September 2024 Volume 39, Issue 2
Life News
Promoting the sanctity of life
Welcome Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ! In this issue, we have a piece written in response to a journal article claiming that preg-
Inside this issue
nancy is a disease, a write up on loving and living with disabled siblings, a sum-
Welcome................................................1
mary of the Right to Life Association of WA, and other life related pieces. As al-
“Pregnancy is a disease”....................1
ways, I pray you find this edition encouraging and edifying.
Loving and living with disabled
Joseph Theodorsen - Chair, Lutherans for Life.
siblings...................................................5 Life News Snippets.............................8 Right to Life Association of West-
“Pregnancy is a Disease”: the Consequences of Denying Teleology
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Just this year, a distinguished bioethics jour-
Life News is the
nal, The Journal of Medical Ethics published
newsletter of
an article with the title: “Is Pregnancy a Dis-
Lutherans for Life
ease? A Normative Approach.”1
Est. in 1987
The two authors of the article, Anna Smadjor
Sponsored by the
and Joona Rasanen answered this question
Lutheran Church of
in the affirmative. Having followed the aca-
Australia.
demic abortion debate for years, I don’t often get shocked by things I read in bioethics The claim that pregnancy is a disease is no longer just a claim thoughtlessly made by
Thank you!...........................................10 LFL across the seas............................11
Emma Wood
journals, but this occasion was an exception.
ern Australia.........................................9
Print Post Approved Example of the Journal of Medical Ethics’ publica on
placard holders or keyboard warriors who haven’t thought through the implications of such a statement. The idea that pregnancy is a disease is now being seriously argued by academics with considerable understanding of biology. 1. Anna Smadjor & Joona Rasanen, J. Is Pregnancy a Disease? A Normative Approach. Journal of Medical Ethics. 2024; 0:1-8. doi:10.1136/jme-2023-109651, accessible at: https://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2024/01/28/jme-2023-109651?rss=1
Periodical No, PP442570/0006 ISSN 1033-7725 EDITOR: Vacant LN.editor@gmail.com