Physician Assisted Suicide

Question 2, on the November 6th, 2012 ballot, will ask voters to vote yes or no on “Prescribing Medication to End Life.” A yes vote on this question will be promoted to the public as, Death with Dignity. This Death with Dignity approach confuses the real issue: should Massachusetts give physicians the legal authority to prescribe medication that will end a patient’s life? Professor Snead will present a principle-based perspective on Physician Assisted Suicide; a logical response to the emotion-based arguments offered by the Death with Dignity movement.

About the Speaker

Professor O. Carter Snead is Professor of Law at University of Notre Dame, as well as the William P. and Hazel B. Smith White Director of the Center for Ethics and Culture. Established in 1999, the Center for Ethics and Culture investigates ethical issues and broader cultural concerns drawing on the intellectual resources of the Catholic Tradition.

Professor Snead specializes in the relationship between bioethics and the law. He is the former general counsel for the President’s Council on Bioethics, and was the principal author of the council’s 2004 report on the regulation of new biotechnologies affecting assisted reproduction, human embryo research and genetics. He is a permanent observer for the U.S. government at the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee on Bioethics and serves on UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee.

Details

When: Tuesday, October 16, 2012, 7:30 - 8:45AM
Where: Union Club, 8 Park Street