An Introduction to the Vatican Instruction on Reproductive Technologies
On Feb. 22, 1987, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a moral evaluation of various widely discussed reproductive procedures and related activities. The name of this document is "Instruction on Respect(or Human Li(e in its Origin and onthe DiKnitr of Procreat ion: Replies to Certain Questions of/he Dar". This I nstruction is often referred to by the first two words in the official Latin text , "Donum Vitae", gift of life. As its title suggests, the purpose of the I nstruction is to answer certain "questions of the day" concerning such matters as in vitro fertilization , artificial insemination, and the medical treatment ofthe unborn. Thus, the instruction is not concerned directly with questions of science, nor even with the underlying technological possibilities created by the developments of modern biological science, but is concerned with certain human actions those in which scientific knowledge and technological possibilities are used to solve problems of infertility , treat the diseases of the unborn , and so on. Such uses of scientific knowledge and technology raise serious moral questions , as virtually everyone admits. It is these moral questions which the I nstruction addresses. In fact, the Instruction exhibits a welcoming and grateful attitude not only toward the great advances in scientific understanding of human beings, but also toward the technological potent ial which these advances create. Properly used , this technology can be a great help to human beings in carrying out their vocations in this world . So there is no suspicio n ofthe technological or the art ifi cial, just as such, and no nostalgia for natural ways of, say, reproduction, just because they are natural. If certain medical procedures are evaluated negatively, it is not because they are artificial, but