Assisted Suicide: The Ethics, the Law, and the Dangers
Assisting in other people’s suicides violates the universal moral principle against deliberately helping to take innocent human life, and the medical profession’s fundamental norm “First of all, do no harm.” As laws are changed to remove initial safeguards against abuse and coercion, the reality of a “slippery slope” toward broader killing has become clear. Richard Doerflinger, former Executive Director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, will delve into our Catholic response.