CUA Law Professor Lucia Silecchia published a January 22 op-ed in Crux Now entitled "The Legacy of Roe v. Wade extends beyond abortion" See Below

The Legacy of Roe v. Wade extends beyond abortion

From: Crux Now
Date: January 22, 2017
By Lucia Silecchia

When it began in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade, the March for Life turned the nation's conscience toward the particular horror of abortion and the taking of human life that it entails. The four decades since have seen millions of deaths from abortion in the United States alone.

In each of those deaths, the world lost a unique and irreplaceable person.

Unfortunately, the loss of those lives to abortion is not the only casualty of Roe. Rather, the callous acceptance of - and, in some quarters, celebration of - the right to abortion has also planted the seeds for a broader disrespect for vulnerable human life.

Those seeds are now bearing bitter fruit in the way in which the lives of those who are disabled, ill and elderly are being treated in fact and in law.

The new legislative year brings the question of physician-assisted suicide to the legislative docket of several states, which will consider whether or not the lives of those who are ill, elderly or otherwise vulnerable should be protected or not.

Sadly, even the nation's capital recently joined the small but growing number of jurisdictions that have answered that question with a resounding "no, those lives shouldn't be protected."

These legislative proposals that are brewing would allow physician-assisted suicide with such scant safeguards that they would be laughable if they were not tragic. However, the arguments in favor of these legislative initiatives have their roots directly in the soil of Roe.