UK Dr. Death Flouts Assisted Suicide Law

This is what things have come to in the UK: UK Dr. Death Michael Irwin flouting the fact that he won’t be prosecuted if he takes people to to Switzerland fr assisted suicide - a clear breach of UK law.

No prosecution fears for Michael Irwin

EUTHANASIA campaigner Michael Irwin said he was not expecting to be prosecuted over revelations that he would help an elderly woman travel to Switzerland to die. more

UK: The Laughable State Of Affairs Around Assisted Suicide

If you're a little confused about the state of legalized (not yet) assisted suicide in the UK, here's a useful piece that lays out what all the fuss is about (see also below).

New British Assisted Suicide Rules Lead to the Prosecution of No One

Has Britain subtly made assisted suicide (kind of) legal?
Forty-four Brits have been suspected of assisting in the suicide of a loved one in the past 18 months. None have been prosecuted even though, technically, assisting in a suicide illegal for British citizens. If convicted of the crime, a person could face up to 14 years in prison. more

UK: Gran Makes Sure Doctors Won't Revive Her

Well, this is novel - a personal notice that you want to kick the bucket . . .

Gran has tattoos ordering doctors not to save her life

GRAN Joy Tomkins has warned docs not to revive her if she's dying, by having "Do Not Resuscitate" tattooed on her chest. more

Massachusetts: Assisted Suicide Initiative Accepted

Here we go again - this time in Massachusetts. The pro-deathers have gotten an initiative accepted for the legalization of assisted suicide. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Massachusetts Ballot Prop Promoting Assisted Suicide Gets OK

Attorney General Martha Coakley announced today the list of ballot proposals that will make their way on the 2012 ballot and one initiative would promote assisted suicide in the state. more

Netherlands: Killing Now Equals "Medical Help"

Skillful media spin in the Netherlands: New guidelines allowing a conscience opt-out of carrying out euthanasia. But read more carefully - these doctors should refer the patient for "help." Yup, help now equals killing. The medical profession is being manipulated big-time.

Doctors should always deal with euthanasia: KNMG

Doctors with moral objections to euthanasia should always refer patients to another doctor for help, according to new guidelines drawn up by the national doctors association KNMG.
In addition, euthanasia requests should always be taken seriously, even if someone has simply had enough of life without being terminally ill, the KNMG says. more

A Family's Journey With A Severely Disabled Child

Here's a very good piece about a family living with a child with severe disabilities. It's these kinds of children that the pro-deathers want to get rid of.

They said he had weeks to live

I suppose I seemed a bit too self-assured, strolling into the Family Surgery Waiting room as though I owned the place. I knew to wear warm clothes and comfortable shoes; it was always so frigid in there, and my boy's surgeries seemed to take longer than most. I'd often venture into the gray-white hallways of the hospital, loitering like a familiar vagabond, hoping a doctor or favorite nurse would see me and feign interest in a grain of conversation. Bizarrely, this place had become one of my few social outlets. more

UK: Way Down The Slippery Slope To Death On Demand

For years the pro-death crowd has insisted that assisted sucide is only for terminally ill people. That, of course, has morphed into assisted sucide for a whole bunch of other people - certainly even for those who are not terminally ill. Now this is becoming the norm. The UK's Dr. Death, Michael Irwin, has announced that he will be accompanying a 91-year-old who has no terminal illness to Swiss death clinic Dignitas. Irwin refuses to disclose the identity of the woman. Question: How do we know there's not something nefarious going on here? Answer: we don't, and probably never will.

Hove Dr Death plans to take "healthy" Eastbourne 91 year old to suicide clinic

A euthanasia campaigner nicknamed Dr Death has said he is preparing to take a Sussex woman abroad to be helped to die.
Michael Irwin said he is expecting to escort the 91-year-old – who does not have a terminal illness – to Switzerland’s Dignitas clinic in the next few months. more

UK's Ludicrous Circumstances Around Assisted Suicide

The fallout over the UK's unwillingness to prosecute cases of assisted sucide continues. How bizarre are these circumstances? Simple - have a law on the books making assisting suicide a crime, then issue a "clarification" saying that assisting in a  suicide is OK as long as there are no ulterior motives (no word on how this is determined). Ax long as there are no ulterior motives, nobody will be prosecuted. I'll bet that the next pro-deather argument will be seeing that assisted sucide is allowed under the law, the law criminalizing it should go.

CPS is failing to prosecute cases of assisted suicide

The Crown Prosecution Service has failed to prosecute dozens of people suspected of assisting a suicide over the past 18 months, it has emerged.
Critics have accused Keir Starmer QC, the Director of Pubic Prosecutions (DPP), of trying to change the law by stealth. more

UK: Government Protests Too Much About Assisted Suicide

After it came to light that UK authorities are turning a blind eye to (illegal) assisted suicides, the government has issued a denial that this is happening. OK, then I look forward to the investigation of the 44 cases of assisted sucide reported by the police earlier (see below). I'm not holding my breath . . .

