Doctors: Patients' Wishes Be Damned - Die!!

Well, a little macabre chuckle here – are there still people who think that doctors respect patients' wishes when it comes to doing everything to keep them alive? Of course, if they want to kick the bucket, then patients’ rights are to be respected. However, if their wish is to stay alive – the heck with them – issue “do not resuscitate “ orders anyway. Patients be damned. Welcome to the world of Doctor Power.

Doctors 'must consult' about resuscitation orders

When doctors believe a patient is too sick to be resuscitated, they must consult with relatives, the head of the Bioethics Centre says.

The comments come after the Manawatu Standard revealed yesterday that an 85-year-old woman, Juanita Wallace, had a `not for resuscitation' order placed on her file at Palmerston North Hospital against her wishes – and without discussion with her son.

MidCentral Health has launched an investigation into the case and a spokesman said the DHB was unable to comment until it had been completed.

However, Dunedin Medical School Professor of Medical Ethics Grant Gillett said doctors could only issue a not for resuscitation order without consulting the patient or family if the patient couldn't communicate and relatives couldn't be contacted. more

Why The Fuss? Assisted Suicide's Double Standard

Things are getting interesting now that the mainstream has discovered “assisted suicide.” Especially among murderers. But why the double standard? If helping killing someone with a lethal potion is OK, why not by handing them a firearm??

Harrison Co. officer indicted for assisting suicide

CORYDON, Ind.  (WDRB Fox 41 News) -- A grand jury has indicted a Harrison County sheriff's officer on a charge of assisting a suicide.

The indictment comes in the midst of several investigations tied to the sheriff's department.

The indictment was handed up Friday morning, and five hours later, a judge entered a not guilty plea for officer John Britton, 30, of Ramsey, Ind.

John Britton is free on $20,000 bond.

The county suspended Britton's officer pay several months ago when it became clear he might be under investigation in the matter.

He is charged with providing a gun that his wife, sheriff's officer and former county jail commander Christine Britton, used to kill herself during what officers called a domestic incident at the couple's home in March 2009. more

Ah, Yes, Helping Kill Someone Is "Merciful"

I was on this story Thursday (see below). OK, so her conviction was overturned but now she faces a new trial. Again, as I’ve said often, I don’t know why the legal eagles bother. You just know the pro-deathers are going to some out in force about what a “compassionate” soul she is. Spin Alert: Note the title of the piece – helping someone kill themselves is “mercy.” Uh-huh.

New trial granted for mercy killer Shirley Justins

A WOMAN who killed her partner of 18 years with a euthanasia drug had her manslaughter conviction quashed yesterday.

However, the Court of Criminal Appeal has ordered Shirley Justins to face a new trial.

In November, 2008, the then 60-year-old was convicted and sentenced to 22 months periodic detention after a jury found her guilty of the manslaughter of former Qantas pilot Graeme Wylie, 75.

He died from a lethal dose of the barbiturate Nembutal at his home in Cammeray in 2006. more

Minnesota Legal Win Against Pro-Death Weirdo

An occasional win for our side. Weirdo Melchert-Dinkel would troll the web to find people he could convince to commit suicide on webcam while he watched. In at least one case, he succeeded. A judge has just ruled that his “free speech” defense is crap. Good, that’s exactly what it is.

Prosecutor: Encouraging suicide is not free speech

MINNEAPOLIS—A former Minnesota nurse charged with aiding the suicides of two people, including an Ontario woman, was not covered by free-speech protections when he sought out depressed people online and encouraged them to kill themselves, a prosecutor argued in court documents Wednesday.

William Melchert-Dinkel, 48, of Faribault, is charged with two counts of aiding suicide in the deaths of an English man and a Canadian woman, Nadia Kajouji. His attorney has asked that the case be dismissed on free-speech grounds, and argued the state’s aiding suicide law is too vague. more

Earth To Aussie Authorities: Don't Waste Your Time Trying To Uphold Laws Against Assisted Suicide

In a very dark, strange way, this story is quite amusing. Man has advanced Alzheimer’s, wants to die. Is evaluated at Swiss killing clinic Dignitas, but they won’t help kill him, because he’s not in his right mind. Aussie partner eventually puts lethal drugs in said man’s reach, he takes it & dies. Woman convicted/sentenced for manslaughter. Conviction overturned on a technicality. Here’s the amusing part: Why are the Aussie authorities going through all this? The Dutch already kill people with advanced Alzheimer’s – and here’s their rationale: Yes, they weren’t in their right mind, but had they been they would have requested assisted suicide or euthanasia. Oy . . .

Retrial ordered in euthanasia drug case

A Sydney woman found to have killed her ailing partner who took a euthanasia drug has been ordered to face a retrial after her manslaughter conviction was quashed.

Shirley Justins, 62, has already served the 22-month periodic detention sentence imposed on her in November 2008.

A jury had acquitted her of murder but found her guilty of the manslaughter - by gross criminal negligence - of former Qantas pilot Graeme Wylie, 71. more

The Evil Of Making Murderers Merciful And Their Punishment Injustice

I’ve been around pro-deather lies long enough to not get too steamed by their duplicity, narcissism, macabre death wish, or their propaganda. However, some poor schmuck has written a very sympathetic book about the murderer Robert Larimer, a Canadian who gassed his severely cerebral palsied daughter claiming it was in  her best interest. Frighteningly, many in Canada agreed with him. And here’s a book that makes the Latimers out to be the victims. Justice? Mercy? The Latimers are still alive – Tracy was sniffed out like some throw-away piece of garbage. Excuse me while I leave this post to throw up.

A Story of Justice and Mercy

Robert Latimer is not here. The Saskatchewan farmer jailed by the Supreme Court of Canada for killing his severely disabled daughter is missing from Gary Bauslaugh's Robert Latimer: A Story of Justice and Mercy.

