Horror Story: UK Doctor Sees Medicalized Killing As Just Peachy

UK elderly beware! Read this “glowing” report of medicalized murder by the doctor who wrote the piece. Arrogant and cold – all trying to look like “peace and light.” These are the monsters that roam the halls of NHS hospitals.

'Nurses helped my Gran to die'

Nurses withdrew my Gran's medication - but don't call the police.

A few months ago, my Gran died. She had terminal cancer, so it was expected. She slipped away quietly in a side room on a medical ward of a provincial teaching hospital, with my sister and me holding her hand and talking to her gently. It was a delicate, humane and peaceful end. On her death certificate, it says she died of septic shock, pneumonia and metastatic lung cancer. But that’s not what killed her. She was killed by a nurse. more

Media Spin About Oregon's Assisted Suicide Statutes

Here's a piece that has the patina of balance but shows its true colors toward the end. One example: the piece cites work that says nobody in Oregon has ever undergone assisted suicide while disabled or depressed. This doesn’t square with Oregon’s own records that in most cases patients never even have a psychological consult.

Op-Ed: To be or not to be is the question, but should it be a choice?

It is not illegal in North America and many other jurisdictions around the world to kill yourself or attempt to commit suicide. However, it is illegal almost worldwide to assist a person to commit suicide. PAS is legal is just four jurisdictions around the world.

Many believe that the driving force behind the ban on PAS and euthanasia is a religious one. However, a look at what some in the medical community have to say about PAS tells a different story. more

Spin From The New York Times At The Feet Of "Scientists"

Some hilarity from the New York Times. On two counts. One, asserting that "top scientists" are for assisted suicide is spin. Remember Hitler’s doctors? Two, the wording of the Royal Society's report - that there's no slippery slope. Tell that to the report of a 64-year-old Dutch woman with advanced dementia who was killed even thought se was beyond asking for it.

Canada: Top Scientists Urge Allowing Assisted Suicide

In a study released on Tuesday, Canada’s leading scientific and academic body recommended the legalization of voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide. The six authors from a variety of fields and countries who conducted the study for the Royal Society of Canada said there was no evidence that legalizing those acts “poses a threat to vulnerable people, or that decriminalization will lead us down a slippery slope from assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia to non-voluntary or involuntary euthanasia.” more

UK: Eloquent Response To Pro-Deather Spin

Here's an eloquent Brit response to the pro-deather spin.

The terminal spin of ‘assisted dying’

. . . In today’s Times Professor Tallis argues passionately in support of ‘assisted dying’, which he claims is all about

‘...permitting physicians to assist the death of mentally competent, terminally ill patients, who are suffering unbearably despite receiving optimal palliative care, at their request.’

The phrase ‘assisted dying’ or ‘assisted death’ is, however, deeply disingenuous. Indeed, in the context of this whole argument the word ‘dying’ has turned into what one might classify as a piece of terminal spin. more

A Classic Pro-Death Spin

The media is spin continues to make assisted killing and euthanasia palatable to society. This is a classic propaganda lie, mixing the pro-death message with legitimate issues such as advanced directives.

Maybe now, nation can discuss reasonableness of assisted suicide

When Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a leading proponent of right-to-die legislation, died June 3, he may have achieved something he was unable to accomplish in his last years: perhaps return the issue of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) to a serious level of legitimate public discourse. more

Media Spins Kevorkian Death As Heroic

So the canonization of Kevorkian begins: Yes, he died a natural death BUT he could have ended it by assisted sucide. The piece then goes on to completely confuse matters by saying the K didn’t want any extraordinary measures to keep him alive - this is NOT assisted suicide, but the right of every patient to refuse any and all medical care.

Morganroth: Kevorkian pondered his own suicide

Jack Kevorkian was never going to need the services of a Jack Kevorkian.

He was the first name in assisted suicide, a retired pathologist who claimed he helped at least 130 people end their unsatisfactory lives. Early Friday, he lost his, as close to on his own terms as he could have asked for.

Before he was sent to prison for second-degree murder in 1999, Kevorkian befuddled prosecutors, infuriated opponents and galvanized a national conversation about the right to die. He was driven and relentless, an ascetic in a small apartment and a thrift-store sweater who saw no need to change and showed few signs of age. more

Pro-Deather Recipe: Emotion + "Counselor" = Death

Here's a very emotional piece about a man committing assisted suicide. But note the sinister presence of the "counselor" in the background who, essentially makes the decision of when this man should die. Macabre.

