Thomas J. Marzen, RIP.(Obituary)

"He was a member of St. Joseph University Parish and was active

in the pro-life movement." -- From an obituary in the Terre Haute (Indiana) News

I received the news that my friend of 25 years had passed away while I was on vacation. Although his health had been perilous for many years, Tom's death was still a shock. In spite of his increasingly fragile condition, as general counsel for the National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent and Disabled, Tom soldiered on, indefatigable in his devotion to those who could not protect themselves.

Tom served as general counsel to Americans United for Life in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1984 he became the general counsel of the National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent and Disabled, which has been in the forefront of the struggle against legal euthanasia.

The National Legal Center coordinated the briefing in the crucial 1997 cases of Washington v. Glucksberg and Vacco v. Quill in which the Supreme Court held that there is no right to assisted suicide under the U.S. Constitution. Tom was also the primary author of the hugely influential law review article, "Suicide: A Constitutional Right?" which the Supreme Court cited in its two 1997 decisions. Unquestionably, he was one of the nation's foremost authorities on euthanasia in general, assisted suicide in particular.

A mutual friend, Richard Doerflinger, tellingly observed that "Tom became a linchpin figure in promoting mutual understanding and collaboration between the pro-life and disability rights movements in defending vulnerable human life. The entire movement against legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide would today be an incomparably weaker and poorer influence in our society if not for the work he did and the coalitions he helped build."

I remember endless fascinating conversations with Tom about infanticide extending back more than 25 years. The issue of the medical neglect of ...