Category: Assisted Suicide

By Wesley J. Smith Oregon, a state that has considerably liberalized its assisted-suicide laws, has an ongoing youth and general suicide crisis on its hands.  From an Oregon Health Authority press release: In February the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data showing that suicide was the leading cause of death among Oregon youth ages …

By Michael Cook  Supporters of euthanasia and assisted suicide in the United Kingdom have cheered the BMA’s [British Medical Association’s] survey of members on assisted dying.  The BMA is officially opposed to a change in the law on assisted dying. The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) dropped its longstanding opposition in favour of neutrality following …

A new era of nihilism begins By Michael Cook  Euthanasia movements around the world have been given a boost by Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court. On Wednesday it handed down a long-awaited decision endorsing the legality of assisted suicide. It ruled that a law banning suicide with professional assistance was unconstitutional, as it deprived terminally ill patients …

By Wesley J. Smith In California, a death doctor named Lonnie Shavelson is trying to start an assisted suicide specialty. From the Medscape story: Organizers of the National Clinicians Conference on Medical Aid in Dying (NCCMAID) did not debate the appropriateness of the practice or focus on policy and ethics but rather sought to train …

Australian politician says the new assisted suicide law is ‘working well’ By Paul Smeaton February 19, 2020  — A new report has revealed that doctors aided in the state-sanctioned killing of 52 people in Victoria, Australia under a new assisted suicide law which came into effect six months ago. The law allows for patients who are told they …

By Steven Wade, Executive Director of the Brain Injury Association Editor’s note. This opinion article was published by the Concord Monitor on February 11, 2020 and reposted at the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. House Bill 1659 effectively gives physicians permission to prescribe drugs that result in patient suicide. We have serious concerns about the potential impact on …

Editor’s note. This article was originally published in ABC Religion & Ethics and Bioethics Outlook (Plunkett Centre for Ethics), and reposted at Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. By John Keown Victoria’s law permitting physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and voluntary euthanasia (VE) came into force in June last year. Other states, particularly Western Australia, may soon follow suit. All …

By SPUC—the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children A Dutch euthanasia clinic has revealed that the figure of 3,122 requests for assisted suicide it received in 2019 was “far more than expected” as the Netherlands struggles to meet increasing “demand.” The Euthanasia Expertise Centre, the Netherlands’ only euthanasia clinic, assisted in around 900 suicides …

By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition I had the opportunity recently to attend a presentation by Trudo Lemmens a Professor and Scholl Chair in Health Law and Policy at the University of Toronto, who spoke about the lessons Canadians need to learn from Belgium’s euthanasia law. Prof. Lemmens posted an opinion piece January …

By Amy Hasbrouck and Taylor Hyatt, Toujours Vivant – Not Dead Yet (TVNDY) Since last summer, TVNDY has been gathering stories of people who have been caught in the gears of the medical aid in dying (MAiD) machinery. Most were people who asked to die, but really needed help to live. Many were euthanized, or …

By Diane Coleman, President & CEO Not Dead Yet I just came across a brilliant letter that John Kelly sent to the Washington, D.C. Council when they were considering an assisted suicide bill in 2016. I should have posted it here then, but I am doing so now because it’s one of the best discussions …

By SPUC—the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children A majority of the MPs who spoke in a debate on assisted suicide in Parliament last week, called for protecting the vulnerable against suicide, but SPUC’s Alithea Williams warns that the fight is far from over. Christine Jardine, the Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, moved …