By Alex SchadenbergInternational Chair - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition NB: Alex makes some very important and accurate distinctions when lookng at exactly what it the French may have done.Politicians in France have been debated the legalization of euthanasia for many years. Continue reading

It's a loaded question. It's a common reaction that, immediately a suggestion is raised that someone is 'denied' something, that we will feel a mild sense of outrage growing inside them somewhere. 'How dare they!' But 'choices' are not always possible, no matter how beneficent they may be; no matter how legitimate they may seem.To suggest, therefore, that people are 'denied choices' is to infer that such 'choices' are, indeed, legitimate. Continue reading

By Alex Schadenberg. International Chair - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition The Netherlands government has decided to extend euthanasia to people with dementia who are incompetent to request death by lethal injection, if the person requested euthanasia while still competent.The 2014 Netherlands euthanasia statistics state that out of 5306 euthanasia deaths; 81 people were lethally injected for dementia and 41 people died by euthanasia for psychiatric reasons. Continue reading

New Euthanasia Bill to be tabled in South Australian Parliament. The Private Member's Business Notice Paper for the House of Assembly in the South Australian Parliament lists, as number one, the latest bill by backbencher, Steph Key MP. The listing says she will, 'introduce a Bill for an Act to provide for choices at the end of life.'She is not talking about choices but, rather, about one choice: to be made dead. Under Ms Key's bill, this will be either by euthanasia or by the 'self-administration of voluntary euthanasia'; a clumsy and inaccurate description of assisted suicide. Continue reading

By Michael Cook cross posted from Bioedge At least one person and perhaps three have been euthanased in Quebec since the Canadian province's legislation went into effect in December. Dr Georges L'Espérance, president of the death-with-dignity group l'Association québécoise pour le droit de mourir dans la dignité, said that he was not aware of the circumstances surrounding the deaths.Dr L'Espérance does not believe that the number of euthanasia deaths will be very large. "Considering our population here and what has happened in other countries (where euthanasia is legal), I would be very surprised if we have more than 50 or 60 cases in the first year," he told the National Post. Continue reading

A few days ago I reported on two articles that appeared in the pro-euthanasia/assisted suicide Melbourne newspaper, The Age that attempted to 'rationalise' suicide.In short, it was a sales pitch. There's nothing redeeming at all in suicide or self-killing. Certainly, we should grieve for the lives lost and remember the person and comfort the family. But there's no sense at all in glossing over what took place. As bleak and as painful as it is and without any sense of judging the motives or state of mind of the person concerned and, while we may even come to understand something of what lead to that death, we must not make it seem that it is all somehow okay.But that's precisely what The Age article on the death of the Victorian couple Pat and Peter Shaw focussed upon. While the vaulted ideal of 'choice' in one sense demands that we accept what they did, to condone it from that same ideal and then justify it with a false appeal to supposed rationality is something entirely different and inherently dangerous. Continue reading

The Supreme Court of Canada gave an extension of time to the National Parliament to legislate for euthanasia and assisted suicide. It's not enough argues Charlie Lewis. By Charlie Lewis (cross posted from Alex Schadenberg's blog)You can read Alex's full eport HERE. Continue reading

by WESLEY J. SMITH  Canada is on the verge of instituting the most radical culture of death in the world.More radical than the Netherlands, which allows psychiatrists to euthanize the mentally ill. Continue reading

