by Paul Russell: The latest in a long line of euthanasia bills was debated in the South Australian Parliament today.As I sat at my desk last night to listen to the euthanasia debate in the South Australian Parliament I began to write the words of an email to supporters that I expected to be sending sometime during the night advising them that, for the first time since 1995, we had lost debate on a euthanasia bill in an Australian legislature. Continue reading

Assisted suicide: open to abuse, putting vulnerable people at risk This article, by Richard M. Doerflinger appeared at The Witherspoon Institute's Public Discourse website.Doerflinger writes in reference to the debate on assisted suicide in the Council of the District of Columbia - the US National Capital. Continue reading

by Paul Russell: Points for frankness go to the Victorian Greens this week with party Health Spokeswoman, Colleen Hartland throwing her party's support behind a 'limited', 'minimalist' legislative model for euthanasia. It's apparently not really what they want, but 'they will not scupper euthanasia reform in pursuit of policy purity' according to the report in The Australian.The Premier, Daniel Andrews, is expected to respond in early December to Recommendation 49 of the Legal and Social Issues Committee Report into End-of-Life choices that called for an assisted suicide regime with the option of euthanasia for those unable to kill themselves. Continue reading

The Oregon Experience is B.S. by Margaret DoreArticle first appeared on 'Choice is an Illusion - Colorado' website Continue reading

First published on Alex Schadenberg's Blog: By Dr. Kenneth R. Stevens, Jr. MD, Radiation Oncologist, Professor Emeritus and former Department Chair, Radiation Oncology Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OregonPresident, Physicians for Compassionate Care Education Foundation www.pccef.orgI have been following the experience with legalized physician-assisted suicide in Oregon since 1994. I have been a cancer doctor for 49 years in Oregon, where physician-assisted suicide is legal. I am Professor Emeritus and former chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Oregon Health and Science University. I continue to care for patients. Continue reading

By Paul Russell: There's a truth that those of us pushing against euthanasia and assisted suicide know well; that the more people understand the issue, the more concerns they find, the less they are convinced that we should go down that path.Sure, it is not always the case but, time and time again I have seen the truth of it in action. Continue reading

By Liz Carr (Article first appeared on The Guardian website) If I said I wanted to die, the press, celebrities and the public would support my choice, seeing it as rational and understandable. Hell, they would probably set up a go-fund-me campaign to help me make it happen.Yet when a healthy, non-disabled person wants to kill themself it's seen as a tragedy, and support and prevention tools are provided. If nothing else convinces me that to legalise assisted suicide is not a safe option for many of us then this does. Suicide is not seen as socially desirable - so why is assisted suicide seen as compassionate when it's for ill or disabled people? Continue reading

By Paul Russell: On the 9th of June, the Parliamentary Inquiry into 'end-of-life choices' tabled its report. The report included 49 recommendations. The final recommendation was for a euthanasia and assisted suicide law for people 'suffering serious and incurable conditions'.Yesterday (14th September) the Victorian Health Minister, Jill Hennessy, announced that the government would proceed with a bill to create the possibility of legally binding advance care directives in respect to end-of-life care. The Minister was clear that Victorians, under this scheme, will not be allowed to request euthanasia or assisted suicide. Continue reading

by Paul Russell: "In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible... Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness." George Orwell, Essay: Politics and the English Language (1946) Continue reading

Victorian Upper House MP, Rachel Carling-Jenkins (DLP - Western Metropolitan) made a statement in Parliament last week expressing her outrage at the murders of 19 people living with disability in Japan. ATTACK IN JAPAN: A HATE CRIME AGAINST PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Dr CARLING-JENKINS (Western Metropolitan) 19th August 2016 - I rise today to express my shock and sadness at the killing of 19 people with disabilities at a Japanese residential care home on Tuesday, 26 July, over our winter break. This tragedy can only be described as a hate crime deliberately targeting people with disabilities. The man arrested for the stabbings, who killed 19 people and injured 26 others, had written a letter to the Japanese government. Part of that letter said, and I quote: Continue reading