Euthanasia

by Brian Clowes

In "Euthanasia," from his book The Facts of Life, Dr. Brian Clowes discusses topics such as: definitions and types; advance directives; extraordinary or disproportionate measures; painkillers causing unconsciousness; the Bible and Catholic theology; the hospice alternative; Nazi Germany; Netherlands; United States; the purpose of human suffering; Kevorkian; and what can we do to fight euthanasia.  For access to the full content of the chapter, click here...

Euthanasia

by Ignacio Carrasco de Paula

In contemporary usage, the term euthanasia does not simply mean the quest of palliative medicine to relieve pain, but the act of deliberately killing someone in order to end suffering for "merciful reasons". Appeal is made to the superior interest of the State for ulterior "justification" of such acts, since, it is claimed, that the State has sovereign power over the bodies of those of its members who have become useless to society. Read More...

Free Choice

by William E. May

The expression "free choice" is connected in today's public opinion with the struggle conducted by different groups in favor of liberalizing the laws on procured abortion in different countries. [...] In the name of the right of the human person to his own body in order to realize his life’s project, these groups asserted that a pregnant woman has the right to abortion, and that the law has to respect such a right. In the same manner that they put forward the claim in favor of individual freedom, they also asserted the right of everyone to use drugs, or to choose death (assisted suicide). Read More...

Quality of Life

by Renzo Paccini

The excessive importance given to quality leads one to mistakenly understand it as essential to life, in fact, as a constitutive element of life itself. It is in this ideological context, that the phrase: “a life that is not worth living” was coined and used to justify euthanasia, assisted suicide, abortion, infanticide, and other attacks on life, even in public health measures at the national and international level. Read More...