Making the difficult decision to die

Voters in Zurich may have rejected proposals to ban assisted suicide and "suicide tourism" but the journey towards making the decision to die remains as difficult as ever.

This is the story of Ruth and Eduard told to me by Ruth, because Eduard is not here any more.

A middle class Swiss couple, they lived happily together for 50 years in a beautiful traditional old house just outside Zurich. She was a psychologist, he a minister - they had four children together. more

The Truth About Vermont's Assisted Suicide Bill

Here's a good, clear analysis of the Vermont assisted suicide bill now being debated. It shows, effectively I think, how the language of the bill spins what is obviously legalized killing.

My Turn: Assisted suicide bad idea, bad bill

When we discard the euphemism "death with dignity" and replace it with plain English, we see that the Vermont Legislature proposes to endorse and enable suicide for qualifying citizens. The idea is bad, and the bill is bad. more

Aussie Pro-Deathers Using The Usual Propaganda Tricks

A favorite pro-deather ploy - poster people for death, in this case to influence the current Aussie euthanasia debate.

Ailing ex-Lib boss backs voluntary euthanasia

FORMER Liberal leader Dale Baker, who has motor neurone disease, wants the right to end his own life.

The ex-Liberal leader has to use a whiteboard to converse.

As State Parliament considers legalising euthanasia, the 72-year-old believes it should be sufferers, not politicians, who make the final decision.

Mr Baker, who is unable to speak because of his condition and is forced to communicate with a whiteboard, was diagnosed with MND 18 months ago. more

More Aussie Pro-Death Spin

Here's another good example of pro-deather spin. Aussie pol comes out in favor of legalizing assisted suicide after watching his sister's painful death. Um, sorry, two problems here. One, she had repeatedly refused pain medication, hence, she was in pain. Two: ANYONE dying an excruciatingly painful death does so because the boneheads attending her don't know enough about pain management and palliative care.

Let them die in peace

HEALTH Minister John Hill stood at his sister's deathbed, surrounded by her family and friends.

They searched for anything that would relieve her awful pain and suffering. Battling a terminal case of cancer at the age of 47, she initially refused to accept the arrival of death and declined drugs and palliative care offered by doctors. As the gravity of the situation became apparent, she acquiesced and accepted medication that could lead to only one conclusion. more

More Aussie Pro-Deather Spin

Here's more Aussie media spin in favor of legalizing euthanasia. It’s the old I-should-be-killed-because-I'm-tired-of-living argument tied to the I-don't-want-to-suffer argument, tied to I-don't-want-to-be-a-burden schlock. I expect that this pro-deather full court press will continue.

Euthanasia: The public politics of the most private decision

I tried to hold my breath as I followed my mum through the long hospital corridors. I hated the sterile smell as I imagined it smelt like death.

Inside the room, there were strangers in three beds. In the other was my Gran: white-haired, tiny and frail. We pulled a curtain around us for some pretend privacy. But everyone could hear what she was saying. I wished I couldn’t. more

Aussie Media Spin About Legalizing Euthanasia

See, this is how media spin works. This Aussie poll is slanted towards the fact that 4 out of 10 polled favor euthanasia. What's not noted????  SIXTY percent of those polled did not favor it. Always read media reports carefully.

40 per cent support euthanasia: poll

More than 40 per cent of Australians would "take the option of euthanasia if available" if they were terminally ill with just weeks to live, a poll has indicated. more

Earth To Aussies: Don't Believe Euthanasia Polls From The Pro-Deathers

Well, this is how the media works - claiming overwhelming support for euthanasia without telling us how they arrived at the number or how the questions were posed. Clue: It was commissioned by the pro-deathers themselves. I'm not impressed.

Support for voluntary euthanasia at 85%

SUPPORT for voluntary euthanasia in NSW is running at 83 per cent, with only 10 per cent of people implacably opposed, according to a Newspoll commissioned by advocates Dying with Dignity NSW. more

Emirates' Press Spins Acceptance Of Assisted Suicide

Here's classic spin - ask a very small sample about assisted suicide, have about half agree, and then proclaim "acceptance" of mercy killing. Uh-huh. I’m sure most of not all these people are Muslim, a religion that specifically opposes assisted suicide and euthanasia.

