READING, PA, March 25, 2014 (CardinalNewmanSociety.org) – A bioethicist, who argued publicly for the death of Terri Schiavo and supports forcing Catholic hospitals to perform abortions, recently lectured at Alvernia College in Pennyslvania on “legal, medical, and ethical issues surrounding the end of life,” according to a press release from the University.
Alvernia, founded by the Bernardine Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis, said in its release that lecturer Arthur Caplan is “considered one of the foremost experts on Bioethics.”
In 2005, Caplan wrote a piece for MSNBC.com titled, “The time has come to let Terri Schiavo die” in which he called attempts to save Terri as “zany and inappropriate.” He wrote:
So, it is clear that the time has come to let Terri die. Not because everyone who is brain damaged should be allowed to die. Not because her quality of life is too poor for anyone to think it meaningful to go on. Not even because she costs a lot of money to continue to care for. Simply because her husband who loves her and has stuck by her for more than 15 years says she would not want to live the way she is living.
In a piece for the Harvard University Law School blog “Bill of Health,” Caplan argued in favor of an ACLU lawsuit that sought to force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions.
The ACLU is right. At a minimum, patients deserve to know all medically appropriate options within the standard of care of the medical profession. Patients have the right to know where to get those options if they are not available at the facility where they are being seen. And if no other facility is available to perform them then patients have a right to expect that a hospital will put aside its theology and do what is medically best for each patient even if that means violating a deeply held religious view.
The annual Batdorf Lecture is sponsored by the O’Pake Institute for Ethics, Leadership and Public Service in conjunction with the Berks County Bar Association and the Berks County Medical Society.
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Alvernia touts as its mission, “reverence for the dignity of each individual” and “reverence for all creation.”
Reprinted with permission from CardinalNewmanSociety.org.