What Government-Run Health Care really Looks Like

While the crazies running the US government are hell-bent on taking our medical system back to the Stone Age, they’d be well advised to see what that actually means. Here’s a piece from the UK of patients lying in their own feces, starving, dehydrated, and helpless – all the good ship National Health Care System sails merrily on. From the UK's MailOnline this is what government-run healthcare looks like. more

The Danger Of Pro-Death Thinking In Different Cultural Contexts

This is a thoughtful Indian response to the considerable lethal potential of assisted suicide and euthanasia being let loose in a cultural context where it might be embraced for all kinds of very bad reasons.

Are we ready for euthanasia?

Of late, the debate on mercy killing or euthanasia seems to have resurfaced. With UK and the US legalising the practice (albeit to a few states only), the buzz about euthanasia is catching up in India too. A few months ago, Supreme Court denied mercy killing for a 59 -years-old lady Aruna Shanbagh, who was laying unconscious in a K.E.M Hospital Mumbai (after being sexually assaulted). Similarly, the Patna High Court dismissed Tarakeshwar Chandravanshi’s request of mercy killing his 25-year-old wife and in another plea the Kerala High Court rejected the request of BK Pillai.

In India, where the right of life under article 21 of the Constitution is considered the utopia of fundamental rights, the whole issue about right to death would not fetch much acceptability. However, it is not about the issue of legalising euthanasia but actually about the fact – is India ready for such concept per se? more

Chimps Understanding Of The End Of Life Way Better Than The Pro-Deathers

Well at least the pro-deathers haven’t got to the chimps yet (stay tuned). In this report it looks like chimp behavior around the dying involves care, attention, close company, comfort, and affection – none of which are any part of assisted suicide. If you don’t believe me, go to YouTube and you’ll see what a ghastly experience assisted suicide is – and not only for the deceased.

Chimps Confront Death in Human-Like Ways

Chimpanzees confront death in human-like ways, including attempting resuscitation. The animals'awareness of death is probably more developed than previously thought. Researchers suggest chimpanzees be allowed to die naturally in their groups to permit final goodbyes.

From holding deathbed vigils to comforting the dying, chimpanzees face death in human-like ways that indicate their awareness of death is probably much more developed than previously thought, suggest two new studies.

The papers, both published in the journal Current Biology, provide rare, intimate glimpses of chimpanzees dealing with death.

For the first study, scientists observed how three adult chimpanzees reacted when an elderly female, named Pansy, gradually passed away in an indoor enclosure at Blair Drummond Safari Park in Stirling, Scotland. The over 50-year-old Pansy had grown increasingly lethargic before lying down on the floor one day after eating. more

In Texas Judge Says Killing A Disabled Man Is Not Murder

Well here’s cute story (not). Texas woman admits killing her medically disabled husband. Gets 10 years probation for “injury to a disabled individual.” No kidding – I’d say killing someone is definitely an injury, wouldn’t you? I’ll bet that the sentence wouldn’t have been the same if her husband had not been medically disabled – then it would have been plain ol’ murder. Lesson taught? People with medical disabilities are of less value in the eyes of the law than others. How pathetic.

Woman who killed ailing husband gets probation

An Austin woman who gave her disabled husband a fatal drug cocktail before trying to kill herself last year was sentenced to 10 years probation Friday under a plea deal with prosecutors.

Katherine "Kim" Yarbrough, 53, pleaded guilty this month to injury to a disabled individual, a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison. Prosecutors waived a charge of murder with the plea. State District Judge Bob Perkins agreed to follow the plea agreement after reviewing a probation department report on the case.

Yarbrough, who spent several weeks in the hospital after attempting suicide, said little in court. In the hallway afterward, she hugged a group of friends who came to lend support. She declined to comment through her lawyer, David Sheppard. more

Death Clinic Disrespectful Of Its Clients? I'm Shocked, I Tell You . . .

