Baby Boomers Ignore Advance Healthcare Directives

The fact that a lot of people don’t have advance directives will come home to roost when the boomers age just a little more than they are now. This will be especially true in relation to organ transplantation and organ harvesting.

End-of-life documents not a huge concern for many boomers, who say they still feel young

Many baby boomers don’t have end-of-life legal documents such as a living will — and some say it’s because they feel healthy and young in their middle-age years and don’t need to dwell on death.

An Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll found that 64 percent of boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — say they don’t have a health care proxy or living will. Those documents would guide medical decisions should a patient be unable to communicate with doctors. more

Latest From The Canada Euthanasia Case

Latest from Friday's hearing in the Canada euthanasia case.

Desire to control future spurs assisted suicide requests, court hears

Academic tells right-to-die case that depression or fear are not main reasons terminally ill patients seek to end their lives.

A desire to control their future, not depression or fear of pain, is the main reason people seek physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, the Supreme Court of British Columbia has heard in a right-to-die case. more

Novel Idea: Care For Elderly, Don’t Kill Them

Here's a novel idea - instead of killing the elderly, care for them!! The way the pro-deathers are invading everywhere, this message need to get out a lot more.

Elderly need to be cared for, not killed

The Nathaniel Centre - The New Zealand Catholic Bioethics Centre - is appalled at suggestions that legalising euthanasia could be a solution to the increasing number of suicides amongst elderly New Zealanders. more

Does Censorship Help The Pro-Deathers?

This Aussie piece makes the case that censoring info and actions related to assisted suicide and euthanasia only makes the cause more visible.

Deadly censorship games: keeping a tight lid on the euthanasia debate

This week The Conversation is publishing a series on talking about death and dying. We start today with the fraught question of euthanasia.

There’s plenty of information available on how to kill yourself violently, so why does the Australian government so vigorously censor information on peaceful methods?

Voluntary euthanasia societies have long been pushing to legalise death with dignity. According to opinion polls, a strong majority of Australians support legalisation, yet Australian governments have been unreceptive. When the Northern Territory government legalised euthanasia in 1996, the federal parliament overruled the law less than a year later. more

The Euthanasia Illogic Of The Canadian Media

Yes, so simple - if the public want something then legislators should get with the program and give it to them. This is the shameless illogic that gets way too much play in the media.

Parliament out of step with public on euthanasia

Parliamentarians can run from the resurging right-to-die debate all they want but the past suggests that they will not be able to hide forever.
Once in every political generation, a societal issue creeps onto MPsʼ radar despite strenuous efforts by a majority of the countryʼs legislators to look the other way. more

Canada: Public Input To Euthanasia Hearings Almost Always Against It

This didn’t get much attention over the last week or so - that the Canadian public interested enough in the possibility of legalized euthanasia submitted messages that were almost always against the practice

Public submissions to Quebec committee overwhelmingly reject euthanasia, assisted suicide

A study of submissions to Quebec’s public hearings on euthanasia, the Special Commission on Dying with Dignity, shows clearly that Quebecers overwhelmingly opposed legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia. more

Apparently Killing OK If You're "Honest" About It

Ah, I see, if you're "honest" about killing people (whether they asked for it or not) that means  killing is admirable. Sick.

Dutch are honest about euthanasia

With the release of an important new report, and the launch of another Charter challenge, the debate about euthanasia is flaring up again. It will be passionate. You will hear emotional claims from both sides.

Many people will listen to nothing else. But for those who want to be rational, those who want to learn as much as they can and draw a conclusion based on evidence, there is one essential fact to bear in mind. more

More Opposition To Legalized Euthanasia In Canada

Here's a decent read opposing the possibility of legalized euthanasia in Canada. One minor correction: legal euthanasia in the Netherlands was initially intended for terminally ill patients suffering unbearable pain - not the elderly. (That came later),

Corbella: Doctor-assisted suicide is dangerous for us all

It’s been a sickly couple of weeks for life. This past Monday, a B.C. Supreme Court case kicked off in which five people are seeking the right to choose to be killed by a physician. The very next day, the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) released a report that urges the federal government to legalize assisted suicide in Canada. A summary of the End of Life Decision Making report states: “The evidence from years of experience and research where euthanasia and/or assisted suicide are permitted does not support claims that decriminalization will result in vulnerable persons being subjected to abuse or a slippery slope from voluntary to non-voluntary euthanasia.”

Wow. The RSC panel members must be really lousy researchers. At the very least, someone should teach them how to use Google. more

Aussie Dr. Death Finally Begins Death Workshops In The UK

Well Aussie Dr. Death Philip Nitschke has finally held a death workshop in the UK, after much hullabaloo and fanfare. 

Euthanasia doctor keeps his promise

CONTROVERSIAL euthanasia doctor Philip Nitschke finally held a workshop in Eastbourne – three years after he was banned from the town.

More than 100 people attended the meeting held at the Riviera Hotel on the seafront on Monday.

