Wesley Smith, a plenary speaker at the 2013 Life and Learning Conference, opened with the question, “Why, when medical science has gone so far to limit and eliminate pain, are we considering ‘the right to die,’ ‘death with dignity,’ and ‘assisted suicide’?” He believes that the answer lies in Yuval Levin’s explanation that “health” has become a principle goal of the human action and human societies, and therefore eliminating suffering is important public good that too often that morphs into eliminating the sufferer. If you are interested in more of his argument, check out his blog, Human Exceptionalism on NRO.
Teresa Collett
Teresa Stanton Collett is a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she teaches bioethics, property law, and constitutional law. A nationally prominent speaker and scholar, she is active in attempts to rebuild the Culture of Life and protect the institutions of marriage and family. She often represents groups of state legislators, the Catholic Medical Association, and the Christian Medical and Dental Association in appellate case related to medical-legal matters. She represented the governors of Minnesota and North Dakota before the U.S. Supreme Court as amici curiae regarding the effectiveness of those states’ parental involvement laws. She has served as special attorney general for Oklahoma and Kansas related to legislation designed to protect the well-being of minors and unborn children. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and has testified before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittees on the Constitution, as well as numerous legislative committees in the states.