UAE people accepting mercy killing: Study

People in the UAE have started to accept the idea of helping terminally ill people to die, an act known medically as euthanasia, according to a study published on Monday. more

Canadian Pro-Deather Spin Getting Tiresome

Ho-hum, another plea for assisted suicide and/or euthanasia to be legalized in Canada. I'm starting to get really tired of the spin that if legalized, that it's possible to regulate how people will be killed. Just look at the Nertherlands and Belgium, where despite all their efforts at regulation and "transparency" hundreds are killed without their permission  or request. It will be no different in Canada if the killing is ever legalized there.

It's time for us to discuss the right to die

Almost a year after Bernice Levitz Packford left us, she is still prompting us to think about what is right and wrong, and about life and death.

Packford took her own life. She was 95, she was tired, and she was ready to go. She declared her desire to die in a letter to the Times Colonist in February 2010, sparking talk throughout the community about the pros and cons of assisted suicide.

One month later she overdosed on hydromorphone, a powerful prescription painkiller, in her Fairfield home. A coroner's report concluded that Packford committed suicide.

Anyone who was found to have helped her, or even counselled her to carry out her suicide, could face charges under the Criminal Code of Canada, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Victoria police investigated her death and decided Packford had not been assisted. more

Same Old Pro-Death Spin In Montana Media

So it goes in Montana, where there are dueling for and against bills related to assisted suicide So, here goes the spin - the pro-deathers telling the lawmakers horror stories of death and dying. I hope the other side will also be as forcefully represented.

Legislature Takes on Physician Assisted Suicide

Death can be one of the hardest things to talk about and the Legislature tackled the controversial topic as two physician-assisted suicide bills brought forward emotional testimony.

“And in the end it took three of us to hold her down in a hospital bed so that they could put the needles in to give her terminal sedation rather than let her take medication at home to die where she wanted to,” says Mignon Waterman, a former State Senator who watched her close friend die. more

Now A Pro-Death Poster Boy From South Africa

So it goes: Son, respected South African professor, travels to New Zealand to help his mom kick the bucket. Gets nabbed by Kiwi authorities. No he’s the subject of a South Africa documentary on assisted sucide. Wanna bet that the conclusion will be pro-death?

TV tackles controversial mercy killing

TOMORROW night Special Assignment tackles the controversial issue of euthanasia.

Called A Time to Die, the show will be broadcast at 8.30pm on SABC3.

Euthanasia or mercy killing is an issue that most people do not feel comfortable to talk about. more

Killing Not Wrong, It's The Silly Law That's Wrong, You Simpletons!!

This is how the pro-deathers drags us down the slippery slope – see, assisted sucide and euthanasia are not morally wrong, they just need to be “regulated. Ahem . . . like in the Netherlands, where medicalized killing is out of control and on the rise.

Group wants 'right-to-die' changes

The law on helping people to die must be changed because current guidelines have led to an "unregulated situation" where anyone can be assisted to die, campaigners have claimed.

Dignity in Dying chief executive Sarah Wootton said the 1961 suicide act was "no longer fit for purpose" and new guidelines brought in after the case of right-to-die campaigner Debbie Purdy should be replaced with an updated law that clearly states which acts are criminal and which are not. more

The Nation: Hit-Piece In Favor Of The Pro-Deathers

This is a long piece posing as balanced debate, but really is just another, albeit fairly sophisticated, pro-deather rant.

Anti-Choice at the End of Life

Last week a regulation to provide Medicare coverage for advance care planning counseling—that is, offer reimbursement to doctors for time spent talking to patients about end of life care—was abandoned … for the second time.

. . . A collective American reticence to frankly discuss death enables organizations like the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network and NRLC to misinform the public about existing government programs like hospice, Medicare, and other legal tools for the elderly, like advanced directives and medical proxies, which can provide more control over how they age and die.  Combined with a paternalistic medical profession that’s only recently begun training new doctors on how to talk to patients about how to plan their end of life care and a Republican party dependent on the support of anti-choice groups, “pro-life” groups have been able to fundamentally shape state and federal legislation. more

New York Times Creates "Right" To Assisted Suicide From Thin Air

This is a hit-piece against US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (predictable from this source). What really caught my eye was this paragraph where the oh-so-informed media hack insists that assisted suicide is a right. Really? Where is this in the Constitution? No matter, everything’s a “right” these days, so why stop at lying about the “right” of assisted suicide?

If Scalia Had His Way

. . . For starters, Justice Scalia said a return to the founders’ vision means states could impose the death penalty on anyone — including juveniles or the mentally retarded, for example — and there would be no abortion rights or rights of assisted suicide for the terminally ill. more