Of Fasts and Feasts: Catholic Ethics and the Right Use of GLP-1 Agonists for Weight Loss

Abstract

Can Catholics ethically use GLP-1 agonists to pursue the goal of weight loss? I argue that the goal of maintaining a healthy weight should serve the further ends of caring for the good gift of one's own body and pursuing the virtuous beatitude which befits the human person. Drawing from Thomas Aquinas, I argue that temperance is an integral part of human flourishing. I apply the work of other Catholic ethicists on analogous behavior-modifying drugs to consider whether GLP-1 agonists facilitate or thwart the development of temperance. I conclude that the drug may contribute to insensibility (the opposite of temperance) and undermine the moral agent's development of a Eucharistic disposition toward the gift of food. Finally, I argue that GLP-1 agonists must not be regarded as a fix-all solution when the greatest share of America's obesity crisis is borne by the poor and marginalized. Rather, Catholics must recognize and reform underlying unjust socioeconomic structures, such as food deserts, and the American culture of food consumerism, which make it more difficult for disadvantaged communities to exercise responsible stewardship of their bodies.