His wife, Laura, is invisible, too.

The facts of their horrible struggle are here, and there are quotes from him and her, culled from public sources. But the couple that captured a nation's emotional attention for so long is not to be found.

Latimer makes it clear he didn't want to share his soul with author Gary Bauslaugh, and who can blame him? And for her part, Laura has fiercely defended the family's privacy for nearly 20 years.

Theirs is a story we all want to hear, but their voices remain muted. more

Finally: UK Researchers Blow The Lid Off "Transparent" Oregon Legalized killing

Well, many of us have been saying this for years, but a UK report is getting traction that n Oregon, not all is peachy as the pro-deathers would have us believe.

British think tank: Oregon residents doctor-shop for help with suicide

MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- A British think tank said a U.S. assisted-suicide law might have created a phenomenon of "doctor-shopping" for physicians willing to ignore safeguards to help healthy people kill themselves.

A report claims that the 1997 Oregon Death With Dignity Act is being abused -- with the help of some physicians -- by people who do not fulfill the criteria of being terminally ill, mentally competent and able to make a free choice.

Called "What is Happening in Oregon?" the report by Living and Dying Well, a group of prominent British medical and legal experts, was sent to British members of Parliament Oct. 25 to counter claims by assisted-suicide campaigners that the Oregon law is a model of effective regulation that should be adopted in the United Kingdom.

The report's author, Dr. David Jeffrey, a senior lecturer in palliative medicine at Scotland's Edinburgh University, and researcher Madeleine Teahan, examined 12 annual reports from the Oregon Public Health Division on the working of the act since 1998.

The report said that when the Oregon law was enacted, about a third of all people who requested help in committing suicide were referred to psychiatrists, but by 2009 no one was being sent for counseling. more

UK's Christina Odone Effectively Denting The Pro-Deathers

Christine Odone in the UK is emerging as a powerful voice opposing assisted suicide and euthanasia. And she has a very valid angle: Legalized killing is oppression of many, including the sick and terminally ill.

Assisted suicide: a wealthy elite will push vulnerable people to premature death

If we were to overturn the present law banning assisted suicide, 1,000 Britons would die in this way every year. Living and Dying Well, the new think tank that has made this calculation, is right to raise the alarm.

But my concern is not the numbers who would turn to assisted suicide; rather, I am worried about who these potential suicides are.

Prompted by a harrowing experience with my father, who asked me to help him die when he lay suffering in a hospital ward, I’ve spent the past year researching a pamphlet on this issue. I became more and more convinced, as I spoke to doctors, nurses, and lawyers, that the push for assisted suicide came from a strident elite. This group, articulate, well-off (or at least well-educated) and very much part of the system, knows exactly how to protect their interests. No one can push them around — certainly no one can push them into dying prematurely. more

If You're For Legalized Killing, You're Suddenly An Expert

Ah, yes, I get it!! According t the media, if you’re for legalized killing, why, you’re an EXPERT!! Gee, why didn’t I understand this sooner . . .

Oregon end-of-life expert discusses assisted suicide

Nursing students from Montana State University were among a group that met at Parmly Library on Monday afternoon to discuss a topic they may run into while on the job: death with dignity.

A crowd of about 50 listened to Barbara Glidewell, who has been involved in the death-with-dignity topic since it began in Oregon 12 years ago. more

Remember: No Matter What The Law, Some Doctors Will Do Exactly As THEY Please, Patients Be Damned

I have written often about the concept I call Doctor Power. That is, that physicians are accorded, and use, immense power in dealing with their patients and their families. Most people assume that this is power used for the good of the patient. Uh-huh. You better think again. Here’s another example: A Canadian patient who has stated in no uncertain terms that he wants all measures taken to keep him alive, no matter the severity of any side effects. Guess what? The doctors are saying baloney – THEY have the power to refuse treatment because THEY say so. The hell with the patient's and the family's wishes. Better chat to YOUR doctor and see how they feel about respecting your (legal) wishes . . .

Family, doctors battle over ‘do not resuscitate’ order

Mann Kee Li, shown with his two sons and nephews, is currently in and out of consciousness and unaware that his wish for life-saving care is being denied, his family says.

As Mann Kee Li lies in hospital fighting dire prospects, his family is engaged in a life-or-death struggle, not with the cancer spreading through his body, but with the doctors treating it.

Li, a 46-year-old Toronto accountant and father of two young boys, wants doctors to use all medical measures possible to save him in the event of a life-threatening emergency.

He made those intentions clear to his doctors at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre when he entered the hospital in August. He wrote it in a power of attorney document and confirmed it in a videotape statement, his lawyers say.

While his doctor initially agreed to respect those wishes, physicians unilaterally reversed the decision a week ago without consultation and imposed a “do not resuscitate” order, his family alleges. more

Pro-Deathers Make Killing Good, Living Nonsensical

While this story is about the pro-deathers finally getting billboards up for legalized killing in New Zeland, there’s another part (almost an afterthought) that shows how far we have degraded humanity: The idea that opposition to the billboards is nonsensical. See? Value life, you are nonsensical. Value legalized killing, you are a person of common sense. Hold on to your hats (and medicos that won't sanction death).

Death road: debate over euthanasia billboard

AS a national euthanasia debate looms, right-to-die campaigner Philip Nitschke says it would be “ludicrous” if a pro- euthanasia billboard on the Hume Highway in Yagoona was taken down before its scheduled removal date of November 11. more

Pro-Deather Old Lies In Tasmania

Ya know, I’m getting really, REALLY tired of the “pain and suffering” pro-deather point. If people die in unbearable pain and suffering, it’s because their doltish doctors are pretty clueless, usually, about palliative care and advanced pain management. They trot this argument out because the average reader, uninformed, swallows the lie hook, line, and death clinic.

