Treating children as complete people — in healthcare, and everywhere else.
Jessica Bratt Carle is a clinical ethicist, ordained minister, and author whose work sits at the intersection of theology, bioethics, and pediatric care. This is where her writing, speaking, and work live — together, in one place.
About
About Jessica
Jessica is a clinical ethicist on call for hospital ethics consults, an ordained minister, and the author of Children, Theology and Bioethics. Her work moves between the bedside, the pulpit, and the page — often on the same week.
Manifesto
I care about children being seen as whole people — not smaller, less-formed versions of adults, but complete humans with their own understanding, fears, and say in what happens to them. Healthcare doesn't always get this right, and I think it matters more than we usually admit.
This isn’t just a research position for me. I sit with families and care teams in the hardest moments — the ones with no clean answer — and I keep coming back to the same idea: how we treat children at their most vulnerable says a lot about how we treat everyone.
The book
Children, Theology and Bioethics
Jessica’s published dissertation examines how children are understood — and too often misunderstood — within healthcare and bioethics.
Further reading & listening
A few places to find more of Jessica's thinking and work
Scholarly Articles
4–5 pieces, including the Journal of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. Some behind a paywall.
Sermon
An invited talk, hosted on YouTube.
NPR StoryCorps
An interview with a pioneering neonatologist, archived in the Library of Congress.
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Support for healthcare decisions
Healthcare decisions can be hard to navigate — for patients, for families, for anyone trying to do right by someone they love inside a system that moves fast and speaks its own language. Jessica offers guidance grounded in both clinical ethics experience and pastoral care.
She’s also available to officiate funerals, weddings, or other ceremonies.
Contact
Get in touch
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