By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Lisa Rathke reported on March 14 for the Associated Press that Vermont’s attorney general’s office reached an agreement with Lynda Bluestein, a Connecticut woman who is seeking death by assisted suicide, and Dr. Diana Barnard, who is willing to prescribe the lethal assisted suicide drugs to Bluestein, by dropping … Read more
By Jennifer Popik, J.D., Director, Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics Earlier today, the American Medical Association affirmed the recommendation of its Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs that the influential AMA remain opposed to assisted suicide. What made the victory even sweeter was the margin– an overwhelming 65% in favor to 35% opposed. After … Read more
By Michael Cook The American Medical Association’s official position on assisted suicide is to oppose it as “fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer.” Its Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs recently recommended that this be maintained. However, delegates at the AMA’s annual meeting in Chicago last week voted by a margin of 56% … Read more
By Jennifer Popik, J.D., NRLC Director of Federal Legislation In a disappointing vote Monday at its annual meeting, the American Medical Association (AMA) voted to continue to review, not maintain, its long-standing opposition to physician-assisted suicide. After two years of hard and detailed work examining the dangerous trends and effects of legalizing physician-assisted suicide, the … Read more
By Dave Andrusko Dr. Ronald Pies On May 22, the Psychiatric Times published a very thoughtful article written by Dr. Ronald Pies, Editor in Chief emeritus of the publication. The headline says it all: Will the AMA Heed its own Ethics Council Regarding Assisted Suicide? Who is his audience? A quick Google search tells us … Read more
By Dave Andrusko California Attorney General Xavier Becerra To absolutely no one’s surprise, California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra on Monday filed an appeal of Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia’s oral ruling last week holding that lawmakers illegally used a special session in 2015 to ram through a highly controversial assisted suicide law. Becerra … Read more
The latest in a series of DIY suicide gadgets By Michael Cook Australia’s best-known euthanasia activist, Dr. Philip Nitschke, is back in the news with another machine for committing suicide, the Sarco capsule. The machine will allow anyone who has the access key to end their life by simply pressing a button. Developed in the … Read more
Editor’s note. This appeared at SPUC-the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. A new study on America’s oldest physician aided suicide programme shows that numbers of those being “assisted” to die have been steadily increasing, and reveals that some are opting to end their lives because they cannot afford chemotherapy. The study, published in JAMA … Read more
By Dave Andrusko In staving off assisted suicide laws and/or initiatives, at the top of the heap is the opposition of medical associations to proposals to legalize what is now euphemistically labeled “aid in dying.” But in rightly emphasizing the importance of a wide-ranging set of opponents that includes medical groups, we shouldn’t overlook editorial … Read more
By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition The Dutch government has decided to expand their euthanasia law to include people who are not physically or psychologically sick but who believe that their “life is completed.” According to the New York Times Edith Schippers, the health minister, read a letter to the Dutch Parliament on … Read more