Euthanasia Information from Alliance Defense Fund

C. Everett Koop, former Surgeon General of the United States, writes, “I believe 'euthanasia' lies outside the commonly held life-centered values of the West and cannot be allowed without incurring great social and personal tragedy. This is not merely an intellectual conundrum. This issue involves actual human beings at risk..."*

Context
ADF played a pivotal role in funding two U.S. Supreme Court victories that affirmed the right to life for the handicapped, infirm, and terminally ill.  ADF continues to be in the legal battle to affirm the right to life, for all individuals, regardless of their circumstances.

Opposition
ACLU – “The Right of a Mentally Competent, Terminally Ill Person to Choose an End to Suffering by Hastening an Inevitable Death Is Deeply Rooted in this Nation's History and Tradition.” (http://www.aclu.org/court/court.cfm?ID=15757&c=195)

Hemlock Society – “We support the right of terminally ill, mentally competent adults to hasten death under careful safeguards.” (http://www.hemlock.org/index.jsp)

Allies
Americans United for Life – “The role of Americans United for Life is crucial to the goal of restoring a culture that respects human life, both young and old, born and unborn.” (http://www.unitedforlife.org/our_philosophy.htm)

National Right to Life – “If society creates a ‘right to suicide’ and legalizes ‘physician-assisted suicide,’ the message perceived by a suicide attempter is not likely to be, ‘We respect your wishes,’ but rather, ‘we don't care if you live or die.’” (http://www.nrlc.org/euthanasia/asisuid1.html)

Focus on the Family – “Acceptance of physician-assisted suicide sends the message that some lives are not worth living.” (http://www.family.org/cforum/fosi/bioethics/euthanasia/a0027997.cfm) 

See more ADF Allies.

*KOOP, The Memoirs of America's Family Doctor by C. Everett Koop, M.D., Random House, 1991. (http://www.nrlc.org/euthanasia/)