Aruna plea verdict reserved
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its verdict in the Aruna Shanbaug mercy killing case. The court is likely to come out with the verdict on Monday. more
SC to hear Aruna Shanbaug euthanasia plea
The petition of Mumbai nurse Aruna Shanbaug, who is in a coma for the past 36 years in a Mumbai hospital, seeking permission to die, will come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
The petition, filed by activist-journalist Pinki Virani, seeks the apex court's intervention to direct the King's Edward Memorial Hospital to stop feeding Aruna and allow her to die.
The court had issued notices to the Centre and the Maharashtra government on the petition, observing that "under the law of the country, we cannot allow a person to die". more
Help should always precede assisted suicide says expert
If people, no matter how determined, get appropriate help for their physical symptoms, their psychological problems, then generally they do want to live.
Social services professionals attending a one-day conference on suicide on Feb. 3 in Laval were told by a suicide prevention expert that statistics reveal that persons contemplating assisted suicide tend to abandon the idea if they are relieved of the pain driving them to desperation. more
NH House considering assisted suicide bill
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The public is getting a chance to tell New Hampshire's House Judiciary Committee what it thinks of legalizing assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. more
Mental illness tests assisted suicide norms
A television documentary following the path to assisted suicide taken by a man suffering from bipolar disorder has focused debate on the practice for the mentally ill. more
Abuse of assisted suicide laws ‘inevitable,’ expert warns Quebec government
QUEBEC, February 22, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide for “extreme cases” is a slippery slope to the widespread killing of newborn infants, the elderly, the depressed, and the mentally disabled, an expert witness told the Quebec National Assembly’s Special Commission on the Issue of Dying with Dignity on Thursday of last week. more
We will not give up says suicide team
THE ORGANISERS of the cancelled suicide workshops in Eastbourne have vowed to come to the town at a later date.
Exit International, the pro-euthanasia group, had hoped to hold a talk and workshop aimed at showing elderly and ill people who to end their lives..
But the venue, the Sovereign Harbour Yacht Club, cancelled and days after organisers managed to secure a booking at the Under Ground Theatre, it too pulled out. more
Latimer’s lawyer urges update of euthanasia law
The details surrounding Stephan Bolton and the death of his wife Barbara Jollimore-Bolton are still unfolding.
But Bolton’s story has, at the very least, reignited the debate over end-of-life care and the ethics and law surrounding euthanasia.
Criminal lawyer Jason Gratl said that Canada’s criminal laws do not reflect the opinions of Canadians on issues of euthanasia or assisted suicide. more
Video: Dr Death wants London euthanasia clinic
It is possible for an assisted suicide clinic to open in London thanks to last year’s prosecution guidelines, a euthanasia campaigner wrongly claimed on the BBC last night. more
N.S. police investigate woman's death after euthanasia claim
A Nova Scotia man's public claim that he ended his wife's life as a gesture of mercy has outraged those on both sides of this country's highly emotional debate over euthanasia.
RCMP said Thursday that a 56-year-old man surrendered himself at a detachment near Liverpool, N.S., this week "to confess his involvement in the death of a 59-year-old woman." more
We're happy and don't want euthanasia say patients locked in their bodies
Most patients ‘trapped’ in their own bodies are happy and do not want euthanasia, according to the biggest survey yet of people with locked-in syndrome.
Contrary to the conventional image of those with the condition, many are able to adapt to the ‘devastating’ change in their lives, researchers say.
And the longer somebody has had the syndrome, the more likely they are to report happiness. more
Apex court to watch CD on euthanasia case
Taking an unusual step, two judges of the Supreme Court, justice Markandey Katju and justice Gyan Sudha Misra, will view a CD prepared by a panel of doctors concerning Aruna Shanbaug who is confined to a bed in KEM Hospital for the past 37 years. more
N.S. man tells police he ended wife's suffering with lethal injection: report
LIVERPOOL, N.S. - The Halifax Chronicle Herald is reporting that a Nova Scotia man has turned himself in to the RCMP after telling the newspaper that he gave his terminally ill wife a lethal injection last month to end her suffering.
Stephan Bolton of Liverpool, told the newspaper he decided to go public with his story to spur public debate about the issue of euthanasia and because he's haunted by his actions. more
Bench trial may not be the end of Minn. assisted suicide case
A judge in Rice County will hear oral arguments today in the case of a former nurse charged with aiding two suicides through Internet communications.
William Melchert-Dinkel's trial will be fast -- he's agreed to accept evidence brought against him and has waived his right to a jury trial, meaning the judge alone will decide if he's guilty.