Euthanasia Bill given support

TASMANIANS deserve the right to die with dignity, says a national euthanasia advocate.

YourLastRight chairman Neil Francis arrived in Tasmania yesterday in a bid to rally support for Tasmania's Dying With Dignity Bill, which is currently subject to public consultation.

Mr Francis said passing the legislation could give terminally ill Tasmanians the option to die without pain and suffering. more

Excellent UK Piece Linking Pro-Deather Ideas To Abuse Of People With Disabilities

An excellent piece out of the UK connecting the abuse of people with disabilities to the assisted suicide/euthanasia debate. I’ll post a link to Rosa Monckton’s movie as soon as I find it.

A terrible truth: it's natural to pick on the weak

Some time in the last 50 years, a collective decision was made to try to behave better towards the disabled and the mentally handicapped. Why was such a decision considered necessary? Rosa Monckton's powerful television programme helped give the answer.

Rosa, who herself has a 15‐year-old with Down's syndrome, filmed the lives of three families, and of one man living alone, who are persecuted because of their disability. Their suffering is caused not by the public authorities – though Rosa is critical of failures by those authorities to respond – but by neighbours. more

Macabre Pro-Deather Argument From Scotland

Read this and weep. Mainly because it’s well thought through in many ways. But, when you start to applaud the fact that, yes, wanting to die so as not to be a burden to others is not only OK, but laudable, we are very, very far gone.

Why sometimes it’s rational to choose death

As the law stands, to deliberately bring about someone’s death is murder.

Even if that person begged to die, the offence carries a mandatory life sentence. Thus someone who, out of love and pity, reluctantly accedes to the requests of his terminally ill spouse and suffocates her, is put in the same category of offender as a deliberately sadistic murderer, or someone who kills in the course of armed robbery. more

An Even-Handed UK Debate - How Unusual!!

This is a pretty even debate, with Baroness Mary Warnock not her usually flappy self.

Assisted dying debate: When Mary met Cristina

This week the Centre for Policy Studies published a report, written by Cristina Odone, called Assisted Suicide: How the Chattering Classes Have Got It Wrong. She simultaneously wrote a personal piece about how she had refused to help her seriously ill father die. Lady Warnock, in contrast, was taking part in a debate arguing that the terminally ill should have the legal right to be helped to end their lives. This week, the Guardian brought them together to explore their differences. This is an edited report of their conversation, which was frank but good-humoured. Warnock kicked off in typically robust fashion … more

UK Police Wasting Their Time Investigating Assisted Suicide

Ya know, I don’t know why the UK police are investigating an incident of a Briton going to Swiss death clinic Dignitas. It's happened about a 100 times before, and the new UK “guidelines” about assisted suicide in the UK are so vague that nothing will ever come of this. The police should just move on.

Riddle over 'trip to suicide clinic'

POLICE are investigating claims a man from Weston-super-Mare travelled to Switzerland to die in an assisted suicide.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary officers are looking into the death of Terry Martin, 64, of Slimeridge Farm Touring Site, Uphill.

It is believed Mr Martin, who suffered poor health, travelled to an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland to end his own life. Close friends say he had suffered for years with pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas and diabetes.

It is not clear at this stage whether anyone accompanied him to Switzerland. more

From Canada: Never Make Suicide An Option

Here’s a good piece from Canada. More pushback against the Canadian pro-deathers.

Suicide is not an option, ever

Humans are notably inconsistent beings, which may account for the contradictory attitudes we currently see to the phenomenon of suicide. On the one hand, every effort is made to prevent people taking their own lives; there are safety barriers on bridges, crisis hotlines, suicide prevention programmes in schools. At the same time there are organised campaigns for assisted suicide and other forms of euthanasia to be sanctioned by law. more

Telegraph's Christina Odone Slaps The Pro-Deathers Again

Christina Odone hits another one out of the park, this time making it very clear that assisted suicide is good for business – at least for those able to pay.

Assisted suicide is about the haves and have-nots. Dignitas is making a fortune out of the haves

There’s a cushy living to be made out of assisted suicide. One man, Ludwig Minelli, is living proof of it: he is alleged to have done well out of his Dignitas clinic, where, for $10,000, someone who is terminally ill can be helped to die by their “loved one”. Minelli is based in Switzerland, but sadly his tentacles reach us here: more than 100 Britons already have flown to the clinic in Zurich to be put out of their misery with the help of a partner or relative. more

Insulting Terri Schiavo - Even After All These years

Ah, the spin, the spin. The media are so in the pocket of the pro-deathers!! This headline implies that the legalistas at this event were from Terri's side, because when you say “Schiavo” that’s immediately who we all think of. Au contraire, mon amis. All the schlubs at this event were those hell-bent on killing her, including the black-robed executioner himself, Judge Greer. Disgusting.

Schiavo Legal Team Discusses Thoughts on Value of Life

Members of the legal team who worked on the historic case involving Terri Schiavo — the deceased Florida woman whose husband’s decision to cut her off from life-sustaining medical equipment sparked a debate about the rights of those in permanent vegetative states — gathered at the Emory University School of Law on Oct. 15 for a panel which rehashed many of the issues that divided much of the country and Congress in the spring of 2005. more

Thoughtful Piece Against Euthanasia From NZ

Here’s an interesting piece opposing euthanasia in New Zealand.

There's much more to death than dying

Death is not something we choose or control, no matter how much we try.

The Commercial Approvals Bureau has decided to give provisional permission to Exit International to screen a television advertisement advocating for euthanasia.

The same advertisement was banned in Australia and Canada a couple of months ago.

It shows a sick man saying, "Life is all about choices. Like, I chose to go to university ... like I chose to marry Tina ... What I didn't choose was being terminally ill. I didn't choose to starve to death because eating is like swallowing razor blades ... I've made my final choice, I just need the Government to listen."

