Highlighting a few recent items in the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly
The Spring 2012 NCBQ arrived in yesterday’s mail (many academic journals tend to run a few months behind), and I’d like to make brief mention of several things from the previous issue (Winter 2011) and the new one. In the Winter 2011 issue there is a review, by Germain Kopaczynski, OFM, of Joseph W. Dellapenna’s Dispelling the Myths […]
“Dutch Doctors Use ‘Deep Sedation’ to Hide Assisted Suicides”
Here is a link to a good piece by Dr. Peter Saunders addressing this issue. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/07/11/dutch-doctors-use-deep-sedation-to-hide-assisted-suicides/ The use of “terminal sedation” to advance the euthanasia movement is worth careful attention. The use of “deep sedation” or “terminal sedation” needs to be distinguished from a legitimate technique–the use of sedation for symptom relief (so-called “palliative sedation”). There is a careful treatment of […]
good article by Wesley Smith on the bigotry against the disabled
Here is a link to a recent post on Wesley Smith’s blog. Smith links to an article he recently published in the Human Life Review on “the unrepentant bigotry” against people with profound disabilities. http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2012/04/18/that-unrepentant-bigotry/ Here are the closing paragraphs of the article: “Activists and their supporters who struggle against racism and other forms of discriminatory […]
disability rights group opposes assisted suicide law in Massachusetts
Here is a link to a post by Wesley Smith discussing the efforts of disability rights organizations to oppose the assisted suicide initiative in Massachusetts. Smith notes: “Media like to portray assisted suicide opponents as primarily religious or pro life. But the facts don’t fit that supposed story. Disability rights advocates–who are mostly politically liberal […]
Call for Papers on End of Life (March 30 deadline!)
Call For Papers and Presenters Honoring Patients’ Treatment Choices at the End of Life: New Tools, New Challenges, New Limits Hamline University School of Law, Saint Paul, MN, November 8-9, 2012 The Health Law Institute at Hamline University and the Hamline Law Review seek proposals for presentations and papers for our all-day fall CLE/CEU Symposium […]
Wesley Smith post on euthanasia in Belgium
Here is a link to an interesting post by Wesley Smith on the further advance of euthanasia in Belgium. http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2012/01/17/pushing-euthanasia-as-the-rule/ Richard m.
Wesley Smith’s commentary on UK assisted suicide report
Here is a link to Wesley Smith’s insighful commentary on the recently issued report in the UK from the Commission on Assisted Dying. http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2012/01/04/uk-pro-assisted-suicide-report-pushes-a-pentimento/ Smith concludes that this report is further evidence that England “is undergoing a tragic slow motion moral collapse.” Richard M.
Frank Zapatka on “The Other Room” by Zbigniew Herbert
Here are some relections from Frank Zapatka (Emeritus, American U.) on “The Other Room” by Zbigniew Herbert. Zbigniew Herbert (1924-1998) was a highly regarded Polish poet, dramatist, and essayist. Praised by Nobel Literature prize laureates, Czeslaw Milosz and Wislawa Szymborska, Herbert has been favorably compared to T.S. Eliot. Among Herbert’s dramatic works is a play in […]
What’s “Choice” Got to do with Dutch Euthanasia?
That’s the title of a recent post by Wesley Smith. http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2011/11/09/whats-choice-got-to-do-with-dutch-euthanasia/ Smith discusses a recent incident in the Netherlands when a committee of doctors authorized the killing of a patient suffering severe dementia, even though the patient was unable to express her choice to die. This is, as Smith notes, not a new problem but the incident may focus […]
The latest on “brain death”
My post a few months back also mentioned a NCBQ piece on diagnosing death using neurological criteria. The Autumn issue includes a review of what sounds like an interesting and relevant book. Jason T. Eberl reviews Russell DiSilvestro’s Human Capacities and Moral Status (NCBQ 11 [2011]: 596-98). According to the review, DiSilvestro departs from the […]