The cutoff points would be arbitrary, with different authors assigning different weight to different criteria and the degrees within the criteria. It is evident that this way of determining who should live and who should die is utterly arbitrary and unjust. Dr. May then tackles the misunderstood teachings on Church s ban against contraception and artificial fertilization. Church tea-ching may appear to contradict itself. Prohibiting contraception seems to promote having children while bann-ing artificial fertilization seems to prohibit it.
Artificial fertilization occurs when the sperm and ovum unite outside the marital act.
In artificial insemination the sperm is put into the female reproductive tract by use of a cannula or other instruments. Obviously, fertilization occurs outside the woman s body. Several days after fertilization the embryo is transferred to the woman s uterus. Obviously, the Church does not condemn all scientific advances, as long as they respect the dignity of the human person. This principle is an outgrowth of the famous passage in Humanae Vitae where Pope Paul VI articulated the fundamental principle that lies behind the Church s teaching denouncing, both, contraception and artificial fertilization.