Come to this Order of Malta Defense of the Faith presentation and learn what you MUST know from two national experts on the topic of Physician Assisted Suicide:
- Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, a bioethicist from the National Catholic Bioethics Center, will discuss the problem of assisted suicide from a moral perspective: Why is assisted suicide morally wrong? How is it different from paliative care and pain management? Shouldn't people have the ability to choose their own demise?
- Mr. Wesley Smith, a legal consultant to the Patients’ Rights Council (a leading organization fighting assisted suicide), will discuss the current politics surrounding the topic: What is leading to the legalization of assisted suicide and what can be done to stop its progress?
Never has this topic been timelier. The Federal government leaves it up to the states to make certain exceptions to the general prohibition on Physician Assisted Suicide. Currently six states and the District of Columbia have made exception with their assisted suicide laws, and additional states (including Pennsylvania) have had similar bills pending in the legislature. This movement will continue to spread quickly under the euphemistic “dying with dignity” rubric. It is sold initially as a “compassionate” policy to assist the “suffering” of terminally ill persons. In reality, even in the States with assisted suicide laws, persons who have a serious disease but are not yet seriously suffering from it are availing themselves of assisted suicide. The threat is real, and the experience already in Europe (especially the Netherlands and Belgium) is that there is a VERY Slippery Slope. Things quickly degenerate to “quality of life” issues, depression, “lack of personal fulfillment”, and, yes, economic rationales (“why spend so many resources on an old, incompetent, impaired or otherwise useless person, etc.”). One’s “Right to Die” very quickly descends into one’s “Duty to Die.”
Come hear answers to the questions:
- Why can’t someone suffering from a painful disease be able to choose a peaceful death instead of prolonging their suffering? Shouldn’t someone have the right to decide his own end?
- What about a person’s quality of life? Doesn’t that matter?
- What does the current political landscape surrounding the topic look like in Pennsylvania? At the national level? Globally?
- What can I do to protect myself or a loved one?
- What can I do to help protect those most vulnerable to these policies?
Have a question on the topic you would like answered? Email it to us in advance. Send your questions to: [email protected] Your name and personal info will be kept confidential. Due to the number of questions we have received, not all questions will be able to be answered. Questions will also be accepted the night of the event, time permitting.