Violations Against the Dignity of Human Life: Doctor Assisted
Suicide  By Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan May 1996 issue of The
People of God - the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe,
N.M.  I tend to be a fairly positive person and try to see
events in our community and in the nation in an optimistic
light. But sometimes it's very hard to keep the positive
outlook.  In March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the ninth
circuit ruled that a Washington state statute banning assisted
suicide is unconstitutional. A similar decision was made by a
New York court in April.  Somehow these two courts have decided
that anyone who is seriously ill has a constitutional right to
physician assisted suicide. These decisions in effect grant
doctors a license to kill patients requesting it. Never before
has our nation sunk so low. These decisions will of course be
appealed to the Supreme Court. One shudders at the thought,
recalling what they did with the abortion issue in Roe vs. Wade.
These decisions will further erode the