Those who support euthanasia say that merciful doctors would help people end their life under these circumstances.

A few months ago a dying doctor hit the front page of the newspaper when he petitioned New Zealand for compassion, and a law change. This is where the rubber hits the road. What on earth do we do with it? more

Frightening Poll: Many Americans Think Euthanasia Is Always OK

Frightening, just frightening. According to this survey, almost 8% of Americans think that euthanasia is always OK. Slippery slope, anyone?

The U.S. ranks 32nd in support of euthanasia

According to the World Values Survey, 7.6% of Americans say that euthanasia is “always justifiable,” which makes the United States rank thirty-second out of fifty-five countries ranked in that category. Andorra ranks first, with 39.0% saying that euthanasia is “always justifiable.” more

Pro-Deathers Agenda Peeps Thru: Killing For All

Swiss Death Clinic supremo Ludwig Minelli is at it again. He’s been quiet for a while after hundreds of urns containing ashes of his victims turned up in Lake Geneva. Now hey, how about killing the loved ones (even if healthy) of those his clinic helps to kill?? I’m sure some people will be shocked – although I think it’s a logical next step to utter nihilism.

Let the distraught partners of terminally ill who commit suicide die too, says Dignitas boss

Dignitas clinic head Ludwig Minelli says relatives should be allowed to have prescriptions for suicide drugs even when they are not terminally ill

The founder of controversial Swiss clinic Dignitas has said a person whose terminally ill partner commits suicide should also be given help to die – even if they are perfectly healthy. more

Exactly: We Need Palliative Care, Not Killing

More sanity from the UK, from the sister of the boy portrayed in the movie Lorenzo’s Oil.

I refused to help my father die

"Put me out of my misery." The words were my father's. He lay, body riddled with septicaemia, suffering horribly in a hospital ward, as the rude, rough nurses were too busy with paperwork to relieve his pain. I couldn't believe this was my father, the man who had devoted his life to keeping his son Lorenzo alive. The story of how he and my stepmother had struggled 24/7 so that Lorenzo, robbed of his faculties by adrenoleukodystrophy, should live without pain or indignity, had been so remarkable that Hollywood made a movie about it, Lorenzo's Oil. more

Even More Opposition To Legalizing Assisted Suicide In The UK

Well, this states the obvious – that if assisted suicide is legalized, it’ll mean abuse of the most vulnerable. I think the most telling point is that a think-tank has to come out and speak to the issue.

Thinktank warns against legalising assisted suicide

The old, ill, mute and frail will be deemed expendable if assisted suicide is legalised, a thinktank says today. Society's most vulnerable risk being bullied into an early death by greedy or uncaring relatives or bureaucrats, according to a study published by the Centre for Policy Studies. more

Even More UK Slap-downs To The Pro-Death Crowd

Even More opposition to the pro-deathers in the UK. Are we seeing a trend here?

POLITICAL SOUP WITH EUTHANASIA

We live in a Western Society that considers ourselves to be free. We can freely choose our job, where we live, our partners. In England, We have rights to do so. There are many certain rights that go without saying; I am referring to our right to live. more

More UK Sanity Opposing The pro-Deathers

Well, even more sanity opposing the mindless chatter in favor of assisted suicide.

Sarah Dunant's inane baby-boomer case for assisted suicide

Listening to the repeat of novelist Sarah Dunant’s A Point of View on Radio 4 on the way to church this morning really brought home the moral paucity of the assisted-suicide lobby and its innate selfishness. With people like this on its side, I’m not sure Dignity in Dying needs opponents. more

Hilarious: Legalized Killing Can Be Free Of Abuse

So the media spins how great legalized euthanasia will be, because safeguards can be put in place to prevent abuse. Uh-huh. Look at the Netherlands. Look at Switzerland. Look art Belgium. Look at Washington state. Look at Oregon. I won’t go on. Truth is , once killing is legalized, abuse will absolutely follow. Oh, and get this - Bernheim says he doesn't want the government involved in the decision. So how come he wants killing legalized? Isn't that putting government squarely in the middle of the issue? 

Laws can safeguard the dying

JAN Bernheim, one of Europe's pioneering palliative care specialists, is a convert.

The medical oncologist long argued that no authority -- religious or state -- had any business interfering in end-of-life decisions. more

Margaret Somerville: Killing Is Killing

Canadian Margaret Somerville is a brilliantly, eminently sane voice opposing assisted suicide and euthanasia. Wherever you see Somerville’s work – read it. All of it.

Euthanasia is 'killing,' McGill ethicist tells Quebec hearings

MONTREAL — When religious values were more important in Quebec, it was easier to make the case against euthanasia, McGill University ethicist Margaret Somerville said Thursday before provincial hearings in Montreal.

"Thou shalt not kill" was pretty much the end of the debate, Somerville said.

Now in a largely secular society, euthanasia and assisted suicide remain "morally wrong," Somerville maintains. She prefers the term "killing," as she considers euthanasia and assisted suicide to be euphemisms. more

Nebraska Stands Firm In Assisted Suicide Charge

Well, Nebraska hangs firm – this woman isn’t going to be allowed to get away with assisted suicide. However, I’m somewhat amazed that the pro-deathers haven’t already made her a cause célèbre.

Woman requests delay in assisted suicide case

COLUMBUS — A defense attorney for a Columbus woman accused of assisting in the suicide of her boyfriend in August on Wednesday asked a judge for more time to work out a plea deal with the prosecution. more

Pro-Deathers Are Relentlessly Persistent

The pro-deathers got slapped down in trying to air an assisted suicide ad in both Canada and Aussie. As I predicted here, they’d keep going until the found a country that would relent. Looks like that’s what’s happening in New Zealand.