Well the UK reports that the Swiss assisted suicide clinic Dignitas has been dumping urns of the remains of people killed at the clinic is hardly a surprise for at least two very obvious reasons. One, Dignitas, despite its name, kills people for a profit and not for any notion of dignity I can think of. Second, as this story notes, the clinic was caught dumping urns in the lake two years ago. Of course, the good citizens of Switzerland are shocked, I tell you, shocked, etc., etc.

“Dignitas” Urns Dumped In Lake

BOSSES of Swiss suicide firm Dignitas were facing jail today after the discovery of up to 300 urns containing human remains in a lake.

British "suicide tourist" ashes are believed to be in some of the caskets found at the bottom of Lake Zurich by police divers.

Authorities were first alerted in 2008 when Dignitas staff were caught pouring the ashes of 20 clients into the water. more

Swedish Pro-Deathers Hard At Work

The pro-death drumbeat isn’t only alive and well in the UK. Sweden has a new poster person who’s campaigning for the right to have her ventilator switched off. Seeing that someone else will have to do that, it’s clearly assisted suicide. But the Swedes are going to allow it – even thought-assisted suicide in Sweden is illegal. Why bother making laws anymore?

Sweden Permits Passive Euthanasia

STOCKHOLM (Agence France Presse) Halting life-support at the request of a patient is legal, Swedish health authorities said Monday, clearing the way for doctors to agree to a heavily disabled woman's request to be allowed to die. more

Ah, Those Brave Pro-Deathers

The UK pro-deather drumbeat continues apace. We’ve had Brits going to Switzerland to the assisted sucide clinic Dignitas to help their loved ones be killed. We’ve had Debbie Purdy hectoring the government until prosecutorial guidelines about the illegality of assisted suicide in the UK had to be issued. Now, a retired doctor directly challenging UK law by admitting that he’s deliberately helped people commit suicide. Ah yes, another brave poster person who’s sure to draw more sympathy than any he deserves.

Dignitas: British doctor first to face charges under new assisted suicide guidelines

Dr Michael Irwin, a retired British doctor who paid to help a terminally-ill patient commit suicide at a Swiss clinic, is set to be the first person charged under new guidelines for assisted dying.

Dr Irwin has written a letter to Keir Starmer QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), effectively inviting criminal charges within weeks, for which the former GP could be jailed for up to 14 years.

Dr Irwin, who admits he had accompanied two other previous strangers to the Dignitas clinic to help them take their own lives, wants to make a test case out of his assistance in helping Raymond Cutkelvin to commit suicide three years ago. more

Surprise: Canadian Public Against Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia

It’s not surprising that Canadians aren’t in favor of legalized assisted suicide/euthanasia – once they know about it. And learn about it they did in the recent defeat of a private member’s bill in the Canadian Parliament, which generated a ton of press. However, as we have learned over the years, the celebration needs to be short-lived, because the pro-deathers will be right back with another attack on decency and civilized society in short order, trust me.

Paul Russell: Readers gives thumbs down to 'death with dignity'

A private member’s bill to amend the Criminal Code to allow people to “die with dignity” died an undignified death itself last Wednesday, going down to defeat by a vote of 228-59. But in that court of public opinion known as the National Post’s Letters page, the verdict on the bill was even more one-sided. more

An Asian Doctor Gets It Right

A perfectly sane and reasoned rationale for not killing people who are suffering.

Embrace Life

. . . Now and then, the topic of euthanasia, or mercy killing, pops up in public discourse. When faced with an illness like advanced cancer that inflicts pain, suffering and ultimately death, should we go through with it or fast-forward?

 All our lives are accompanied by trials and tribulations. Some may argue that even in terrible situations like advanced cancer, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The "light" - in this sense - is the ultimate release: death.

I feel that such arguments miss the point. It is more important that we have loved ones and acquaintances who support us, help us and encourage us along the way. more

Ho-Hum, Another Prominent Person Bravely Comes Out For Euthanasia

So it goes, now in Ireland. Prominent personality “outs” themselves as a pro-deather, proudly announcing that they will help people kill themselves or just kill them outright. They couch themselves in terms of pioneers raging against the unjust sanity that life is more sacred than death. The really bad part is that so many people in the general population are likely to believe them!

