University Faculty for Life Holds 15th Annual Meeting in Ann Arbor.

The extraordinary range and vitality of pro-life scholarship was very much in evidence at the 15th annual meeting of University Faculty for Life, held June 3-5 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the Ave Maria School of Law.

University Faculty for Life (UFL) is a group of faculty in various disciplines who respect the value of human life from its inception to natural death. Since its founding in 1989, UFL has promoted multi-disciplinary dialogue and collaboration among professors on abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.

Two distinguished plenary speakers brought attendees up to date on some critically important issues. John Keown, the Rose F. Kennedy Chair in Christian Ethics at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University, tracked recent developments regarding euthanasia in Europe. He focused on the pro-euthanasia Marty Report to the Council of Europe, and noted that while it had been rejected, the forces behind it remained powerful and persistent.

Richard Wilkins, a member of the Law School at Brigham Young University and managing director of the World Family Policy Center, dealt with the topic "International Law: A Threat to the Right to Life?" His answer was sobering: a number of recent developments make clear that there is a concentrated effort to make a "right" to abortion a part of customary international law--and as such binding on all nations.

Another highlight of the meeting was a panel on the Terri Schindler Schiavo case. It was chaired by Dr. Charles Lugosi of the St. Thomas University School of Law (Miami), and featured presentations by Fr. Robert Johansen of the Diocese of Kalamazoo, Richard Myers of the Ave Maria School of Law, and Mark Latkovic of the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.

Fr. Johansen was actively involved in the Schiavo case, as a friend of the Schindler family and as a frequent guest on media shows. He spoke on the case from this close acquaintance, while Professor Myers examined legal considerations and Professor Latkovic explored relevant bioethical issues.

Topics covered at the conference ranged from politics, law, and education to theology, philosophy, journalism, and the psychological effects of abortion. In all more than 20 papers were presented.