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Title: Quel berceau anthropologique pour l'être humain?
Subtitle: Interprétation théologique de Donum vitae par Dignitas personae à propos de la fécondation hors du corps humain
Author(s): MATTHEEUWS, Alain
Journal: Marriage, Families & Spirituality
Volume: 19    Issue: 1   Date: 2013   
Pages: 43-55
DOI: 10.2143/INT.19.1.3007294

Abstract :
Among the many bioethical issues discussed today, the generation of human life is a crucial one. To meet the numerous demands of couples confronted with fertility problems, biomedical science offers techniques that face infertility (In vitro fertilization – IVF) and screen embryos (Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis – PGD). The central anthropological problem of fertilization may be stated as: Does fertilization outside the body have a meaning? Should the anthropological cradle of all human beings not be a physical and intimate act of the spouses? Two instructions of the Catholic Church addressed this issue: Donum vitae (1987) and twenty-one years later Dignitas personae (2008). The author revisits both documents theologically, not in chronological but in reverse order, which enables him to discover not only the continuity of affirmations but also certain differences in vocabulary and reasoning. This reading highlights the ethical issues that remain of topical interest and the originality of the underlying theological reflection.

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