SLU Bioethics

Allison Bajada (SLU HCE Ph.D. student) recently published a piece on shared-decision making in adolescent contraceptive use. Read it here:

https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/NACG3FXGURIGHUZDWIE6/full -14777509261445741

The article is about the public health exception which allows minors to access contraception confidentially in most states in the U.S. Allison argues that this prevents parents from fulfilling their roles as caretakers and moral guides, and she proposes a framework by which providers can evaluate parental attitude, capacity, and willingness to be involved in contraceptive decision-making so more families can be included in the process.

And doctor makes three: A push for shared decision-making in adolescent contraceptive use - Allison Bajada, 2026 Access to contraception constitutes one of the few exceptions to parental medical decision-making for minors. Despite inconsistencies in state law across the Un...

Congratulations to Dr. Kirsten Dempsey, who successfully defended her doctoral dissertation "From Device Paradigm to Spiritual Practice: Bodies, Pills and Fertility Awareness", with distinction! Her committee included Dr. Jeffrey Bishop (chair), Dr. Angela Franks and Dr. Erica Salter. Kirsten works as the Director of Ethics Integration for Ascension Health.

Joint-PhD student in Theology and Health Care Ethics Jordan Bauer was recently featured in 'Catholic Health World' about a recent webinar he gave to the Catholic Health Association:

Hospice nurse: 'We do have a lot of work to do' in honoring the dignity of those with dementia Jordan Bauer says with patience and perspective caregivers can learn from patients in cognitive decline