Banned suicide ad to be aired on NZ TV

Provisional approval has been granted to screen on New Zealand television an advert "promoting suicide" that is banned from Australian and Canada airwaves. more

More Palliative Care, Less Killing

Exactly. This is what we should be clamoring for everywhere – more money to be spent on palliative care, the sophisticated branch of medicine that is able to control pain and keep patients comfortable until they die a natural death.

MP seeks more money for palliative care

A Tasmanian Labor Senator wants the Federal and State Governments to increase palliative care funding.

Helen Polley has made the call during the visit to Tasmania of a prominent Canadian anti-euthanasia campaigner, Alex Schadenberg, who'll be talking to state MP's and Catholic clergy.

Senator Polley has urged people to consider Mr Schadenberg's views. Senator Polley says palliative care deserves a higher priority. more

When Euthanasia Is Legalized, Opposition Collapses

Ah, yes, now that euthanasia is legal in Luxembourg, it seems that public opposition has collapsed – nah, really? All the more reason never to let euthanasia get to legal status in the first place.

Euthanasia is more acceptable in Luxembourg

Luxembourg became the third European country to legalise euthanasia for terminally ill people in 2008, after Holland and Belgium.

Despite considerable opposition at the time from the Christian Social Party and the Catholic Church, it would appear that the population is largely accepting of the moral issues around assisted suicide after a report issued by survey firm CEPS/INSTEAD. more

At Least Nebraska's Got It Right About Assisted Suicide

At least the state of Nebraska still holds that assisted suicide is killing. Wouldn’t be surprised if the pro-deathers descend on the state to make the woman charged a new hero of their movement.

Woman accused of assisted suicide

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Columbus woman who prepared a lethal cocktail of medications and vodka for herself and her boyfriend has been charged with assisting suicide. more

The Energizer Bunny Of The Pro-Death Movement

You’ve got to acknowledge that Aussie’s Dr. Death, Phillip Nitschke, is incredibly energetic. After stirring the Aussie assisted sucide pot, having previously done the same in the UK, he’s now cranking up death-talk in Canada with his death workshops. Aren’t we lucky??

Euthanasia workshops test legal boundaries

An Australian right-to-die doctor will on Wednesday morning advise aging Torontonians on the “best drugs” and techniques to commit suicide so they can craft a reliable and peaceful “exit plan.”

At the city’s first Safe Exit workshop Wednesday morning — which is limited to those over the age of 50 and which will be held at a midtown church furnished with fresh-baked muffins — Dr. Philip Nitschke will talk about practical end-of-life strategies, including where and how to obtain the best euthanasia drugs. more

UK Push-back To Medico Calls For Legalized Killing

Here’s some pushback to the medical calls in the UK to legalized assisted suicide.

Warnings over assisted suicide legislation plan

Calls for legislation to allow assisted suicide for the terminally ill could put pressure on vulnerable patients to consider suicide, health professionals and disability campaigners warned today.

The warning was issued on the eve of the launch of Healthcare Professionals for Change (HPC) with the explicit aim of changing the 1961 Suicide Act in England and Wales. more

UK Medicos Want To Make Medicalized Killing Legal

Here it comes: The first group of UK medicos who want to change assisted sucide laws in the UK. What does it say about a society where those professionally committed to helping people get better and ease suffering are now campaigning to kill their patients.

Assisted suicide campaigners bid to change law

Doctors and nurses who support assisted suicide for the terminally ill will launch a campaign tomorrow to change the law on the right to die.

Healthcare Professionals for Change (HPC), a group of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, aims to challenge the views of bodies such as the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) which oppose such a move.

It is the first professional body to be set up with the explicit aim of changing the 1961 Suicide Act. more

Viva Euthanasia, Viva!!

So it goes . . . . even  a South American thuggocracy wants in on doctors killing their patients, should a current proposal be ratified.

Criminal bill gives green light to euthanasia in Venezuela

In Venezuela, a person with terminal cancer may request his doctor to help him die and the physician will be able to meet his request, without any legal liability.

This could be so, provided that the draft Organic Criminal Code prepared by the National Assembly's Committee on Interior Policy is passed. The bill legalizes euthanasia in Venezuela. more

Why Not Trot Out Terminals Who Are Opposed To Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia?

You know, the pro-deathers are not only smooth; the media swallows their bilge hook, line and sinker. Why don’t they trot out terminally ill people who are opposed to legalizing assisted suicide or euthanasia? Well, that wouldn’t serve their pro-death agenda, now would it?

Assisted suicide is not the ‘easy option’

FREEDOM OF CHOICE: Alexander Collie, of Westhill, talked about life with a degenerative disease and his belief in assisted suicide.

A Parkinson’s disease sufferer has dismissed claims that lawful assisted suicide is the “easy way out”. more

Michael Caine's Unconvincing Backtracking On Euthanasia

Michael Caine is walking back what he really means – that euthanasia is OK – because he got called out by the opposition. I would have had more respect if he’d stuck to what he write 20 years ago, which leaves little doubt in my mind that he and the doctor colluded in killing his father.

Sir Michael Caine sets record straight at Cheltenham Literature Festival

​SIR Michael Caine used his Cheltenham Literature Festival appearance to set the record straight about his father’s death after newspaper headlines at the weekend put him at the centre of a euthanasia row.

In a radio interview, repeated in the tabloids on Saturday, the double Oscar winner had spoken of his father’s death from liver cancer at St Thomas’ Hospital in London in 1955.

“It must have been a very slow news day yesterday,” he said at The Centaur.

Anti-euthanasia campaigners had reacted to the story which the 77-year-old actor said he first spoke about more than 20 years ago. more

More Pro-Deather Lies In Aussie

Here’s a fabulous example of media spin from the pro-deathers. Aussie Doctor calls for euthanasia, ostensibly because patients will be “suffering.” Well, that’s a canard because palliative care can take care of that kind of suffering. Read a little further and you get to the nitty-gritty – what the good doctor actually meant was that if your quality of life is poor, then, ergo, you are suffering, therefore you should be allowed to kill yourself or be killed (by the good doctor, of course). Lies, all lies.

