Medical technology and new treatments are being discovered and promoted at a much faster rate than our ability to reflect on their ethical, social, legal, and religious implications.

As a result, people are often unprepared to answer the difficult questions that confront them today:

- Is abortion ever justifiable?

- If a loved one is suffering, can we take action that might relieve their suffering but will hasten their death?

- Should doctors be allowed to help patients who wish to end their lives?

- If a child is severely impaired, can we allow her to die rather than face a life of suffering?

- Should we use genetic therapy to enhance the human race?

- Should we seriously consider cloning human beings?

The way we answer these questions is indicative of who we are and what kind of world we want for ourselves and our children.