EDWARD COLLINS VACEK, SJ. CATHOLIC 'NATURAL LAW AND REPRODUCTIVE ETHICS

ABSTRACT. Catholic natural law has had a long and evolving interest in bioethics. Thomas Aquinas left natural law a legacy of great flexibility in evaluating goods within a whole life. He also bequeathed to the Church the basis for an abolutism on sexual issues. Modern reproductive medicine and a deeper understanding of human freedom have reopened these issues. The Vatican has developed new, holistic arguments to proscribe reproductive interventions, but critics remain unconvinced that marital relationships and goods have been adequately evaluated. The resolution of this debate will require further ex-perience and reflection. Key Words: Thomas Aquinas, freedom, natural law, reproductive ethics Natural law theory has played a prominent role in ethics for well over two thousand years. It has undergone considerable change and includes many positions that are not only distinct but at times virulently opposed. It is not as monolithic as some of its advocates and many of its critics think. In what follows, I shall use the term 'natural law * as short-hand to refer to 'Roman Catholic natural law ethics', but even within this limitation there are considerable differences. Major revisions have occurred in recent decades, and no completely satisfying account is currently available. Many natural law ethicists today even avoid the term 'natural law7, since natural law refers neither to 'nature ' nor to 'law7 as these are commonly understood. Some argue that new wine is bursting old wineskins and that Catholic ethicists are doing something ne