Tadeusz Pacholczyk

Tadeusz Pacholczyk (born 1964) is an American Roman Catholic priest, neuroscientist and writer.[1]

Biography

Pacholczyk grew up in Tucson, Arizona to a Polish family.[2] His father Andrzej Pacholczyk was a professor of astrophysics at the University of Arizona. He earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale University and did post-doctoral research at Harvard University.[3]

In 1999, he was ordained a priest, after studying in Rome. He quickly became a church spokesman on what he calls beginning-of-life and end-of-life issues. He is a proponent of the teachings of the Catholic Church in opposition to human cloning and embryonic stem cell research.[4][5] (See Declaration on the Production and the Scientific and Therapeutic Use of Human Embryonic Stem Cells.) He has testified before state legislatures and been quoted in the press.[6] Pacholczyk writes a nationally-syndicated column, titled "Making Sense of Bioethics," that appears in numerous Catholic diocesan newspapers in the United States and has been reprinted in newspapers in Canada, England, Poland, and Australia.[7][8] He has written on a broad range of medical ethical issues,[9] including ethical prescription and use of opioids,[10] use of performance-enhancing drugs in professional athletics,[11] animal/human hybrids,[9] artificial nutrition and hydration,[9] conscience rights for health care providers and patients,[9] in vitro fertilization,[9] palliative and hospice care,[9] and physician-assisted suicide.[9] In July 2020, he was appointed by United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar to serve on the National Institute of Health Human Fetal Research Ethics Advisory Board.[6]

As of 2023, Pacholczyk is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River,[3] Massachusetts. He also served as the director of education and serves as a senior ethicist at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia,[12] whose long-time director, John Haas (retired 2019), served as an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

Opposing physician-assisted suicide

On October 7, 2012, Pacholczyk wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal titled "Please Step Back From the Assisted-Suicide Ledge"[13] in which he notes, "If physician-assisted suicide really represents a good choice, we need to ask: Why should only physicians be able to participate?" He follows the rhetorical question to its conclusion by noting, "Why should doctors have a monopoly on undermining public trust? Police and lifeguards could help out too."

Sexual Orientation Change Efforts

On October 22, 2018, Pacholczyk wrote a piece in the Catholic Herald titled "Sexual Orientation: Hope for restoration and healing with SOCE" (Sexual Orientation Change Efforts).[14] He describes the measured conclusion of a review by Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. of six studies published between 2000 and 2018 which concludes that SOCE "can be effective for some clients in bringing about significant change in some components of sexual orientation", and that "few harms were reported".

Ethical oversight of human scientific research

In December 2001, Pacholczyk testified before the Massachusetts Senate that "embryonic human life is inviolable and deserving of unconditional respect."[15] On January 10, 2020, he wrote a piece in The Boston Pilot titled "The Foxes and the Henhouse" [16] in which he discusses the production of two gene-edited human babies in China, and the apparent inability of the scientific establishment to provide adequate ethical regulation and oversight of research involving embryonic humans.

COVID-19

Pacholczyk has written and commented about the ethics of COVID-19 vaccines and COVID-19 treatments.[17][18][8][19][20] His writings and comments have addressed issues such as the rationing of medical care (such as ventilators),[20] whether and when prisoners should be given priority to receive vaccinations for COVID-19,[17] whether public health officials can make it mandatory for people to receive a vaccine,[19] and whether medical treatments and vaccines derived from cell lines derived from aborted fetuses are ethical.[18][8]

References
  1. The National Catholic Bioethics Center
  2. "Ks. dr Tadeusz Pacholczyk: Komórki zarodka nie są "tylko" zbitką komórek, ale żywą kwintesencją człowieczeństwa…". www.polishclub.org. Archived from the original on 2014-04-13.
  3. The National Catholic Bioethics Center
  4. "Boston.com / News / Science / The human face of stem cell research". archive.boston.com. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  5. "Videos | Search | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  6. Wadman, Meredith (2020-07-31). "Antiabortion ethicists and scientists dominate Trump's fetal tissue review board". Science. doi:10.1126/science.abe1214. ISSN 0036-8075. S2CID 225460995.
  7. Pacholczyk, Tadeusz (November 2020). "Making Sense of Bioethics: Must Catholics Refuse a COVID-19 Vaccine Made With a Cell Line from an Abortion?" (PDF). FatherTad.com. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  8. "Making Sense of Bioethics: 185 : Must Catholics Refuse a COVID-19 Vaccine Made with a Cell Line from an Abortion?". The National Catholic Bioethics Center. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  9. "Making Sense of Bioethics" Column". The National Catholic Bioethics Center. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  10. "Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 159: Opioids, Pain Management, and Addiction - Balancing Ethical". The National Catholic Bioethics Center. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  11. "Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 143: Doping Athletes". The National Catholic Bioethics Center. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  12. Interview with Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D.
  13. Tadeusz Pacholczyk (2012-10-07). "Please Step Back From the Assisted-Suicide Ledge". WSJ.com. The Wall Street Journal.
  14. "Sexual Orientation: Hope for restoration and healing with SOCE". Catholic Herald. 22 October 2018.
  15. The Louisiana Weekly, October 4, 2010
  16. "The Foxes and the Henhouse". The Boston Pilot. Archdiocese of Boston. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  17. Hadro, Matt. "Should prisoners be first, or last in line for COVID vaccine?". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  18. "Bioethics questions emerge from experimental drug used in COVID-19 treatment". National Catholic Reporter. 2020-10-12. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  19. "Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 183: Is Mandating a COVID-19 Vaccine Ethical?". The National Catholic Bioethics Center. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  20. "Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 177: Thinking Through the Rationing of Ventilators". The National Catholic Bioethics Center. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
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