In the Light of the Law: Proposal: Impose excommunication for euthanasia
Dr. Edward N. Peters of In the Light of the Law puts forth the proposal that those who commit euthanasia should be excommunicated . For some months I have been researching and writing an article on euthanasia in canon law. I hoped against hope that it might remain an academic exercise, but (to judge from, say, this report on the practice of euthanasia in Belgium ) the speed with which the Western, specifically Christian, protection of innocent life is collapsing suggests that one of my projected canonical recommendations deserves an earlier hearing than appearance in a peer-reviewed journal can afford. Simply put, I recommend that euthanasia be made an excommunicable offense under the 1983 Code of Canon Law . I hope his proposal is given serious consideration in light of his arguments .