Doctor pleads to end suffering

A Queensland doctor has made an impassioned plea for terminally ill patients to consider declining medical treatment which may only prolong their "torture".

In an anonymous open letter published in Brisbane's Courier Mail on Monday, the doctor called on Australians to openly discuss the topic of death.

He wants people suffering incurable diseases such as cancer and heart disease to think about whether they want to spend their last moments receiving potentially painful and invasive medical treatment or be with their families. more

The Pro-Deathers Come To India

Well, the pro-deather drumbeat has reached India. So has the PC propaganda that says everyone “deserves” euthanasia or assisted suicide. What pitiful poppycock.

Every one deserves a gentle and easy death

On October 6, Mail Today reported the case of the Konda brothers from Medak who are suffering from muscular dystrophy, and had appealed to the government to be allowed euthanasia. The district medical officer turned down the appeal saying there was no law for euthanasia in the country.

The report went on to point out that the Andhra Pradesh High Court had turned down a similar request from chess player K. Venkatesh citing the same grounds. more

Remember: Pro-Deathers Never Give Up

So the pro-deathers got slapped down when they tried to broadcast a TV ad for assisted suicide in Aussie. What to do? Well try for New Zealand of course! And if they fail there, they’ll keep going until they find someone to air it. And then there’ll be cries of victory, etc., etc. Trust me, I'm a doctor . . . .

Banned Euthanasia TV Ad Submitted For New Zealand

The director of Exit International Dr Nitschke said that the NZ modified euthanasia ad script had been forwarded to the NZ Commercial Approvals Bureau for review and the issuing of the required CAB number for screening on New Zealand commercial television. more

Ho-Hum: Killing For Love. What Else Is New???

See, you’re a college professor, so you are smart, and you know things the rest of us don’t – like the fact that killing is OK just because people ask you to. What arrogance. What evil masquerading as good. I hope he’s convicted of murder and they throw the book at him.

SA prof arrested for mom's mercy killing

Professor Sean Davison, 48, the head of the department of biotechnology's forensics laboratory at the University of the Western Cape, came to the attention of the New Zealand police after publishing a book about the death of his mother. more

Actor Michael Caine Supports Medicalized Murder

It’s all so predictable. The fashionable cause of the day (euthanasia) gets everyone to come out of the woodwork, including prominent artists like Michael Caine, who’s now chirping happily that he asked a doctor to kill his father years ago. (Being the brave man he apparently is, he kept that news from his mother – what a guy!!) The media doesn’t help in this story either, because they think assisted sucide and euthanasia are the same. Chumps all.

I persuaded doctor to end my dying father's life at 56, admits Michael Caine

Sir Michael Caine has revealed that he asked a doctor to help his gravely ill father die.

The doctor gave his father an overdose to end his suffering when he was dying in hospital from liver cancer – a secret Caine never revealed to his mother.

The star - who has won two Oscars - has now expressed his support for mercy killings. more

Killing Is As Killing Does

I noted yesterday that this soldier who killed a suffering civilian is up on murder charges, and wondered why, seeing as he was putting the woman out of her misery - just like the rest of euthanasia does. Guess what? Said soldier is calling for the legalization of euthanasia. Killing is as killing does . . .

Plea of war doctor who shot dying woman

AN ADELAIDE surgeon who shot dead a young mother at the site of a massacre to save her hours of agony has called for euthanasia to be legalised in Australia. more

Legalized Killing Kills Palliative Care

Here’s exactly what happens wherever assisted suicide or euthanasia are legalized – the palliative care doctors move on, knowing very well that the medical system will diminish palliative care services knowing that killing people is instead the pain-managing answer.

Doctor warns against legalizing euthanasia: Experiment failed in Australia

Legalizing euthanasia or assisted suicide in Quebec would probably end up hurting palliative medical services in the province, warned an Australian physician who has studied the impact of his country's experiment with mercy-killing legislation.

Mark Boughey, director of palliative medicine at St. Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, recalled the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act, which came into force in Australia's Northern Territory on July 1, 1996. (The law was nullified a year later by the federal parliament, but there is renewed talk of adopting similar legislation.)

Boughey said the law led to an exodus of health professionals specializing in palliative care from the Northern Territory. What's more, many aboriginals -whose culture is against mercy killing -grew distrustful of the medical establishment, and the number of routine childhood vaccinations dropped. more

Killing Is Killing In War Or In The Hospital

This piece makes a good point: Soldier in battle kills a mortally wounded enemy because there is considerable suffering and no hope of making him better. How is this different from euthanasia? I don’t think there is any difference – none.

Semrau verdict and euthanasia debate showing the gaps in Canadian law

Former Canadian Forces officer Robert Semrau was thrown out of the military for disgraceful conduct related to the mercy killing of a mortally wounded Taliban.

On Tuesday, Canadian army Captain Robert Semrau was demoted and kicked out of the military as punishment for disgraceful conduct on the battlefield — namely, firing two shots at a Taliban who’d been mortally wounded in an American helicopter attack. Capt. Semrau judged there was no hope of recovery for this man. Medical care was too far, and too long, away, and almost certainly hopeless besides. He made a very old-fashioned decision that likely saved his battlefield opponent considerable agony. more

European Politicians Call For Banning Medicos Opposed To Killing

So fall the dominoes. Margo Macdonald has just got through assuring the Scottish Parliament that if assisted suicide is legalized, medical personnel who choose not to participate as a matter of conscience will be allowed to do so. Uh-oh. They’re already beginning to call for booting medicos who won’t participate in killing in Europe.

