Forming moral consciences with personal consultations

The life of faith is most challenging when it comes to real-life decisions, especially on culturally contested and complex issues. Are do-not-resuscitate orders always wrong? Is weaning a loved one off the ventilator a kind of euthanasia? Which reproductive technologies can be used to achieve pregnancy? When a woman’s life would be endangered by pregnancy, are there methods of contraception or sterilization that might be OK? Which treatments of complicated pregnancies are morally sound? Is it acceptable to affirm a child’s newly claimed gender identity with counseling, hormones, or surgery? Where can we find trustworthy guidance on questions like these?

The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) stands in the breach on topics like these, fielding case-specific ethical questions from Catholics all over the country without cost. We stand at the crossroads of health care, law, scientific research, biotechnology, and Catholic moral teaching. And we do it on a personal level. In fact, a real person responds to every request within 24 hours of a phone call or within five business days of an online submission. Each month, NCBC fields over 100 consultation requests by phone or email.

Now, as part of a new special partnership with Legatus, NCBC offers concierge ethics consultation to all Legatus members. This means that you, your company, and your families now have 24/7 access directly to Joseph Meaney, NCBC president, as a benefit of your membership. 

All our ethics consultants offer authoritative Church teachings with references, explanations of moral principles, how to think through applications, practical resources, and reasoned advice for concrete circumstances. Without having to take a course on Catholic bioethics or moral theology, those who contact us receive expert and magisterially faithful guidance — specific to their situation — which enables morally informed decisions. But NCBC’s responders not only inform, like an FAQ, decision-tree app, or even ChatGPT, but also accompany and pray for those who contact us. We build community.

Few realize, however, that NCBC’s free personal ethics consultations are not just for specialized audiences. While health care professionals and biomedical researchers submit about 25 percent of our consultation requests, with another 10 percent come from clergy and 5 percent from educators, this service is intended for everyone. In fact, 60 percent of our consultations come from the average lay Catholic. 

But who is that? It’s the couple with a suspected early miscarriage, uncertain about the next medical steps or how to handle the baby’s remains. It’s the fallen-away Catholic with pangs of conscience about withholding food and water from Dad on hospice. It’s the faithful grandmother wondering how to counsel her son and daughter-in-law who are considering in vitro fertilization. It’s the single woman wondering whether it’s right to follow her doctor’s advice on oral contraceptive use to treat a menstrual condition. Or it’s the parish priest whom they all consulted first — but who isn’t sure about the best resources or how to address the multi-faceted concerns of each parishioner. 

I am humbled by each of the souls who contacts us, diligently seeking what is right in God’s eyes. Complicated circumstances, outside pressures, and conflicting voices threaten to cause confusion or insecurity. It’s easy to blank under real-life situations. But the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us of what we need to form our consciences: reflection on Scripture in faith and prayer, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and “the witness or advice of others guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church” (1785). 

The NCBC’s ethics consultation service is here for everyone — with 24/7 access to the president of NCBC for Legatus members — forming consciences with the riches of the Catholic moral tradition at the precise moment of need.