The verdict, due within 20 days, will bring a degree of closure to a case that began more than five years ago with the suicide death of a man in England. But legal observers are more interested in what happens after the trial.
If Melchert-Dinkel is convicted, he could appeal based on issues his defense attorney has raised during pre-trial proceedings, including an argument that the 48-year-old Faribault man's actions were protected by his free-speech rights and therefore weren't crimes. more
NHS chiefs back calls to reform assisted suicide law
One of England’s largest health authorities has said it is not opposed to assisted suicide and called for a change in the law to give patients more “choice” over how they die.
The current law, under which helping someone commit suicide is illegal, is not fit for the 21st century, according to the West Midlands NHS Strategic Health Authority.
Pauline Smith, the end of life care lead for the region, said it was “not good enough” that only those who could afford to travel to Dignitas suicide clinics in Switzerland were able to control their own deaths.
Her comments will be seen as a boost for the right to die campaign, as West Midlands has become the first health authority to back calls for a change in the law to date. more
Suicide workshops cancelled at last-minute after 'pressure'
Today's suicide workshop by a controversial euthanasia expert has been cancelled at the last minute by his host venue in Cardiff.
Dr Philip Nitschke, however, will still hold a public meeting on assisted suicide at the Cardiff Quakers Meeting House on Charles Street from 1pm. more
New push for euthanasia law
A RENEWED attempt to reform voluntary euthanasia laws in SA will be made in Parliament next month. Supporters say the Bill has a stronger chance of being passed than previous proposals. more
Assisted suicide group applies to become legal corporation
A B.C. group fighting for the right to assist people who want to commit suicide is seeking to be recognized as a lawful corporation.
The Farewell Foundation for the Right to Die, the only one of its kind in Canada, filed an application on Monday with the B.C. Corporate Registry to incorporate as a non-profit society, the foundation's lawyer Jason Gratl said Tuesday.
In filing the application, the group argues that the section of the Criminal Code that prohibits assisted suicide is unconstitutional and therefore it should be allowed to help people who are capable of informed decision commit suicide if they choose. more
Catholic church leads charge against euthanasia doctor
Leaders of the Catholic Church in Wales have labelled plans by a euthanasia expert to hold a suicide workshop in Cardiff (#) tomorrow as “frightening and dangerous”.
Philip Nitschke – dubbed Dr Death by his critics – will give “practical information” about different suicide methods to allow people to make decisions on how and when they die. more
France’s First Baby Born To Treat Siblings With Genetic Disorder
Newborn Umut Talha was selected from 12 embryos to serve as a stem cell donor for his siblings.
Umut Talha’s name means “our hope” in Turkish, and his birth brought some much needed good fortune into the lives of his siblings. The infant, born January 26th of this year, is France’s first reported case of a child being conceived with in vitro fertilization and genetic screening to ensure it could serve as a viable stem cell donor. more
Emmerdale: Jackson Walsh in assisted suicide shock!
Emmerdale bosses are, this morning, facing an industry grilling, after their latest shock story line was revealed, The Sun Reports. more
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
It's a life and death issue that's hitting the Statehouse: Physician assisted-suicide and what Idaho code should say about the topic.
Assisted suicide is already legal in neighboring states of Montana, Washington, and Oregon, and now the battle lines are being drawn in the Gem State.
The Idaho Attorney General says current Idaho law doesn't make it clear whether it's legal or illegal. more
Brain damaged for 37 years, but fish still makes Aruna smile
NEW DELHI: Aruna Shanbaug, confined to a bed in Mumbai's King Edward Memorial Hospital for the last 37 years in a vegetative state after a brutal sexual assault, is unaware of her surroundings or the euthanasia plea advanced on her behalf before the Supreme Court.
But the 60-year-old likes fish and chicken soup, calms down after listening to devotional music and dislikes crowding in her hospital room, said an expert panel report submitted recently to the court. Being the first-ever euthanasia plea before the judiciary, a bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra was extremely careful and set up a panel of eminent doctors to examine and report her medical condition to the court. more
'Death with dignity' debate likely to be emotional
MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Hans Penner isn't ready to die just yet. The retired Dartmouth College religion professor has another book he wants to finish writing first. But, with the diagnosis of stage 4 inoperable lung cancer he got last fall, Penner knows it's coming. He just wants to be in control when it does.
"If I have the freedom to decide how I want to die, that is a very comforting thing," said Penner, a 77-year-old resident of Wake Robin, a retirement, assisted living and skilled nursing facility in Shelburne.
Dr. Joseph Nasca, a Milton pediatrician who's not involved in Penner's treatment, says he'd want no part of helping anyone die. more
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