Linking the right to die and the Nazis is a no-no in most circles. In fact, opponents are usually deemed to have lost the argument as soon as they mention the word "Nazi". But Dr Distelmans's breath-taking initiative could change that rule. To hold a seminar on euthanasia in an extermination camp where the idea of 'lives not worth living' took its most extreme form, is peculiar, to say the least. Dr Distelmans has also chaired the Belgium Euthanasia Control and Evaluation Commission since euthanasia was legalised in 2000 - a commission which has never investigated a single death."Belgium is the only country in the world with a law that is concerned about a dignified end-of-life for everyone because of the patients rights law, the law on palliative care and the euthanasia law. In our country there is - unlike other countries of continental Europe - already 25 years of excellent professional palliative care and for more than 10 years we also have experience with transparent euthanasia requests and respect for patient rights.  Continue reading

The ABC website The Drum recently gave Dr Rodney Syme space to continue his public defence of his actions in respect to the 2009 death of Steve Guest in Melbourne. Syme admits to providing Guest with Nembutal but claims he did so for palliative reasons, saying 'it was not my intention' that he should end his life. Syme's broader intention seems clear enough: goad the law into acting against him as a way of testing the Victorian prohibition on assisting in suicide, or, should the Police not prosecute or fail in an attempt to prosecute, to build upon such momentum towards reform of the law.He asks the question, in the title of his article: Am I a criminal or a good doctor? It is a posturing that suits his ends, but, in my opinion, is not the question that needs to be answered. The courts determine criminality or otherwise and whether or not Syme is a good doctor is neither here nor there. Continue reading

  An intensive care unit doctor reveals his thoughts on the euthanasia debate.  Continue reading

  The US Blogger:  comes to grips with the death culture in replying to one academic's view of disability in newborns: Continue reading

Dr Syme, 78, said after watching state Parliaments reject 16 euthanasia bills over the past 20 years he was ready to "out" himself and be charged over Mr Guest's death because a court case could set a useful legal precedent for doctors who are too scared to help terminally ill people end their own lives.  "I just believe passionately that there are too many people suffering too much not to try a little bit harder to change things, and a lot of these things, it seems, will only be changed in a court decision, so bring it on," said the urologist and vice-president of Dying with Dignity Victoria. ''I said in 1992 that if the law wasn't changed in 10 years I would create a court challenge and here we are 12 years later and it still hasn't happened. It was beginning to get to me. I'd think, where is my courage?'' Continue reading

This article, by Nic Steenhout is reposted from the blog:Mercatornet Careful Continue reading

The worldview of modern science . . . sees health not only as a foundation but also a principal goal, not only as a beginning but also an end. Relief and preservationâ��from disease and pain, from misery and necessityâ��become the defining ends of human action, and therefore of human societies.  Continue reading

found Freiburghaus guilty of killing an 89 year old man for whom there had been no formal diagnosis, even though the man had claimed to be suffering pain, had attempted suicide and was threatening suicide. The prosecution argued that Freiburghaus had "crossed the line" by failing to follow the legal regulations, which require that a doctor must properly diagnose the presence of an incurable illness and a short life expectancy before assisting suicide.Freiburghaus told the court he acted out of compassion in prescribing sodium pentobarbital to the elderly man, who was suffering from pain and had tried to end his life. Continue reading

Mortier along with Dr Georges Casteur, allege that Distelmans did not have the expertise to evaluate whether Godelieva De Troyer, was ready for voluntary euthanasia. Distelmans is an oncologist, not a psychiatrist and was not even De Troyer's doctor beforehand. She was physically healthy and not suffering from physical pain, and had spoken with psychiatrists who thought that her emotional distress was at least treatable. In fact, she was taking medication at the time, which can cause suicidal ideation - so clearly a treatment plan was in place and it may have been causing serious side-effects. Distelmans, it seems, did not take that into account.  Continue reading

In November last year I attended a debate in Brussells between my Canadian colleague, Alex Schadenberg and two leading Belgian pro-euthanasia academics. As I reported at the time, the comments made by Professor Etienne Vermeersch in not only defending the Belgian laws but also in arguing that there was 'not enough euthanasia' in his country left many of us speechless. Vermeersch was very clear: his aim to eliminate all suffering is a program of eliminating all sufferers. His observation that 'not enough euthanasia' deaths were occurring followed by a pointed attack on an audience member where Vermeersch said, 'Wait until you are paralyzed' said it all.No-one wants to suffer and no-one wishes suffering upon another. This point, at least, we can say that we share with Vermeersch. But once we make the elimination of suffering the criteria for killing people were spinning out of control in a vortex that has only one logical conclusion: totally unfettered and unregulated euthanasia - with or without request.We should be wary of accepting the opinion of one academic to draw such a calamitous conclusion. But Vermeersch's words are also supported by what has occurred and what continues to occur in his country. Continue reading