The CatholicTV� Network to Air Live Town Hall Meeting Against Physician-Assisted Suicide

10/2/2012 - 8:17 AM PST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY
Catholic PRWire

On Wednesday, October 3, 2012, join the CatholicTV Network along with Cardinal Se�n O�Malley and a group of concerned Catholics to openly discuss Physician-Assisted Suicide

WATERTOWN, MA (October 2, 2012) On Election Day in November, the people of Massachusetts will be asked to accept or reject the so-called �Death with Dignity� Act. If passed, it will allow an adult resident of Massachusetts, deemed to have the capacity to make health care decisions, and determined by two physicians to have a disease that will likely result in death within six months, to request and receive a prescription for a lethal drug that he or she may self-administer.

The Town Hall Meeting will include the following panelists:

� Cardinal Se�n O�Malley, OFM Cap is the Archbishop of Boston. Prior to coming to the Archdiocese in July 2003, he served as Bishop of the dioceses of Palm Beach, Fall River, and St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. As a priest, he taught at Catholic University and founded Centro Cat�lico Hispano (Hispanic Catholic Center) in Washington, DC, an organization which provided educational, medical and legal help to immigrants. Pope Benedict XVI named him a Cardinal in 2006.

� Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, Ph.D. is a priest of the diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts. As an undergraduate he earned degrees in philosophy, biochemistry, molecular cell biology, and chemistry, and did laboratory research on hormonal regulation of the immune response. He later earned a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Yale University, where he focused on cloning genes for neurotransmitter transporters which are expressed in the brain. He worked for several years as a molecular biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. He has testified before members of the Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Virginia and Oregon State Legislatures during deliberations over stem cell research and cloning. He has given presentations and participated in roundtables on contemporary bioethics throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. He has done numerous media commentaries, including appearances on CNN International, ABC World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News and National Public Radio. He is Director of Education for The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia and directs the Center�s National Catholic Certification Program in Health Care Ethics.

� M. C. Sullivan, RN MTS JD, is a nurse-bioethicist-attorney who is Director of Ethics at Covenant Health Systems in Tewksbury, MA. Prior to joining Covenant, she worked as an independent consultant providing strategic counsel in communications, ethics, and public policy for many years. She was previously the Executive Vice President of the Center for Practical Bioethics in Kansas City MO. She has extensive experience in not-for-profit executive management. Leader of the team that developed the Center�s Initiative to Promote Integrity in Biomedical Research, she also directed Pathways to Improving the Care of the Seriously Ill and Dying: a multi-year, multi-faceted project that promoted palliative care to improve the care of seriously ill and dying patients, and has worked with community consortia for managed care, hospital, and long-term care ethics committees.

� Janet Benestad, M.A., is the Secretary for Faith Formation and Evangelization for the Archdiocese of Boston and is the Director for the Archdiocesan Education Campaign against Physician-assisted Suicide in Massachusetts. Mrs. Benestad taught ethics, politics and history at the University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania, from 1982 to 1998. She also served as Secretary for Parish Life and Evangelization, and Director of Religious Education, in the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, from 2000 to 2009. In the Archdiocese of Boston, Mrs. Benestad�s office oversees catechetical programs and evangelization in the archdiocese, including worship and spiritual life, religious education, parish youth and young adult programs, campus ministry at Catholic and non-Catholic colleges, marriage preparation, prison ministry, hospital chaplains, and the apostolates to ethnic communities, Black Catholics, the deaf community and persons with disabilities.

� John Howland, M.D. was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1953, graduated from Harvard College and Tufts University of Medicine. He has served as a family physician since 1982 and has extensive experience with end-of-life care in home, hospice, hospital, and nursing home settings. He is the founder of Doctors Against Suicide. Dr. Howland and his wife, Susan, have been married for 33 years and have two sons. Dr. Howland is a convert being received into the Catholic Church in 2003. He serves as executive director of the Worcester Guild and New England regional director of the Catholic Medical Association. Dr. Howland was co-author with Janice Steinhagen of Heart Sounds: 12 Catholic Doctors.

Join Cardinal Sean O�Malley and a group of concerned Catholics to openly discuss Physician-Assisted Suicide to ensure that the families of people with terminal illnesses will never feel they have been left alone in caring for their needs. The claim that the �quick fix� of an overdose of drugs can substitute for these efforts is an affront to patients, caregivers and the ideals of medicine.

Please support the opposition of Physician-Assisted Suicide and join the CatholicTV Network on October 3, 2012 at 8PM ET.

Visit www.suicideisalwaysatragedy.org for more information.

About the CatholicTV� Network:

Founded in 1955, CatholicTV Network is a national broadcast television network streaming a live feed 24 hours a day at CatholicTV.com. Heeding Pope Benedict XVI's call to greater utilize the power of television and new media, the CatholicTV Network features its cable TV station, Catholic web site, mobile apps and widget. Celebrate Mass online; pray The Rosary; enjoy programs on prayer, the saints, the Scriptures and the Catholic Church on America's Catholic Television Network.

Contact: CatholicTV
www.CatholicTV.com

Shannon Muldoon
Public Relations Coordinator
617-923-0220

Contact

The CatholicTV� Network
http://www.CatholicTV.com MA, 02471 US
Shannon Muldoon - Public Relations Coordinator,

Keywords

Catholic, Death with Dignity, Physician Assisted Suicide

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