Euro-socialists want to shut down hospitals opposed to abortion and euthanasia. It's time to stop them

Socialists at the Council of Europe (yes, the same entity that brought you the European Convention on Human Rights) have been very busy lately. A Ms Carina Hagg of the Swedish Socialist Group and Ms Christine McCafferty of the UK Socialist Group are scheming to name and shame conscientious objectors in the medical profession who refuse to carry out abortions, hand out birth control devices or engage in euthanasia. McCafferty even suggests that European governments should set up a register of those who will not cut their conscience to suit the fashion of secular socialists. more

Some Aussie Sense In The Euthanasia Debate

Here’s an Aussie member of parliament who makes a lot of sense.

DEATH BY WHOSE CHOICE?

In the next two and a half months we will see the greatest Parliamentary assault on pro-life and Christian family relationships ever experienced in 190 years of the NSW Legislative Councils existence.

More pieces of legislation before Christmas will attack Christian rights and beliefs. It is time every Christian became active at every level of political involvement, in prayer and financial support.

Of particular concern is the Euthanasia of the dying, the suffering and the disabled.

The fear of seeing a loved one suffer has led many to believe that the compassionate response is to send them on to an early death. Indeed, as medical science enables people to live longer and to overcome more and more disease, there is a fear that many elderly patients are being kept alive artificially and against their will. more

Scottish Lies About The Incidence Of Assisted suicide

Scottish pro-deather MP Margo Macdonald tried to hoodwink the hearings about her assisted suicide proposal by pointing to about 55 assisted suicides a year in Oregon. Well, the only problem with this assertion is that there’s absolutely no way to know how many assisted suicides happen in Oregon, because we have to rely entirely on the info given out by the state, info that has a ton of loopholes. And yes, as noted in the piece, it’s far more accurate to look at how many deaths happen in the Netherlands – much higher.

Suicide Bill Death Toll Clash

A MOVE to legalise assisted suicide in Scotland could result in up to 1,000 deaths a year, it was claimed yesterday.

MSP Margo MacDonald has predicted her Bill would help about 55 terminally ill people to end their lives each year, based on the experience of the US state Oregon.

But yesterday at a Holyrood committee set up to scrutinise her plans, SNP member Michael Mathson told her: "Your legislation is much closer in parallel to Dutch legislation.

"The number is closer to 1,000. That's significantly different." more

Shocker: (not): Euthanasia Goes Unreported In Belgium

A new study of euthanasia in Belgium has just been published in the British Medical Journal. Surprise!!! Not all euthanasias are reported (duh). Among the reasons why not: Well it seems that some doctors who do the killing don’t think they are euthanizing patients, so hey, what’s to report? Ah yes, remember the pro-deathers bending over backwards to convince us that that’s why we needed to make euthanasia legal in the first place. So that this kind of thing wouldn’t happen?

Reporting of euthanasia in medical practice in Flanders, Belgium: cross sectional analysis of reported and unreported cases

Conclusions One out of two euthanasia cases is reported to the Federal Control and Evaluation Committee. Most non-reporting physicians do not perceive their act as euthanasia. Countries debating legalisation of euthanasia should simultaneously consider developing a policy facilitating the due care and reporting obligations of physicians. more

Scottish MP Defends Assisted Suicide proposal

Loopy Scottish MP Margo Macdonald has been going on about assisted sucide for quite a while now, finally succeeding in brining a bill before the Scottish Parliament, where it’s now been preliminarily debated. This report contains a video clip of Macdonald defending her proposal, and her whining that not everyone agrees with her.

Margo MacDonald defends assisted suicide law proposal

Independent Margo MacDonald believes there had been an "organised campaign" against her Bill as she gave evidence to a Holyrood committee set up to scrutinise the plans. On Tuesday, MSPs also heard that even if the Bill was passed, assisted suicide could not be carried out on the NHS under current legislation. more

Calls For Euthanasia To Be A "Human Right"

Well, many of us saw this coming: The call to make euthanasia a “human right.” These days, every advocacy group for just about every issue is bleating that their cause should be a “human right.” Just saying: We’re in terrible cultural shape when we start to see advocacy for killing as a any kind of right, human or otherwise.

Choosing one's time of death is a basic human right

EMOTIONAL terms obscure the facts of euthanasia.

I AM distressed by the confusion and disgruntlement surrounding the discussion of euthanasia. Even the admirable Paul Kelly gets it wrong (The Australian, September 29). He refers to euthanasia as "legalised killing", implying that those who support euthanasia want someone to do something to someone else. The word kill occurs seven times.

If we take away the labels such as euthanasia, kill, murder, suicide, we can look at the issues.

The people who join the Dying with Dignity movement simply want to die with dignity. more

A Public Call For Killing Children With Disabilities

As I’ve noted here before, every now and then a pro-deather says what they actually mean – no spin, no euphemisms. Here an open call for killing children with disabilities or terminating their lives before they are born if a disability is uncovered. Yes, yes, it’s eugenics, but who seems to care these days?

Abortion and euthanasia: was Virginia Ironside right?

Virginia Ironside on Sunday Morning Live with her fellow guests.

Virginia Ironside woke the country up with a start on Sunday morning, when she appeared to be suggesting euthanasia for sick children. She told the BBC's rather bloodless spiritualism-lite programme Sunday Morning Live that if she had a child who was in terrible pain, she would hold a pillow over its head, as she would for any living creature that was suffering. more

Wow - More Sanity From Aussie

Nikki Savva has it right – wow, more sanity in the Aussie push for legalized murder!!

Fight for life to the last breath

LEGAL euthanasia could mean some medics deeming the seriously ill not worth saving.

ONCE upon a time I used to joke that by the time baby boomers reached retirement age, there would be nothing voluntary about euthanasia.

It was a smart alec comment designed to highlight the increasing weight the growing number of elderly would impose on the budget, and what would be the likely response of the government of the day.