Nell McCafferty offered to help Nuala O’Faolain end her life

Irish journalist Nell McCafferty offered to help her former long-term partner, author and journalist Nuala O'Faolain, end her life after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. more

US Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia: The Dark Underbelly Of Abuse

Well, there are some things in this piece that I don’t agree with, but it does point out just how precarious the state of assisted sucide/euthanasia is in the US. First, euthanasia happens, even though it is illegal. Second, as this piece points out, and as many of us predicted ahead of legalization, that where assisted suicide is available in the US, it is not the transparent process everyone said it would be – in fact, it’s so under-the-table that the chances of abuse having happened are very high, I think.

Physician-assisted Suicide – Is Now the Time?

. . . Many studies indicate that a small, but definite proportion of U.S. physicians have performed physician-assisted suicide (PAS), even though it is illegal.2 The only national survey conducted found that, among a representative sample of 1,902 U.S. physicians with a high likelihood of caring for dying patients, 18.3 percent reported having received a request from a patient for medication to use with the primary intention of ending the patient’s life.  Of those physicians, 16 percent (or 42 physicians) had actually written the prescription and 59 percent of those patients (or 25 patients) used the prescriptions to end their lives. more

Money For Transplant Organs A Bad Idea

The Brits are debating whether to pay or compensate for organs for transplantation. Here’s someone who thinks its a bad idea, for just about all the obvious reasons.

Consultant says organ donors should not receive money

A leading consultant at Northampton General Hospital has rejected proposals that could see people paid to donate their organs. Nuffield Council of Bioethics launched a consultation this week to look for ethical ways to encourage people to sign up to the donor register and meet the urgent need for donations.

It asks if people should be paid, given priority on the donor waiting list or have their funeral paid for in exchange for donating or be willing to donate organs.

In the last four years 18 people have died waiting for organ transplants in Northampton and currently 99 people in the county are waiting anxiously for a donation.

Dr Nazrudeen Ali, a consultant in NGH's Intensive Care Unit, said: "If we begin to pay for organ donations then we start to forget about personal wishes and what the patient really wants. It could also encourage people to lie about their medical history. more

No Euthanasia Because They Sometimes Wake Up

Yes, folks, one very good reason to resist euthanasia for people in persistent unresponsive states – sometimes, even after many years, they wake up!!

The Death-trap of Euthanasia

Nineteen years in a coma,  the case of Jan Grzebski, a 65 year-old Polish man, was reported by various media around the world. He became known for the extraordinary fact that he woke up from a long physical absence, rather than a spiritual one.

A rail worker, in 1988 he suffered a serious labor related accident and fell into a deep coma. However, he regained his consciousness back completely in 2007. He affirms that, during those years of apparent unconsciousness, he was aware of all that was happening around him, even though he couldn’t move nor speak. more

Scots Push Back Against Pro-Death MP

A Scottish MP, Margo MacDonald, has been pushing to introduce a bill in Scotland that will allow the euthanizing of children (Yes, you read that right). Here’s a strong Scottish response that’s well worth a read.

'To function consistently, society must reject assisted suicide...'

. . . It is incorrect and disturbing to suggest that any person can ever lose his or her intrinsic human dignity. This is in accordance with the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights which affirms in its preamble "the inherent dignity and … the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family" as "the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world". more

Canada Getting Serious About Palliative Care - It's About Time

Good for these Canadian MPs. Wherever assisted sucide & euthanasia seem to take hold, it’s almost always in contexts where there is little or no attention paid to high-quality palliative care. That this is now on the front burner right after the defeat of an assisted suicide/euthanasia bill in Canada is encouraging.

MPs band together to study palliative care

OTTAWA — Spurred by a private member’s bill that supported assisted suicide, five MPs from three federal parties said Wednesday they’ll band together to work on improving palliative and elder care, and will ask other MPs to join them.

The assisted suicide bill, introduced by Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde, was defeated Wednesday evening on second reading, but NDP MP Joe Comartin said politicians needed to do more than just deal with that bill. more

Canadian Parliament 1 Pro-deathers 0

Well, after several attemts by a pro-death Canadain politician, a bill on assisted sucide and euthanasia has been soundly defeated. Good lesson for us to earn: This defeat was in no small way due to the incredible efforts of my friend & colleague, Alex Schadenberg and his Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. Without his energy and leadership, things might well have been different.

Canadian parliament overwhelmingly votes down euthanasia, assisted suicide bill

The Canadian Parliament turned down recently a bill to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide.

In a landslide vote, the House of Commons rejected Bill C-384 by a vote of 228 to 59. more

Final Exit Network: Never Saw A Felon They Didn't Like

Gotta love the pro-deathers over at the Final Exit Network. They’re up to their you-know-what in alligators with 4 of their members under federal indictment in Georgia and other fed investigations in Arizona and Michigan. Doesn’t stop them making pro-death hay from the new movie about I-killed-a-man-with-disability-on-TV Jack Kevorkian. Of course, no mention that JK killed people who had no physical illness at all, and is a convicted felon for killing people.

Final Exit Network: 'Right to Die at Forefront Again with Kevorkian Film'

The debate over physician-assisted suicide and the right of incurably suffering people to end their own lives has again been brought to national attention by the HBO premiere of "You Don't Know Jack," on the HBO pay-channel, April 24th. The film is based on the book "Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Life and the Battle to Legalize Euthanasia," by Neal Nicol and Harry Wylie. more

Ah, Yes, The Joy Of Euthanasia

Usually all but the most rabid pro-deathers couch their nihilism in rosy euphemisms that lead directly away from the heinous horror of assisted suicide and euthanasia. But every now and then, someone can’t help themselves showing the vitriol they really feel against those of us who think bumping people off is a bad thing. This hit-job from Aussie.

Checking out with dignity

. . . I caught up with Marijke a while ago to meet her new man, Rene, a Dutch cardiologist. The little boys and I rolled up to a breakfast by the sea. Whole-wheat pancakes, bowls of stewed fruit the colour of jewels, fluffy clouds of yoghurt, steaming cups of coffee and light streaming in. At the moment I was reflecting on what a healthy sight it was, Rene pushed his chair back and lit a cigar. At the table.

I love Europeans.

He turned to me and said: "Cathy, did Marijke tell you how we met?"

"No, she didn't."

He took a drag of his cigar and said: ''I killed her father." more

Hey, Mister, Wanna Buy A Kidney? Hearts Now Two For The Price Of One!

Well, it’s been doing the rounds behind the scenes for a while, especially by Sally Satel over at the American Enterprise Institute (she apparently had the epiphany after a kidney transplant). The Brits are opening public debate on cash incentives for donated organs. Yeah, just what we need, placing a dollar amount not only on whole humans (as we routinely do with futile care) but now on human body parts. What’s the bet this will escalate into another nasty nightmare? What about the poor selling off various organs for financial gain? What about a black market in organs at rates that undercut “official process.” (This being the UK, I’ll bet there be a whole bureaucracy set up to regulate body part prices). Brave New World, indeed.

Cash incentives one idea under consultation for organ donation

The public is being asked for their views on how the number of organ donors can be increased ethically.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics will be asking whether ideas such as cash incentives and payment of funeral expenses would encourage people to sign up to donate their organs. more

Hastings Center Spins Healthcare Rationing - Without Ever Mentioning Rationing

Here's the rationing spin from the Hastings Center (yes, the same place where President Obama got many of his new members for the President's Council on Bioethics). Note that the word rationing is never mentioned. Instead, it's a "new way of thinking" another needed "revolutionary movement" like feminism, environmentalism, and civil rights. Okkkaaaayyyy...... so we want a new way of thinking that restricts medical treatment. Spin, spin, spin. Keep a sharp eye out for it.

Wanting To Die Just Because

I mentioned Kathleen Dobson last week, who died at the infamous Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland, and whose death has resulted in a furor among her children. What’s painfully obvious is that Dobson lied to Dignitas, saying that she was bedridden, etc., etc., when in fact she wasn’t, as the photos in the piece show. One of her sons who unsuccessfully tried to stop her believes she was depressed. And what about all the money to be inherited? Could that have played a part? Stay tuned.

