IN the days after Professor Margaret Somerville received a papal award she recalled a time when, as a young child, she shocked the nun who asked her and her classmates, “Hands up who wants to go to heaven?” It’s a story that was shining a little light on the woman that young Margaret was to become – a bioethicist of ... Read More »
Tag Archives: Margaret Somerville
Margaret Somerville says good citizens need to do more than vote for the right leader
IF you voted in the recent Queensland state election and you think you’ve done your job for another four years, or if the people of the United States think they have too, leading Australian bioethicist Professor Margaret Somerville has news for you. Professor Somerville, who is Professor of Bioethics at Notre Dame University in Sydney, suggested there was more to ... Read More »
Professor Margaret Somerville warns Queenslanders of false claims about euthanasia
LEADING Catholic bioethicist Margaret Somerville has warned Queenslanders of the dangerous long-term consequences for societies that allow euthanasia. As assisted suicide became legal in Victoria last week, Professor Somerville addressed the Cherish Life Queensland annual conference in Brisbane. She posed the question: “We need to ask ourselves: if euthanasia is permitted, how do we think our great-great-grandchildren will die? “What ... Read More »
Sydney ethicist says same-sex marriage campaign ignores a child’s right to a mother and father
LEADING Catholic bioethicist Margaret Somerville is familiar with the jibes and attacks that accompany a national debate about same-sex marriage. About 15 years ago, the now Sydney-based Notre Dame University professor of bioethics lived through heated ideological battles as Canada edged towards same-sex marriage laws. Canada progressively introduced legislation in several provinces by court decisions beginning in 2003 before legally ... Read More »