Many stayed on for a Safe Exit workshop afterwards in which the Australian doctor explained what end-of-life drugs are available and the pros and cons. more

A Commentary On The Canadian Case Seeking To Legalize Euthanasia

While I don’t agree with all the premises of this piece, it at least tries to be a serious analysis of what's happening right now in Canada

Assisted suicide: Is abuse inevitable?

It seems like déjà vu all over again: On Monday, we watched as a parade of lawyers entered B.C. Supreme Court on behalf of Gloria Taylor, a B.C. woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who seeks to overturn the law prohibiting assisted suicide.

In virtually every detail, the scene was reminiscent of the one we witnessed 18 years ago, when Sue Rodriguez, another B.C. woman suffering from ALS, fought valiantly — and vainly — for legal recognition of the right to an assisted death. more

Push-Back To The Pro-Deathers In Massachusetts

We need more of this in Massachusetts (and everywhere else): challenging the pro-deathers wherever we find them, but especially when they are pulling the wool over the public's eyes.

Doctor-assisted suicide masquerades as compassion

Ann Corkery of Walpole was shopping at Roche Brothers in West Roxbury on Oct. 30, when she noticed a signature drive going on outside the store. "People queued up to sign," said Ms. Corkery. "The chalk board next to the person asking for signatures said 'Compassion for the Terminally Ill.'"

Ms. Corkery, who works in a long-term care facility, knew of a petition to legalize physician-assisted suicide (PAS) being circulated in Massachusetts. She informed the store manager that the petition people were signing did not support care or compassion for the terminally ill, but rather PAS. "You are doing a disservice to your customers," she said. "It's disingenuous to call this compassion." more

More Palliative Care Needed

Here's a good piece on palliative care and the dilemma on how to pay for it.

DESPITE SUPPORT FOR PALLIATIVE CARE, DOCTORS AND PATIENTS AT ODDS OVER EMPHASIS ON COST

79% of physicians believe too much money is spent saving lives, a view held by only 37% of the general population, according to a Regence/National Journal poll  published November 15th. more

Media Spin: Those Life-Loving Dutchmen

Here's a piece in the tank for those life-loving Dutch who keep on killing more groups of people. The stats quoted are only a partial, biased glimpse of what is really happening in the Netherlands. There’s no mention of the infants and children with disabilities killed under the Groningen Protocol, for instance. It's a good lesson - read with care and know who the enemy is.

The Dutch are on the euthanasia slippery slope, right? Wrong

With the release of an important new report, and the launch of another Charter challenge, the debate about euthanasia is flaring up again. It will be passionate. You will hear emotional claims from both sides. Many people will listen to nothing else. But for those who want to be rational, those who want to learn as much as they can and draw a conclusion based on evidence, there is one essential fact to bear in mind.

The Dutch are more honest than we are. Remember that. more

Canadian Court Continues To Hear Testimony In Euthanasia Request Case

Here's the latest from yesterday's proceeding at the euthanasia request case in Canada.

Desire to control future spurs assisted suicide requests, court hears

A desire to control their future, not depression or fear of pain, is the main reason people seek physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, the Supreme Court of British Columbia has heard in a right-to-die case.

Helene Starks, an associate professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, told court that a groundbreaking study she was involved in showed that terminally ill patients sought the right to die only after long periods of reflection - and that they were primarily driven by a desire for control over the place, process and timing of death. more

Canadian Parliamentary Report Calls For Better Palliative Care

While the storm about euthanasia rages in a Canadian courtroom and the Royal Society of Canada has placed itself firmly in the pro-death camp, it's heartening to see this Canadian parliamentary report calling for suicide prevention, better palliative care, and elder abuse prevention. Of course, it's getting almost no traction in the media.

As court considers euthanasia, 55 Canadian MPs call for ‘quality end-of-life care’

OTTAWA, Ontario, November 17, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Canadian parliamentary committee today released what they say is a “landmark report” calling for improvement in healthcare for the elderly, the dying, and vulnerable Canadians. more

Washington Op-Ed Calls For Legalizing Euthanasia

Well, well. An editorial in a leading Washington state newspaper is now openly calling for the extension of the state's assisted suicide law to include euthanasia - and also for people who are not terminally ill. I NEVER want anyone to ever tell me again that on this issue there's no slippery slope. Ever.

Perhaps it’s time to expand Washington’s Death with Dignity Act

In November 2008, more than 57 percent of Washington voters approved the Death with Dignity Act. Washington became the third state, following Oregon and Montana, to allow a licensed physician to prescribe life-ending medication upon request of a competent, terminally ill patient. more

Another Take On Canada's Euthanasia Debate

Here's another good read critiquing the current push in Canada to legalize euthanasia and is very useful for it's discussion of the slippery slope that has already occurred in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Euthanasia report is reassuring but misleading

The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) has recommended that the Criminal Code of Canada be amended so that people in poor health would have the right to physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia. The six-person panel, headed by Queen’s University bio-ethicist Udo Schuklenk, claims that fears of the elderly and the infirm of being hastened to death without their full consent are unwarranted . . . 

