibility for our own health. We have a moral responsibility to reverence and care for our health through preventive medicine and healthy lifestyle (CCC, 2288).
Science should be used to enhance human life, not destroy it (CCC, )

8. Basic Affirmations: Part II (Christian Perspective)…
Human beings have stewardship for themselves and creation (Principle #7: Care for Creation/Stewardship). ONLY God is master over creation and man. Just because we can do things or it looks good, doesn’t mean it is (CCC, 2295)
A professional (doctor/medical professional) posits a duty on himself/herself and is therefore expected to provide a specific service for a patient.
Patients have the right to: whole truth, privacy and personal dignity, refuse a test/procedure/treatment, read and copy medical records

9. Important Principle…
All have the natural right and duty to preserve life.
All have the absolute duty not to impede or damage another person’s natural right.
All have the duty to assist others to the extent that one is able.