Main description:

Examine the impact and importance reproduction and genetics have on religious values

Counseling Pregnancy, Politics, and Biomedicine: Empowering Discernment explains the mystery of the God-human relationship so ministers, priests, and pastors can follow the ethics and mechanics of counseling human reproductive health and be informed on issues of religion, medical experimentation, and politics. The unique book is a teaching text and a desktop reference for clergypersons and pastoral care ministers, providing them with information on the sensitive and intimate topic of reproductive health from a Christian worldview so they can advise and empower congregation members to make thoughtful decisions about health care.

Counseling Pregnancy, Politics, and Biomedicine examines four disciplines through a Christian point of view: 1) religion based on humanity created in the image of God; 2) different varieties of ethics; 3) systems of law and politics; and 4) philosophies on experimental medicines. Each topic is grounded with its religious background, providing a practical, easy-to-follow path for Christian thinkers. The book also addresses the concerns a religious person might have about health and ministry, what genetic therapy can accomplish, the alternatives to genetic therapy, and how theology, ethics, law, and medicine apply to the issues expectant mothers face.

Counseling Pregnancy, Politics, and Biomedicine examines:

the major points in recognized ethical theories

how Christian principles became part of secular law over time

the legal dilemmas involved in protecting the health of pregnant women

how and why palliative care is a viable alternative to modern therapies

the politics and morality of terminating a pregnancy

how to protect women from becoming research instruments

the moral status of the embryo

and much more

Counseling Pregnancy, Politics, and Biomedicine explains God's desire for good health by identifying ways in which Jesus is the example of what it means for every person to be created in the image of God. The book is a vital resource for clergypersons and pastoral care ministers.

Contents:

Acknowledgments. Introduction: The Goals of the Book. Part I: Information to Equip Decisions. Humankind Created in the Image of God, Imago Dei: The Passion and Politics of Human Biology. Ethics: Has Morality Become a Maze or a Prism? What Politics? Which Legal System? Medical Experimentation and Reproduction. Part II: Applying the Information to Issues in Reproduction. Issues Faced by the Expectant Mother. The Moral Status of the Embryo Appendix. Legal Documents and Cases. Notes. Sources Consulted. Index.