#12271 Catholic Perspective on Teen Consent, IVF, and Artificial Pregnancy - Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Catholic Answers Live

Catholic Answers

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Catholic bioethicist Fr. Tad Pacholczyk tackles tough moral questions about teenage medical consent, frozen embryo implantation in older women, and the ethics of sustaining life through new technologies. Hear a thoughtful Catholic perspective on where moral lines are drawn in modern medicine and why intention, consent, and dignity matter in every case.

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Questions Covered:

20:24 – What are the reasonable limits to sustaining a pregnancy, such as the case you were discussing vs embryos conceived in IVF?
30:03 – Regarding the Georgia situation, since keeping dead person vitals going a new technology, would this be done only at the consent of the mother? Would that solve the dilemma?
34:59 – I have a 13-year-old son. We were told that at 14 we would be asked to leave the room for our son to decide if he wanted to make his own medical decisions alone with the doctor. Are you familiar with this situation and would this be ethical?
44:19 – Would it be ethical to implant a frozen embryo in a woman who is 60 years of age knowing that the pregnancy would probably not be viable?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Buying or selling your home, real estate for life can connect you with a pro-life real estate agent.
0:05.2	When Real Estate for Life receives a referral fee, they donate 65% to Catholic Answers.
0:11.5	Learn more at realestateforlife.org. Hello and welcome to Catholic Answers Live.
0:32.7	I am Cy Kelly, your host.
0:34.1	We'd like to be back here on a Monday.
0:36.6	It's always good to be back here on a Monday. Thank you very much for being here with us. We have a very good show for you.
0:42.2	Second hour we've got Mark Brumley coming up and will do Ask Me Anything with Mark Brumley.
0:49.2	Mark Brumley, of course, president of Ignatius Press and just one of the greatest guys and one of the greatest
0:57.3	publishing houses, as we like to say, the most important publishing house in the alpha quadrant.
1:02.2	This hour, we're going to talk about bioethics, and I always like when we have the opportunity
1:05.9	to let people just call with their bioethical questions, whether you work in the field, maybe the field of nursing
1:11.7	or medicine more generally or you're a scientist.
1:15.6	You are welcome to call 8883-1-8-7-884, or maybe you have end-of-life issues or caring for the sick
1:23.7	issues that are part of your own life or family.
1:26.4	You too are welcome to call 8883187-884. Our guest is Father Tad Paholchik. You know Father Tad. He's been a regular guest here for a long time on Catholic Answers Live, but you know him from all over Catholic media as well, from the National Catholic Bioethics Center. Father Tad Paholchik,
1:47.8	thank you very much for being here with us. Great to be able to join you, Cy. Thanks so much.
1:52.9	I'm sorry I'm not having a good hair day. I don't know if you see this, but it is a rough hair day for me.
1:57.0	So I'll do my best. It doesn't really matter that much for radio, but how's everything at the National Catholic
2:03.7	Bioethic Center? You're there in Philadelphia. That's right, right? You're still in Philadelphia?
2:09.3	Philadelphia, that's correct. Yes, things are going well. The summer is steaming along. There's
2:14.2	never a lack of interesting things for us to attend to, as you can imagine.
2:19.3	I kind of wish there would be sometimes.
	...

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