Interview With Burke Balch and Ramesh Ponnuru

Last week, I had the honor of guest hosting Mychal Massie's show, Straight Talk on Right Talk Radio. I had the double honor of interviewing Ramesh Ponnuru and Burke Balch about so-called "futile care" theory. As I stated in this post:

Burke J. Balch, J.D. serves as Director of the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics which specializes in euthanasia-related issues and is associated with the National Right to Life Committee.

He has worked as Attorney-Advisor for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, helping to write a report on denial of life-saving medical treatment to children with disabilities (“Baby Doe” cases). He was Chief Staff Counsel for the National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent and Disabled, and worked as a lawyer for Americans United for Life Legal Defense Fund.

A law review article he co-authored was repeatedly quoted by the United States Supreme Court in support of its 1997 decision that there is no federal constitutional right to assist suicide. In addition, he has published articles on abortion, on ethical issues related to withholding and withdrawal of food, fluids, and life-saving medical treatment, and on advance directives. His website is here.

Ramesh Ponnuru is senior editor for National Review and has covered politics as a reporter for more than a decade. He has been a fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London and a media fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He is the author of The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life .

His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Newsday, the Washington Times, the Weekly Standard, and Financial Times.

He is also a frequent guest on television including appearances on FOX’s The Big Story with John Gibson, CNN’s Inside Politics, MSNBC’s Scarborough Country, CSPAN’s Washington Journal and HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher.

Ponnuru is a graduate of Princeton University and lives in Washington, DC. His website is here.

The Interview lasts for about an hour and can be accessed by clicking on the little thingy below. John at Right Talk Radio gave me permission to post this. I thank the folks at Right Talk for the privilege and I highly recommend their thoughtful and educational format. The are the graduate school of talk radio.

Later I will post today's show. This sound uploading thingy takes me awhile, (cross posted at Texas Advance Directives Blog)