I wanted to call attention to the recent publication of the second edition of “Euthanasia, Ethics, and Public Policy: An Argument Against Legalisation.” The first edition of this book was published in 2002. That book made a compelling case against the legalization of voluntary active euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. It did so be emphasizing the slippery slope arguments against legalization. He addressed the logical slippery slope argument–the idea that quality of life exceptions to the prohibition against intentional killing can’t be contained. He also addressed the empirical slippery slope argument–the idea that procedural safeguards in jurisdictions (e.g., the Netherlands, Belgium, Oregon) allowing assisted suicide or euthanasia cannot and do not effectively control the practices.
Much has happened since 2002 and the second edition updates the earlier analysis by focusing on the more recent experiences in jurisdictions that have legalized these practices. His analysis, which is marked by a keen understanding of both the legal developments and the actual practice of voluntary euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, further illustrates the force of both the logical and empirical arguments against legalization.
Keown’s second edition deserves a wide readership.
Richard Myers
Richard S. Myers, the Vice-President of UFL, is Professor of Law at Ave Maria School of Law, where he teaches Antitrust, Civil Procedure, Conflict of Laws, Constitutional Law, and Religious Freedom. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Kenyon College and earned his law degree at Notre Dame, where he won the law school's highest academic prize. He began his legal career by clerking for Judge John F. Kilkenny of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Professor Myers also worked for Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Washington, D.C. He taught at Case Western Reserve University School of Law and the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law before joining the Ave Maria faculty. He is a co-editor of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Natural Law Tradition: Contemporary Perspectives (Catholic University of American Press, 2004) and a co-editor of Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Science, and Social Policy (Scarecrow Press, 2007). He has also published extensively on constitutional law in law reviews and also testified before Congressional and state legislative hearings on life issues.
Married to Mollie Murphy, who is also on the faculty at Ave Maria School of Law, they are the proud parents of six children - Michael, Patrick, Clare, Kathleen, Matthew, and Andrew. http://www.avemarialaw.edu/index.cfm?event=faculty.bio&pid=11705E7D4E0111010366
