Unborn Persons: Pope John Paul II and the Abortion Debate (American University Studies)

Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) was a professor of anthropology and ethics at the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland long before he was elected Pope. During this time, his interests centered around the concept of personhood and its many implications in the epistemological, metaphysical and ethical spheres. In this book, after considering the many philosophical and theological influences that helped to form his thought, his notion of personhood is discussed with reference to the status of unborn persons, that is of embryological and fetal life. His approach to personhood is then contrasted and compared with other contemporary notions in an effort to understand more clearly the status of life before birth.