Here’s a link to a very good commentary by Elyse Smith on a bill that would legalize physician-assisted suicide in DC.
Assisted Suicide in D.C.
Here’s Smith’s conclusion:
“Once a society buys into the lie that our dignity and value are expendable at will, determined by a utilitarian ethic, measured in terms of our economic productivity and ability to do what we want—when we want, and how we want—we forfeit the truth that our dignity and value are rooted in our very nature as human beings and not in any external achievement, ability, or material thing. If that lie takes root and if assisted suicide is legalized, we can expect euthanasia, both voluntary and involuntary, to soon follow, just as we have seen in Belgium, where the first child was euthanized just over a week ago.
As we close out Suicide Prevention Month, let’s remember that the lives of all persons are worth protecting, including the lives of those suffering from debilitating and terminal illnesses who, rather than lethal drugs, need effective pain management, psychological counseling and community support. Life, in any stage, is too great a gift to be thrown away.”
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