US, UK medical journals increasingly tout euthanasia
Citing recent articles in three medical journals, Dr. Denise Hunnell of HLI America has found increasing acceptance of voluntary euthanasia within the medical community. more
The Practice of Assisting Suicide is on the Rise in the U.S. and Abroad
On March 27th , the government of Switzerland released a report on the practice of assisting suicide with a dramatic conclusion: five out of every 1,000 resident deaths now involve assisting suicide. Swiss authorities recorded a steady rise of assisted suicides over the decade that records were kept.
While assisting suicide is legal in only a tiny handful of jurisdictions both in the U.S. and abroad, the Swiss practice operates extra-legally. Assisting suicide in Switzerland is technically illegal, but the law on the matter punishes only those with selfish motives–which has turned out to be nearly impossible to prove in Swiss courts. This has, in practice, led to a system where anyone can assist in a suicide with no essentially no restriction on who can utilize suicide. more
Unethical Bioethicists?
Questions are swirling around the American Journal of Bioethics (AJOB). Exactly what is happening remains unclear, but Twitter is abuzz. University of Minnesota Bioethicist Leigh Turner, in particular, is loudly calling on the entire editorial board to resign, and he is picking up some support. Since the board, at least nominally, includes a virtual who's-who of bioethics, including 36 luminaries (read the list), this would be a very big deal. more
Page: Assisted suicide law sends contradictory message
In the Jan. 19 mail I received a letter from Lamoille Union High School, where my daughter is enrolled. It begins with the following sentence: “Over the last few years Vermont has seen an increase in suicide among young people.” It went on to describe a school initiative to hopefully address this awful development. I hope they are successful. All of my children have friends, or friends of friends, who have taken their own lives. more
Eugenics, euthanasia and American race improvement
“Passive eugenicide allowed babies deemed “defective” to starve, or be denied medical attention.”
The “Unfit” defined: Eugenics as an instrument of race improvement was inspired by animal husbandry that improved livestock through selective breeding, and culling undesirables from breeding stock. Eugenics sought to apply the principle to human breeding.
Eugenics “ideal” for America’s racial stock was the Nordic blue-eyed, blond-haired Aryan. The “unfit” included the “feeble minded,” homosexuals; persons evidencing criminal traits, alcoholism, blindness, deafness, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and a wide range of “mental illnesses.” To eugenicists even “laziness” was understood as a genetic trait to be eliminated from the race. more
Brick Walls
I am going to try and tell you what happened to us on January 10, 2012, in the conference room in the Nephrology department at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
We arrived for our regular Nephrology visit with Amelia’s doctor who has seen her for the last three years. She examines Amelia and sends us for labs. I ask about the transplant and she says we have about six months to a year until she needs one. She tells us she reserved the conference room and when we get back from labs, we can meet with the transplant team and he can tell us about the transplant process.
. . . He says about three more sentences when something sparks in my brain. First it is hazy, foggy, like I am swimming under water. I actually shake my head a little to clear it. And then my brain focuses on what he just said.
I put my hand up. “Stop talking for a minute. Did you just say that Amelia shouldn’t have the transplant done because she is mentally retarded. I am confused. Did you really just say that?” more
'Shameless' Plans Euthanasia Storyline This Season
Showtime's "Shameless" plans a euthanasia storyline later this season involving Joan Cusack and Louise Fletcher's characters. more
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