CPS defends assisted suicide policy

The Crown Prosecution Service has not implemented a "blanket policy" banning the prosecution of cases of assisted suicide, its head has insisted. more

UK: Assisted Suicide Sliding Towards Acceptance

Christina Odone gets it right here, commenting on a recent report that the UK authorities are turning a blind eye to (illegal) assisted suicide.

Britain has legalised assisted suicide when no one was looking

I read the splash in The Times today: prosecutors in this country are turning a blind eye to cases of assisted suicide. The number of incidents where someone helps a friend or relative take their lives is rising; but no one is being prosecuted. more

India: Entire family Requests Euthanasia

The idea of euthanasia has made it into the Indian public mind quickly after the government’s legal opinions issued a while ago that opened the door to legalized euthanasia. Here, a whole group of citizens is asking to be killed.

Mercy-kill-us, family to President

GURGAON: Eighteen members of a family living in Bandhwadi village on Gurgaon-Faridabad road have written to a city court seeking permission for euthanasia. They claim to be victims of social injustice in their village. The Banjara family has also pleaded with the President of India for help.

UK: Assisted Suicide Might As Well Be Legal

Guess what? Assisted suicide might as well be legal if you read this report where UK police have accumulated dozens of cases of assisted sucide which is against UK law, but because of a "clarification" issued a while back, they are likely to remain uninvestigated, let alone prosecuted.

44 assisted suicide cases since CPS guidelines published

The police have passed a total of 44 files to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) since 2009 in which firm evidence was found which could have led to a prosecution for helping someone end their lives. The crime remains punishable by up to 14 years’ imprisonment.
However, a landmark court case brought by a right-to-die campaigner that year led to the publication of guidelines which made it clear that suspects would not be charged unless it was thought that they forced the victim into killing themselves or sought to profit from their death. more

Spanish Socialists For Assisted Suicide

In Spain, the Socialists are taking up the cause of assisted sucide - aren’t we lucky?

Radical branch of Socialist Party pushing Spain toward euthanasia

The organization Professionals for Ethics has warned that pro-euthanasia associations, working together with the radical wing of the Socialist Party, are hoping to “achieve their ideological goal of making death legal.” more

Vermont Unlikely To Provide Safeguards If Assisted Suicide Legalized

Here’s some sanity in the assisted sucide debate in Vermont. 

HOW CAN A STATE WITH A PARTICULARLY POOR RECORD OF INVESTIGATING ADULT ABUSE COMPLAINTS EVEN CONSIDER LEGALIZING ASSISTED SUICIDE?

. . . . If assisted suicide were to become legal in Vermont, a patient requesting the poison would have to see two doctors, both of them required to be willing to write a prescription for a lethal overdose and give instructions for using it to commit suicide. One wonders why the requirement is not, on the other hand, that the patient get a second opinion from a doctor unwilling to prescribe poison for any reason but willing to offer alternatives to suicide. Would two doctors biased towards assisted suicide be alert for signs that a patient was being neglected or pressured by someone to commit suicide? That someone could be an heir, or just an exhausted caregiver. more

Canada: Doctors Quick To Call For Ending Life Support

Nah, really? Study finds that Canadian medicos are quick to call for removal of life support among the brain injured. Can we say pro-death Doctor Power? You bet.

CANADIAN DOCTORS QUICK TO PUSH FAMILIES OF BRAIN-INJURED TO WITHDRAW TREATMENT, STUDY REVEALS

This week, a shocking study was published in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association (CMAJ).  The study of six different Canadian trauma centers found that the majority of deaths in patients suffering a traumatic brain injury resulted from the withdrawal of life support, generally within the first three days of ICU admission.

“Our findings are particularly concerning because many decisions to withdraw life-sustaining therapy were made early,” writes Dr. Alexis F. Turgeon et al. “[I]n our study, 64% of patients who died within three days of admission to an ICU had life-sustaining therapy withdrawn. In some instances, this may be too early for accurate neuroprognostication.” more

UK Wife: Help Me redefine Murder To Make Euthanasia OK

Here's what we're coming to. Brit husband is severely disabled. Wife wants to help him die BUT, of course this is illegal in the UK. What does the wife want? Why  legal changes in the definition of murder. Watch it here.

Bulgaria Rejects Euthanasia Bill

Before I had a chance to report its submission here, the Bulgarian Parliament has roundly rejected the first reading of a euthanasia bill. Good for them!!

