As time goes by: twenty-five years of bioethics

Like Saint Paul, I was “born out of due time” insofar as the study of bioethics is concerned. (Incidentally, I prefer the term “healthcare ethics” to “bioethics” because the discipline in question addresses issues more far-reaching than medical issues, such as downsizing access to healthcare.) I spent 15 years in teaching and administration at the Aquinas Institute of Theology, then in Dubuque, Iowa, now on the campus of Saint Louis University. I was given a sabbatical study year in 1972–1973 to refresh my mind and spirit. Though my major study and research emphasis prior to the sabbatical study had been in the field of Church law and religious government, I determined to direct my attention to the study of moral theology and ethics, because at that time there was confusion in this area of discipline, especially insofar as the Catholic community was concerned. With this in mind, I chose the University of Chicago as the locale for my study and was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship.