THE EUTHANASIA DEBATE CONTINUES
In late November The Center co-sponsored a conference in Brussels, Belgium, seeking common ground in the debate over how euthanasia and assisted suicide should be understood ethically and handled legally, particularly in Europe. Co-chaired by Center Advisory Board Chair Nigel Cameron and John Keown of Cambridge University, Great Britain, the conference concluded with a plenary address by Center Director John Kilner and an open discussion about the prospects for consensus on euthanasia. Other main speakers included Paul Schotsmans (The Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium), June Andrews (Royal College of Nursing, England), Johan Holmdahl (National Council of Medical Ethics, Sweden), Yasemia Oguz (Ankara Medical Faculty, Turkey), and Robert Twycross (Palliative Medicine, University of Oxford, England). The conference included Christians as well as non-Christians, many with significant political influence in their home countries. While it became clear that complete consensus on euthanasia will be difficult to reach, a frank discussion of various nations’ experience to date powerfully displayed the dangers of legalizing the practice.