In-Dignitas: Son tells how his mother took her life at notorious Swiss clinic - and how they kept it secret from skeptical brother

Sitting in a favorite Lloyd Loom chair in a sun-dappled greenhouse, Kathleen Dobson waters her cherished tomatoes and looks a contented, wealthy woman enjoying a well-earned retirement.

But this poignant photo, on a balmy day in August, 2008, is the last taken of the 74-year-old multi-millionairess, who lived in Guernsey.

A week later, Kathleen flew to Zurich, where she ended her life by swallowing sodium pentobarbital at Dignitas, the Swiss assisted-suicide clinic.

Last photo: Kathleen Dobson a week before her suicide, watched by her distraught son Graham

In a letter to the doctor who prescribed the drug, she claimed she was immobilised by rheumatoid arthritis, ‘afraid to go outside, move around, garden . . . I exist between a chair and the bed’.

But her youngest son Graham Carlton, 47, insisted last night that, far from being bedridden, the widowed mother-of-three still lived a full, active life. Having inherited a fortune from her second husband, whose father was chairman of the Hawker Siddeley aviation empire, she had no financial worries. more

Assisted Suicide In A Wisconsin Jail

It’ll be interesting to see how the pro-deathers spin this one. A man in a Wisconsin jail helped his cellmate to kill himself, and has been charged with assisted suicide. I’ll be my last dollar that they’ll find a way. I’ll keep you posted.

Assisted suicide case moves ahead

JUNEAU — There are a number of legal issues to untangle before a Dodge County jury hears opening arguments in the assisted suicide case against Joshua E. Walters in June — and virtually no case law or precedents to guide the proceedings.

“I’m told this is the only time (an assisted suicide) charge has been filed in the state of Wisconsin,” said Dodge County District Attorney Bill Bedker during a motion hearing Friday. more

Sad: The Suffering Choose Death Rather Than Comfort

I don’t question the fact that Allan Peters was suffering and felt hopeless. As expected, the pro-deathers are quick to assert the argument that this (and other) cases mean we should legalize assisted suicide. Balderdash. Read the whole piece, where doctors tell the other side – that Peters could have been helped and made comfortable. There’s also another pro-deather clue in the story – Peters left a note saying that he believed in euthanasia. Very sad, desperate people trying to make themselves poster people for the pro-death cause before killing themselves.

Public suicide in Calif. raises tough issue of assisted suicide

The very public suicide this week of a Placerville, Calif. man suffering from severe emphysema raises prickly medical and ethical questions that many would prefer not to mull.

Most pointedly: How bad does the suffering have to get before a patient says, enough, and takes his life? And, how can a patient and medical provider manage terminal illness so that people aren't driven to take their own lives?

For Allan Leo Peters II, 64, those answers weren't forthcoming. He hanged himself Wednesday from a local bridge after delivering a note to a local newspaper, calling his condition unbearable. more

Importing Illegal Killer Drugs OK - As Long As You're Compassionate

Oh well, nice to know that as long as you’re breaking Aussie law because you’re “ compassionate” everything’s OK. . .

No conviction for euthanasia drug

A MELBOURNE cancer patient who imported the euthanasia drug Nembutal has avoided conviction after a court heard she was motivated only to relieve the suffering of others.

Her barrister described Ann Leith, 61, of Camberwell, as an outstanding person and selfless community contributor for many years who had been moved by witnessing the elderly in pain. more

Obama's Bioethics Council Dominated By Pro-Deathers

While attention has been focused on Obamacare, the changing of the guard at the President's Council for Bioethics has received little notice. Guess what? The new crowd are decidedly pro-death. I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked!

Euthanasia Thinktank Controls
Obama's Bioethics Commission

Hastings Center, the leading U.S.-based propaganda agency for euthanasia and medical rationing, released a statement gloating that Hastings in effect controls President Obama's "bioethics" commission. more