In October 2015, an elderly couple from the Melbourne suburb of Brighton were found dead in their own home. Sad to say, the news story was the third couple or double suicide in the media within a few short weeks, the other two being in my home town of Adelaide.The Australian news media has a reasonably good reputation for sensibility and consideration when reporting on such matters as news. Unfortunately, at least one major Australian newspaper network seems to disregard those same sensibilities when the story is no longer news but, rather, an opportunity to push their editorial line in support of euthanasia and The 'Nitschke line' on so-called 'rational suicide'.Pat and Peter Shaw both committed suicide in their own home. Their three daughters, who knew the date, time and intention of their parents were away from the house at the time. It was common knowledge that Peter Shaw, at least, was an enthusiastic member of Exit International; the article suggesting that he killed himself in his shed using Exit-type equipment.Sadly, as alluded to earlier, these kinds of double suicide pacts are no longer the isolated cases that they once were. There have even been recorded instances of double euthanasia in Belgium where the partner who was not ill could not imagine living without the other. From The Age article, it seems that this Victorian case was different. Both had deteriorating health - but nether were terminal and, from the report, neither could be said to be suffering unbearably.In other words, neither would likely have qualified under the normal form of euthanasia and assisted suicide bills.The article expends a great deal of effort and column space in painting the picture of a vivacious and loving couple with stellar intellects and interests, including trekking, mountain climbing and hiking to exotic places. Even so, as a biography I can't imagine it would hold the same interest for The Age's readers if it were not for the suicide angle. In fact, I doubt that it would have been published at all. So, how does it serve the pro-euthanasia cause? Quite frankly, it doesn't. But, then again, if it is emotion and not logic nor ethics that we are relying upon, then perhaps I'm wrong.Short version folks: Sad as it is, and as much of a problem you or I or anyone else might have with what the Shaw's did, they did not, as far as we know, commit any offence. They killed themselves with apparent ease. Their children were sufficiently removed to be appropriately beyond suspicion of assisting. There was a proper investigation. Case closed.The three children told The Age that they respected their parents' choice and feel strongly that suicide can be rational. They also said that, 'their parents should not have had to risk prosecution to die together at the time of their choosing. Nor should they have had to be alone for the legal protection of their family.' The criminal code prohibition on assisting in suicide is not about protecting the family, it is about protecting vulnerable people from being coaxed or coerced to their suicide death. Sometimes it may be a protection from the family (though that is clearly not the case here).Daughter Kate belled the cat: "It shouldn't be so difficult for rational people to make this decision," she said. The whole reason for the article is to promote the idea that suicide can be rational; perhaps even desirable. A loving, smart and vivacious couple serving as poster folk to normalise what has for millennia been rightly stigmatised for the protection of fragile and vulnerable people: suicide - self-killing.Even if some people kill themselves supposedly rationally, The Age and the likes of Philip Nitschke have failed to answer the obvious objection: what about those who are not rational but whose mental state is such that they think that they are and who therefore find an imprimatur for their suicide in this argument? No suicide hotline at the end of the article can absolve responsibility.Moreover, I do not accept the inference that, because the Shaw's were intelligent and learned or because they left notes saying so, that their decision to suicide was, indeed, rational. The article provides some clues. They were clearly scared witless of deterioration, decrepitude and the loss of independence that those early aches, pains and memory problems of advancing age can sometimes presage. Peter Shaw in a 2007 letter to the editor of The Age said, "Our reason for suicide may be anticipation of pain and incompetence, but quite likely just a sense of a life accomplished and coming to a conclusion." The article screams the former which makes the idea of a 'finished life' seem more like an apologia.Shaw's letter went on: "We are not interested in palliative care, and strongly resent do-gooders placing obstacles in or way." The article qualified the 'do-gooders' as 'religious' people, 'with the superstitions of medieval inquisitors.' Cue Monty Python! What obstacles? The only real obstacles are the laws that prohibit the importation of lethal substances and the law prohibiting people from assisting; both make complete sense and both ae maintained by the states variously and not the churches.As if that were not enough, Fairfax published a follow up piece by the same author only day's later, surprise, surprise, based on a fulsome endorsement of rational suicide by none other than Nitschke himself.Thankfully, on this second occasion, a contrary voice is included in comments from Professor Ian Hickie, a psychiatrist and mental health campaigner, who said he thought it was tragic that people wanted to "check out" of life because of myths and negative stereotypes about ageing, pain relief, hospitals and how the health system treats elderly people. 'He said while some people may not have a mental illness when they end their own life, Exit International's approach to teaching people about suicide was reaching vulnerable people who could, with further assistance, live a longer, enjoyable life.'Professor Hickie, of the Brain and Mind Centre, said Australian authorities needed to work on policies and resources to promote healthy ageing with a focus on getting the right care and support to people so they do not feel like a burden and live as well as they can in their later years. He said people considering suicide or families discussing the issue should examine what is underpinning people's motivation. Is it fear of being a burden? Is it fear of a lack of care?' Continue reading

Family set to sue over 'non-euthanasia' in Catholic aged care home. Over recent weeks the issue of conscientious objection, or the 'conscience clause' in the Belgian euthanasia law has been brought into the spotlight by the assertion by the new Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, Jozef De Kesel, that he has the right to refuse Catholic hospitals and aged care facilities to co-operate with euthanasia.Euthanasia advocates both in academia and in the medical profession have bristled at the suggestion that institutions might say 'non' with many displaying a distinct and disturbing lack of understanding about the status of the 14 year old statute that allows doctors to kill their patients. Continue reading