Category: Assisted Suicide

By Wesley J. Smith Talk about missing the forest for the trees! The Ohio Nurses Association [ONA], a union with 11,000 members, has endorsed legalizing assisted suicide. From the Cincinnati Enquirer story: ONA President Deborah Arms said the proposal recommends “educating the public about medical aid in dying, supporting legislation to protect the rights of …

The devil is in the detail By Michael Cook Twenty-five years ago, on November 8, 1994, the citizens of the state of Oregon voted in favour of a Death With Dignity Act. It took a couple of years for the initiative to be implemented, but the Act has been working smoothly ever since. Or so …

By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Last February, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld the involuntary manslaughter conviction of Michelle Carter for assisting the suicide of Conrad Roy who was 18 at the time of his death. Carter, who was 17 at the time of Roy’s death, was sentenced to 15 months in …

By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition The 2018 California annual assisted suicide report is similar to other U.S. jurisdictions where the report implies that the assisted suicide deaths were voluntary and self-administered but the information in the report does not address that subject. According to the 2018 California assisted suicide report: 452 prescriptions …

By Wesley J. Smith The Washington Post published an irresponsible puff piece that effectively grants moral permission to elderly people to commit suicide by self-starvation — known in euthanasia parlance as VSED (“voluntary stop eating and drinking”) — and quasi-teaches them how to do it. Of course, the story doesn’t put it that way. Instead, …

By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition An Arizona nurse has pleaded not guilty of murder, in a California court, based on her allegedly injecting her friend with assisted suicide drugs. According to an article by Kim Bellware published in the Washington Post: Kristie Jane Koepplin, 58, of Peoria, Ariz., pleaded not guilty in …

On October 28, leaders of the Christian, the Jewish and the Muslim faiths signed a Declaration against Euthanasia and assisted suicide. Based on the arguments and justifications articulated in this position paper, the three Abrahamic monotheistic religions share common goals and are in complete agreement in their approach to end-of-life situations. Accordingly, we affirm that: …

Editor’s note. The following declaration was adopted by the 70th World Medical Association [WMA] Assembly, Tbilisi, Georgia, October 27, 2019. The WMA reiterates its strong commitment to the principles of medical ethics and that utmost respect has to be maintained for human life. Therefore, the WMA is firmly opposed to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. For …

By Wesley J. Smith A new suicide clinic is advertising its dark services in Switzerland — with “native English speaking” staff to ensure that suicide tourists attend. I will not name the clinic, but it does not take health into account when determining “eligibility.” From its web page: [Name deleted] believes that it is the …

By Wesley J. Smith The media often write about assisted suicide as if the only opponents are pro-lifers, religious conservatives, and the Catholic Church. But that is, as the old saying goes, fake news. Some of the most vociferous and effective opponents of legalizing suicide by doctor are members of the disability rights community, organizations …

By Not Dead Yet The National Council on Disability (NCD) has issued the second in a series of reports on Bioethics and Disability. NCD’s release on the report today [Wednesday] focuses on “a federal examination of the country’s assisted suicide laws and their effect on people with disabilities, finding the laws’ safeguards are ineffective and …