Here is a link to a good essay by Brian Bird.
Bird states: “It seems particularly disturbing to imagine legalizing euthanasia in this moment, let alone expanding access to euthanasia if it is already legal. Even so, this is precisely what is underway in Canada.”
Here is his conclusion:
“Until recently, almost all of us were disturbed by the thought of assisted suicide: persons ending their lives through the involvement of others, even if this step is taken to bring an end to suffering. Almost all of us are still disturbed when persons commit suicide without assistance. By legalizing and expanding euthanasia, we are less affected by these acts. Over time, we come to approve these acts. Finally, we even celebrate them.”
“The project of euthanasia strongly suggests that life has a “best before” date, such that it is legitimate and even right to terminate it once that date arrives. Needless to say, we are not products that go bad. Our dignity does not expire. Our laws increasingly say the opposite, and we are increasingly buying it. Far from progress, this is a tragedy—and one that has only started to unfold.”
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
