Right-to-Die Case Lawyer to Speak at Duke Divinity School
March 31, 2006
Bill Colby, a lawyer who participated in the first right-to-die case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, will speak at Duke Divinity School from 4-5:30 p.m. on April 5 in Room 0016 Westbrook.
Colby, author of two books on right-to-die issues, will be part of a conversation that includes Karla Holloway, Duke University's William R. Kenan Professor of English and author of “Passed On: African American Mourning Stories.”
The conversation comes on the anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman with severe brain damage who died in 2005 after a highly publicized right-to-die struggle involving courts and the Florida legislature.
Colby is nationally recognized for his argument before the Supreme Court in the case of Nancy Cruzan, whose family sought to withdraw medical treatments on her behalf. He authored the critically acclaimed book, “Long Goodbye: The Death of Nancy Cruzan” and now is working with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization to enter into a public discussion about related issues. He also has written the soon-to-be-released book “Unplugged: Reclaiming Our Right to Die in America.”
The divinity school talk is sponsored by the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life, a multi-disciplinary effort based at Duke Divinity School that works to improve care for those at life's end and their families, and Project Compassion, a community organization that supports people living with serious illness, the dying and their caregivers.
“At the first anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo, this public dialogue will add to the discourse on many of the significant issues that were raised in the tragic circumstances of Ms. Schiavo's death,” said Richard Payne, director of the Institute “Mr. Colby brings a national voice to the Duke community as we explore the complex medical, legal, ethical, economic, spiritual and deeply personal concerns in end-of-life care that affect us all.”
The event is free and open to the Duke community.
For details or to reserve a seat for the April 5 event, email iceol@div.duke.edu or call 919-660-3537.
Colby also will speak at Project Compassion's Spring Symposium “From Nancy Cruzan to Terri Schiavo: What Have We Learned?” on April 6. For details, visit Project Compassion or call (919) 402-1844.