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WRESTLING WITH THE ANGEL: THE STRUGGLE OF ROMAN CATHOLIC CLERGY, PHYSICIANS, AND BELIEVERS WITH THE RISE OF MEDICAL PRACTICE, 1807-1940 by Joseph Glennon Pierce Ryan submitted to the Faculty o f the College of Arts and Sciences of the American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Chain Dr. Alani Dr. Micl Dr. Dale Smith Acting Dean oojjthe f the College . - „ l AujZLl- / f t t - Date 1997 American University Washington, D.C. 20016 7‘77f THB UOEHICAir UHIVE5SITY LIBHAHY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Ntamber: 9809515 Copyright 1997 by Ryan, Joseph Glexmon Pierce All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9809515 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © COPYRIGHT by Joseph Glennon Pierce Ryan 1997 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. WRESTLING WITH THE ANGEL: THE STRUGGLE OF ROMAN CATHOLIC CLERGY, PHYSICIANS, AND BELIEVERS WITH THE RISE OF MEDICAL PRACTICE, 1807-1940 BY Joseph Glennon Pierce Ryan ABSTRACT This study explores the role of Catholicism in shaping American medical practice from 1807 to 1940. Catholics interacted with American society against the background of deeply held beliefs in marriage, procreation, and salvation. The gradual adoption of epigenisis by the Church, and the assumption that human life began at the moment of conception, challenged existing beliefs on the nature of human identity. A Catholic belief that life had absolute value shaped an emerging ideal of scientific medicine whose goal was the preservation of all life. Five chapters on childbirth dilemmas reveal the struggle of physicians to achieve this new ideal. Catholicism shaped a cesarean debate among physicians and the search for alternatives to craniotomy, or therapeutic abortion. Catholic beliefs on human identity also shaped opposition to abortion from 1834 to 1871. The Church promoted dissection and surgical education to promote lifesaving operations. However, outmoded concepts of disease hampered the search to cure women’s disease and prevent reported abortions. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. From 1865 to 1940, the Church goaded physicians toward the ideal of life saving operations. The effort revealed a reciprocal process of change that shaped and reshaped Catholicism and the culture of medicine. The Church’s ideal awaited a one-hundred year learning curve in surgical education. By 1940, new questions arose for women, physicians, and the Catholic hierarchy who faced the issues posed by childbirth intervention. However, the ideas that emerged from these early debates on the continue to shape debates over the medical dilemmas of the present day. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The title Wrestling With the Angel is an apt description of the struggle o f the Catholic Church with the growth of medical practice. Sometimes the image fit for my own efforts to complete this dissertation. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of those who have made the successful conclusion of this effort possible. First, I would like to thank my parents, William and Kathryn, who first nurtured my interest in the Catholic faith and the science of medicine from my youth. As an adult, the Brothers of Order of St. Augustine, Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, took on the task of nurturing the former quality. I am grateful to my brothers for their generous commitment of time and resources that made my years of study possible. I owe special thanks to Fr. John Bresnahan, O.S A. for his advice on matters of translation, and his encouragement throughout my years of study. I would also like to thank the members of my committee, Alan Kraut, Michael Kazin, and Dale Smith, for their continued faith in me. Each member of my committee has persevered with me as I continue to learn the craft of history. Each has taken the time and effort to share their own skills so that I may hand them on to others. This study has been enriched by the helpfulness of many archivists and librarians who shared their collections and knowledge with me. Special thanks to Steven Greenberg, Ph.D., and the staff of the History of Medicine Division at the National iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Library o f Medicine for their help and access to the library collections. I am also grateful to Richard Behles of the Special Collections Division at the University o f Maryland at Baltimore for his encouragement and the willingness to provide a copy of “De Abortu” for my use. I am especially grateful to Judy Torrence, MX.S. and the staff of the Interlibrary loan office at the Learning Resource Center of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Ms. Torrance obtained the text of Peter Baltes’ Sacred Embryology for my use. Obtaining century-old documents through interlibrary loan is no small feat. Finally, I am grateful for the editorial skills of Sarah Larsen, and her helpful suggestions for the sharpening of my manuscript. The task of completing my studies has been a happy one with the support of faithful friends. Special thanks to Father Lawrence Hennessy, for his encouragement during my early years of study. I am also grateful to Father Melvin Blanchette and Father George Pucciarelli for their support of my efforts. I am especially grateful to Susan Reidy, William Emery, Edward Cockrell, and Mark Griffin for their friendship over many years. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT..........................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................. iv Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... I 2. EARLY CESAREAN SECTION, 1807-1865 .........................................................13 3. ROMAN CATHOLICISM AND ABORTION IN AMERICA, 1834-1871 ................................................................................................................ 47 4. ROMAN CATHOLICISM, DISSECTION, AND THE GROWTH OF MEDICAL EDUCATION, 1820-1889 ....................................................................79 5. ROMAN CATHOLICISM AND THE PROBLEM OF WOMEN’S DISEASE, 1864-1910 ............................................................................................ 122 6. ROMAN CATHOLICISM AND THE PROBLEM OF DIFFICULT BIRTHS, 1867-1940 .............................................................................................. 156 7. CONCLUDING REMARKS ................................................................................. 199 SOURCES........................................................................................................................ 215 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION John Cardinal O’Connor, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, yesterday helped arrange for the transfer o f a brain-dead infant from a Queens hospital that was unwilling to continue caring for her to a Catholic hospital in Manhattan, which will