A Pesonal Story written by Jessica Rodgers. Story first appeared on her blog and cross-posted with permission. I don't remember what I wished for as I was turning 12, though if I had to guess I would wager power ranger action figures were on the top of the list. It's quite possible I even received them, and if life went on as normal for a 12 year old girl, that would be the end of the memory. But life doesn't usually follow the path we anticipate, so on the occasion of my twelfth birthday, my mother was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer and told she had six months to live.I lived in Oregon until I was 18, which meant that my mother, my beautiful, intelligent, kind, caring, and, now incredibly sick, mother, had the option to have her doctor prescribe her suicide pills instead of healing medication. Continue reading

Alex SchadenbergExecutive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition California assisted suicide bill SB 128 has died a peaceful death in the California House after Democrat legislators opposed it based on opposition from the disability community and the Latino community.The assisted suicide lobby has organized more than 25 attempts to legalize assisted suicide in States this year with all of them failing. These campaigns were financed with the money raised by the assisted suicide lobby through the Brittany Maynard assisted suicide campaign last year. Continue reading

In the latest instalment of the ongoing saga between the Medical Board of Australia, AHPRA, and head of Exit International, Philip Nitschke, the latter seems to have scored a small victory. In July 2014 the South Australian Branch of the Medical Board moved to suspend the medical practice licence of Nitschke:The Board made the decision after considering a submission from Dr Nitschke, as part of the process of taking 'immediate action'. Section 156 of the National Law enables the Board to limit a practitioner's registration in some way to keep the public safe, while other investigations or processes continue. Continue reading

California Assisted Suicide Bill is Dying This article was published by Wesley Smith on his blog on July 5, 2015.I have been hearing this news for a few weeks, but it looks like CA's assisted suicide bill may be dying. From the Matier and Ross column in the San Francisco Chronicle: Continue reading

Dutch expert: Children may be pressured by family members to die by euthanasia. Alex Schadenberg, International Chair - Euthanasia Prevention CoalitionThe Dutch News reported today that Professor Theo Boer, a Dutch euthanasia expert, is concerned that the Netherlands Paediatric Association (NVK) is extending euthanasia to children under the age of 12. Boer is concerned that children will be pressured by family members. Boer stated: Continue reading

Dr Kevin Fitzpatrick OBE, Director of Hope Ireland, published on the Hope Ireland's blog. Professor Raphael Cohen-Almagor's recent research results[1] are extremely important.As Baroness Helena Kennedy QC said in a public debate (Southbank, January 28 2012), 'This is about the kind of society we want to live in'. Continue reading

Euthanasia's open season on the mentally ill By Wesley SmithArticle first appeared in First ThingsA few years ago, I spoke about end-of-life care at a town-hall event; it quickly devolved into an intense debate on assisted suicide. When the time came for audience questions, a self-described "mentally ill" woman took the microphone and declared that she had a right to doctor-prescribed death. More than half the audience burst into applause. Continue reading

Yesterday I wrote about the nasty attack staged in the Belgian De Morgen newspaper by Bernheim and Vermeersch. Today, Tom Mortier shares his thoughts on the personal attack on him in De Morgen:The Flemish newspaper De Morgen has been discrediting me for three years now. Continue reading

When discourse descends into ad hominem By Paul Russell: The name and the story of Belgian chemist, Dr Tom Mortier, is known throughout the world. His physically well mother, was clinically depressed. Yet she was euthanased without his knowledge in Belgium. He and his sister were left to pick up the pieces. Continue reading

By EPC International Director and Director of HOPE Ireland, Dr Kevin Fitzpatrick Hermann de Dijn, emeritus professor of philosophy at the Belgian University of Leuven, says: 'Once the law is there, you have people asking themselves new questionsâ�¦ 'Do I really have quality of life? Am I not a burden on others?'De Dijn believes that 'human dignity should include not only respect for personal choices but also for connectedness to loved ones and society.' The concept of human dignity in Belgium has been 'reduced to the ability to have certain experiences'.[1] Continue reading