Is Self-Amputation for Survival Morally Justifiable?

Abstract

Are acts of self-amputation for survival morally justifiable in the Catholic tradition? I propose that a proper understanding of the principle of totality that involves a benefit/risk assessment of the impact of a surgical intervention on the well-being of the embodied person justifies such acts: A bodily part may be sacrificed to save the life of an individual person because all bodily parts are ordered towards the flourishing of that person. As such they can be sacrificed for the good of the whole, because this would be in accord with their natural end.

Keywords

bioethics gender gender identity sexuality transgender operations

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