More than 2,000 people gathered in Sydney’s Town Hall last Thursday to witness a debate about legalizing euthanasia between the eerily influential “bioethicist” (using the term very lightly) Peter Singer and the Most Reverend Anthony Fisher, Archbishop of Sydney. The debate was organized by University of Sydney’s Catholic Society.
Audio: Evangelium Vitae, JP II and Terri Schiavo
This morning I was on the Mike Allen Show, talking with Mike about the upcoming 20th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) and the 10th anniversary of Terri Schiavo’s death, and the lessons both can teach us about human dignity and the sanctity of life. (My interview starts around the 15 min. mark.) (Can’t … Read More
BioBytes
• A survey recently conducted by the Canada’s Society of Palliative Care Physicians (CSPCP) reveals that “Most palliative physicians want no role in assisted death.” BioEdge has more. Good! Now that assisted suicide has been forced upon them by the CA Supreme Court, we need doctors like this to stand up and take back medicine! • Designer Babies: Human cloning … Read More
Starvation is Not Painless or “Peaceful”
Kate Kelly describes what it was like to watch her mother die of hunger and thirst after her older sister and brother had her food and water withheld after she suffered a mild stroke: Even as the morphine, quickly injected by a disconcerted nurse, caused the old woman’s eyes to close and her face to relax, I doubted its efficacy. … Read More
Wesley Smith’s 2015 Bioethics Predictions
As he does every year, the CBC’s resident psychic, Wesley Smith, takes a look into his crystal ball (or whatever) and tells us what he sees happening in the world of bioethics in the coming year: I believed last year—and still do—that the Canadian Supreme Court will declare a constitutional right to assisted suicide. The case was argued last year … Read More
Facing Death With Dignity
Liz — living with advanced, incurable kidney cancer wants you to know: “The moment we label suicide an act with dignity, we’ve implied that people like me are undignified for not ending our lives, or worse, we’re a costly burden for society. What a lonely, uncharitable and fake world we live in if we think it’s somehow undignified to let people … Read More
Audio: Looking Back at 2014’s Best and Worst in Bioethics
Yesterday I was up bright and early for a 6:30 am interview on the new Mike Allen Show. He has moved from an hour-long afternoon drive time show to two hours in the morning. Below is audio from my segment with Mike looking back on the best and the worst in bioethics news last year: http://www.reflectionsofaparalytic.com/audio/Mike-Allen-show-1-15-15.m4a Most of this comes from … Read More
Your 2015 Bioethics Challenge
Should you choose to accept it, Zachary Gappa from the Center for a Just Society has a New Year’s challenge for pro-lifers: this new year I beg people to take some time to learn more about bioethics. The stakes are high. Our definitions of life, death, and human dignity are up for grabs, so we must not abdicate our moral duty … Read More
Convention Bound!
Today I’m headed up to Louisville, KY to attend the annual National Right to Life Convention. I’m looking forward to several of the workshops on end of life issues and am especially interested in Friday’s general session on Bioethics War On Humans featuring Wesley Smith and a few other folks from the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics. I attended … Read More
Dr. Death “Art” for Sale
Jack Kevorkian was a convicted murderer who, even after being released from prison, bragged about having “assisted” the suicides of at least 130 people. Unlike most felons once they’re released, his status as a convicted murderer treated Kevorkian quite well. Not only was he several high profile, high paying speaking engagements and interviews to defend his actions and spread his … Read More