I stopped making that joke, and I stopped supporting legalised voluntary euthanasia, after my sister, Christina, took me gently to task. more

Would You Like Fries With That?

Aussie billboards promoting assisted suicide were rejected by the powers that be in Aussie a week or two ago, but that’s been reversed, so the first billboards are going up soon. Would you like fries with that???

Euthanasia billboard approved

A voluntary euthanasia campaign spearheaded by advocate Dr Philip Nitschke has gained momentum after a billboard set for display in NSW was approved. more

Ah Yes, "Safeguards" That Will "Protect" Doctors From Killing Their Patients

Well, all this death & dying stuff is not especially amusing, but sometimes I have to chuckle. Here’s a “pioneer” of euthanasia in Belgium trying to convince the Aussies that yes, you can kill people with safeguards in place that will assure that it won’t be abused. Tell that t the several thousand people in Holland who are killed without ever having asked for it, ever having discussed it, or considered it.

PM rebuffed on euthanasia stand

A PIONEER of Belgium's voluntary euthanasia law has rebuffed Prime Minister Julia Gillard's statement that it could be ''almost impossible'' to find appropriate safeguards for such a law in Australia. more

Island Of Sanity In Aussie Pro-Deather Sea

Here’s an island of sanity in the sea of madness that is the Aussie push for assisted suicide & euthanasia. It’s an eloquent argument that wanting to kill people because they won’t live much longer is often incorrect – they sometimes wake up, get better, and live for years.

Tread carefully when dealing with dying

Legislating to kill people is a perilous business.

People want to die all the time, and for a variety of reasons.

More people kill themselves each year than die on our roads - indeed, police believe 10 per cent of the road toll is suicide - but it is not a subject we wish to talk about.

Today we must.

Julia Gillard announced recently that she would allow Labor MPs a conscience vote when the Greens push to legalise euthanasia.

Wouldn't it be great if every bit of legislation warranted a conscience vote? But this is a subject where factions and political parties should play no part.

And, in all conscience, how can we legislate to empower one group of people to have the right to kill another? more

We're In trouble When Medicos Seek Laws Allowing Them To Kill Their Patients

Yes, so the dominoes fall. Now we have doctors & nurses in the UK pushing for the right to kill their patients. Horrifying, just horrifying.

Doctors and nurses launch campaign for right to help terminally ill to end their lives

Leading doctors who endorse assisted dying for the terminally ill will this week launch an unprecedented campaign to change the law on the right to die.

Healthcare Professionals for Change, a group of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, says it wants to challenge bodies such as the British Medical Association, which opposes any change in the law that would allow others to help terminally ill people to die. more

The Pro-Deather "Autonomy" Lie

Ah, yes, people dying on their own terms. Let’s change the context: John Q. Citizen died today, on his own terms. He always thought traffic laws were oppressive & discriminatory. Yesterday he exercised his human right to autonomy and drove the wrong way on the interstate, where he died in a head-on collision. What a bunch of phonies these pro-deathers are!

Dad died on his own terms with his family around him

ROBERT CORDOVER was a marine biologist who spoke seven languages, loved music and theatre and had lived all over the world. So when the time came for him to die he wanted to do it on his own terms.

Diagnosed with the progressive illness motor neurone disease in 2008, he first lost his capacity to speak followed by his ability to swallow properly.

''His mind was still intact but he couldn't speak and then he lost use of the valve between his oesophagus and windpipe, so he choked constantly,'' his son Gideon said.

''First he was choking on food, then on air and saliva.

''It was a horrendous disease to watch. We were just watching him wasting, knowing that there was no chance of recovery.''

Mr Cordover, who lived in rural Tasmania, sought advice about euthanasia, to no avail.

''He started asking his doctors for advice but nobody would help him,'' his son said. ''Doctors fear litigation.'' He eventually approached Melbourne doctor and euthanasia advocate Rodney Syme for assistance and was provided with medication which would hasten his death. more

More Pro-Deather Lies Repeated By The Media

See, here’s one of the biggest pro-deather lies – the unbearable pain thing. Hey, who could argue for unbearable pain? Here’s the lie: Palliative care & pain management are so far advanced that the chances of dying screaming in  agony are so remote that they’re not worth worrying about. But, hey, if people knew that, maybe they wouldn’t support the pro-deathers.

Give us the right to choose if suffering gets unbearable

MEMBERSHIP of the voluntary euthanasia advocacy group Exit International is booming, growing by 50 per cent in the past five years.

But the NSW government and the Australian Medical Association remain opposed to the idea of legalising voluntary euthanasia. more

Pain Should Be Managed, Not An Excuse For Killing

Man has severe pain for a number of years. Dignitas won’t help him die, so he eventually does it himself. The pro-deathers will spin this as the reason assisted suicide should be available everywhere. However, they don’t go near the obvious question: Why wasn’t his pain managed? I’m sure it could have been.

Man rejected by Dignitas killed himself with tablets

RETIRED international civil servant John Jenkinson took a fatal overdose after the Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland declined to help him end his life, an inquest heard.

The 65-year-old, from Cheltenham, committed suicide because he had suffered from severe pain for five years and wanted to end it, the Gloucestershire coroner was told. more

Canadian Government Holds The Line - For Now

So, the Canadian Government doesn’t have any plans to review their current laws against assisted suicide & euthanasia. Let’s hope they keep it that way, although given what’s happened elsewhere, I’m not too hopeful.

Justice minister rebuffs study of assisted suicide laws

Canada's justice minister has no intention of considering changes to federal laws against assisted suicide and euthanasia. At a time when Quebec is conducting public hearings on the issue, Rob Nicholson said the Criminal Code ban will remain in place. "We have no plans to get into that area, we are satisfied with the law as it is," Nicholson told Postmedia News. more