Anti-euthanasia observers put little credence in the report, claiming the panel is not at all comprehensive in its arguments. McGill bio-ethicist Margaret Somerville notes, for example, that the report fails to mention a 2010 poll of more than 2,000 Canadians, in which 71% favoured improving end-of-life care against 19% favouring legalized euthanasia (10% favoured both). more

It's Impossible To Craft A "Safe" Euthanasia Law

This piece raises several good issues around the legalization of euthanasia in Canada. However, I part ways with the author when he thinks that it's possible to craft a euthanasia law that without loopholes.

Ending a life

Canada's Criminal Code makes it illegal to help someone commit suicide, and allows for up to 14 years in prison as a punishment. Many reasonable, compassionate people can conceive of cases where that law would be inappropriate or downright cruel.

The problem is that in crafting a new law, one that makes some forms of assisted suicide legal, Canada would have to be extremely careful to get it right, because getting it wrong would come with horrible consequences. That's one reason why no political party is likely to champion this very strongly, and why the status quo is unlikely to change. more

Canada: Pro-Death Expert's Objectivity Challenged

A pro-death "expert" in the current Canadian case is being challenged because of her staunch pro-euthanasia publications, making her less than a dispassionate witness. Developing . . .

Famous medical ethics lecturer's credentials challenged in euthanasia case

Marcia Angell was an editor of the most prestigious medical journal in the world for two decades.

She currently gives monthly lectures on ethics to faculty at Harvard Medical School.

And she served on a panel that gave advice on medical issues to the White House.

But Dr. Angell's credentials were challenged, Wednesday, in the Supreme Court of British Columbia when a lawyer for the federal Department of Justice tried to prevent her affidavit from being entered in a case concerning physician-assisted suicide. more

Canada: Nonsense About Euthanasia "Safeguards"

Give me a break . . . Now that the Canadian Royal Society has recommended that euthanasia be legalized, the pro-death side are insisting on "safeguards." This is a ploy because it's impossible to build in safeguards to prevent abuse. The pro-deathers make a big deal about this, of course, because it makes them look as if they're acting responsibly. Balderdash.

Assisted suicide law needs safeguards: Report

A panel that is recommending the Federal government look at legalizing assisted suicide says there needs to be strong safeguards in place to prevent unwanted deaths.

The report, commissioned by the Royal Society of Canada, comes just as a BC woman is asking the BC Supreme Court to let her die with her doctor's help.

Gloria Taylor of Kelowna has Lou Gehrig's disease and is one of a handful of plaintiffs who want to amend Canada's assisted suicide laws.  Opponents, like the Attorney General of Canada, argue allowing assisted deaths could lead to elder abuse. more

Canada: A Critique Of The Encroaching Culture Of Death

Here's a good critique of the current euthanasia debate in Canada related to the BC court case and the report by the Royal Society of Physicians advising that euthanasia become legal.

Confusing the issue

Forget issues of terminal illness and the end of life. The court case that began Wednesday in the B.C. Supreme Court is not about the right to die (you will die) or a right to life (you’ve got that). It is not about the right to be free of pain in the midst of an illness. Palliative care, all agree, is the basis of good chronic care medicine.

One of the confusions in the case and in the Royal Society of Canada’s report on end-of-life decision-making released Tuesday is that they pretend to concern termination by physicians in the late stage of inevitably terminal illness. They are, however, framed to include potentially anyone who, dissatisfied by life, seeks state approval for a medically assisted termination. more

UK: Aussie Dr. Death's "Flying Circus"

Here's an irreverent take on Aussie Dr. Death Philip Nitschke's current antics in his latest pro-death UK tour.

Roll up, roll up, for Doctor Nitschke’s Euthanasia Flying Circus!

So, Dr Philip Nitschke is busy touring the country with his euthanasia flying circus, demonstrating his suicide methods to a paying audience. What a busy physician he is – so many patients for him to help out – so little time! Why did Home Secretary Mrs May let him in? more

Dutch Set Up Death Teams

Well, what to say? Things in the Netherlands just keep on heading down the slippery slope to nihilistic oblivion.

Voluntary euthanasia group plans to set up 'help to die' teams

The Dutch voluntary euthanasia society is proposing to set up teams of doctors and nurses who can help people to die in their own homes, the AD reports on Wednesday. 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

Canadian Pols Wary Of Supporting Assisted Suicide

Never mind what the Royal Society of Canada thinks (that assisted killing is just dandy), the pols - at least for now - are firmly against it. It will be interesting in seeing how long this remains when election time comes around.

Politicians of all stripes refuse to act on calls to legalize assisted suicide

Royal Society of Canada report urges more compassion and clarity in law when patients seek euthanasia.

A call for Canada to legalize assisted suicide has thrust back onto the agenda a divisive and emotionally complex issue that no politician wants to touch.

For once, the federal Conservatives, NDP and Liberals are on the same page: When it comes to Canadians' right to die, they won't go there. more