Bulgarian MPs reject proposed euthanasia law

Euthanasia of terminally ill people will not be allowed in Bulgaria, after members of Parliament voted on September 1 2011 to reject a draft law by socialist MP Lyuben Kornezov. more

Canadian Pro-Deathers Never Quit

As I noted previously, the Canadian government has recently made clear that it's not going to visit the assisted suicide issue anytime soon, which leaves it illegal throughout the country. However, the pro-deathers have found another poster person to lead the way.

Quebec woman vows to strike down assisted suicide law

A Quebec woman is resuming the crusade of Sue Rodriguez nearly 20 years later, pleading for help to end her life.

Ginette Leblanc, 47, suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease — the same illness that led B.C.'s Rodriguez to challenge the federal law against assisted suicide in 1993. more

India: Man Asks For Euthanasia To End Harassment

Here's an unusual euthanasia request - an Indian man who has been exposing corruption feels that he is being so severely harassed that euthanasia seems a viable alternative. I'll bet he got the idea from India's recent legislation that opens the door for euthanasia

Kolar: Harassed Complainant in Sampangi Bribery Case Seeks Euthanasia

Kolar, Aug 31: Hussain Farooq, who had complained to the Lokayukta and got KGF MLA, Y Sampangi, arrested by the Lokayukta police red-handed about 30 months back, feels hounded and harassed after a prolonged battle. He now says that a feeling that he had committed a mistake by trying to bring corrupt practices in the open, has been sinking in. Through a petition sent to the President of India, he has sought permission for euthanasia, to get liberty from the problems he faces now. more

No Sympathy For Pro-Death Writer - Good!!

Here's an appropriate rebuke to a writer who chronicled her mother's death by starvation and dehydration - and seemed to be impatient for it to happen.

Helping Mom starve to death

Jane Gross, a retired reporter for The New York Times, has written a book about helping her mother die. And while euthanasia and assisted suicide are deeply disturbing but hardly new concepts, something about her story is especially upsetting. Perhaps in part it’s because she chose to write a book about it in the first place. Maybe it’s because my own elderly parents are suddenly facing serious mental and physical problems that I find Gross’ story so repugnant. more

Spanish Bishop Right About What Constitutes Euthanasia

The good Spanish bishop is right, of course. When you remove food and water from a comatose patient, you are, in fact, committing euthanasia. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Bishop describes Spanish family's decision as act of euthanasia

Huelva, Spain, Aug 30, 2011 / 05:22 pm (CNA).- The Bishop of Huelva, Spain is declaring the decision to remove food and water from a 90-year-old comatose woman an act of euthanasia. more

CNN To Examine Issue Of Assisted Suicide

The pro-death agenda continues to "go legit" and is now infiltrating the mainstream US media. Hence this announcement that CNN will look at the issue this fall. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a balanced report!!

Choosing death can be like a 'birth,' advocates say

Editor's note: Coming this fall on CNN, Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes an in-depth look at assisted suicide and families ripped apart by the issue. more

Brit Health Expert Calls For Assisted Suicide Legislation

Here's another high-level Brit health expert calling for the legalization of assisted suicide and/or euthanasia. Prediction: Assisted suicide, if not euthanasia, will become legal in the UK in the next several years.

British health expert backs legalisation of assisted suicide

Terminally ill patients who want to commit suicide should be able to receive medical help to die, a British government adviser on care for the elderly has said.
Martin Green, a social care expert for the Department of Health, said patients who were too frail to take their own lives were being denied "choice" and "autonomy" because assisted suicide is illegal in the UK. more

NZ Media Pro-Deather Spin

Here's the media (in this case in New Zealand) in full pro-deather cry. A completely one-sided view presented as a balanced info piece. Shameful.

Couple's plea: allow 'exit plans'

The deaths of elderly Nelson couple Bob and Betty Jackson early this month, in what police say was a suicide and an assisted suicide, brought new attention to the question of ending life, and a fresh focus on the Nelson chapter of the voluntary euthanasia group Exit International. It also prompted a rural Nelson couple to come forward with their story. They talked to Bill Moore on Thursday. more

Should Assisted Living Become Assisted Dying?

The New York Times here jumps on the latest darling pro-deather issue: Voluntary ceasing to eat and drink as a way to die. Interesting angle: Should this be allowed in an assisted "living" facility? In this case, the facility (rightly, I think) reported the couples' actions as a kind of suicide-in-progress. Predictably, the story is very sympathetic to the couple who chose to die.

Deciding to Die, Then Shown the Door

Armond and Dorothy Rudolph had talked about their plans for more than a decade. They had a mutual horror of a lingering decline in their final years. They’d joined an organization that supports the right to end life when illness or pain becomes overwhelming; they’d attended meetings and given both their children literature on the subject. They’d drafted advance directives.
“Their great fear was that they’d end up in a nursing home,” their son, Neil Rudolph, told me. “That was hell for them, to have people waiting on them, to have no independence.” more