Much has been written and said - especially in the USA about the case of Brittany Maynard. Brittany Maynard is a 29 year old Californian woman who was diagnosed with a brain tumour - stage 4 glioblastoma - and told she had only six months to live. She has decided to commit suicide under the Oregon assisted suicide provisions on the 1st of November - days after her husband's birthday.Brittany Maynard's circumstances are poignant and everyone expressing reservations about her intended actions and that she is being co-opted as the face of assisted suicide campaigns in the USA has acknowledged this. It is not as though those who oppose assisted suicide are not aware of what her prognosis may mean. What opponents of her decision have been clear about is that her public advocacy has serious negative implications for others in similar circumstances, for disabled people and for society's attitude to suicide generally. Continue reading

This article was published in the Ottawa Citizen on October 15, 2015 and reposted from Alex Schadenberg's Blog. By Catherine FrazeeIn his article of Oct. 9, Desmond Tutu emphasizes the importance of language on the sensitive issue of medically assisted dying. In the spirit of advancing a respectful dialogue, I must urge him to consider the deeper meanings of dignity, and how our experience of human dignity leads disabled Canadians to a very different conclusion about end-of-life interventions. Continue reading

The following article was written by Marilyn Golden and published by CNN on October 13. Golden is a senior policy analyst with the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF). The views expressed are her own. Reposted from Alex Schadenberg's blog. By Marilyn GoldenMy heart goes out to Brittany Maynard, who is dying of brain cancer and who wrote last week about her desire for what is often referred to as "death with dignity." Continue reading

By CATHERINE FRAZEE, former chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. first published in the Canadian Chronicle Herald Today (Oct. 15), the Supreme Court of Canada will hear argument in an appeal which seeks to strike down Canada's Criminal Code prohibition against assisting suicide.The appeal is mobilized by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and supported by Death with Dignity advocates across the country, many of whom will take to the streets to urge Canadians to "stand on the side of history for assisted dying." Continue reading

This article was published by Access Magazine, a disability rights magazine in the UK and on Alex Schadenberg's Blog. Dr Kevin Fitzpatrick OBE is the Spokesperson/Convener of the Not Dead Yet UK Campaign. Kevin was recently hired as the Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition International.Advocates of assisted suicide say that it is for people who are terminally ill, not disabled people. But assisted suicide will not be confined to those dying imminently. Falconer's Bill includes people with progressive conditions. Continue reading

When the story of Brittany Maynard surfaced in the international media last week, I was approached by a few supporters to ask what could be done about the media reporting. How could we respond? To recap, Brittany Maynard is a 29 year old Californian woman who was diagnosed with a brain tumour - stage 4 glioblastoma - and told she had only six months to live. She has decided to commit suicide under the Oregon assisted suicide provisions on the 1st of November - days after her husband's birthday.With the apparent agreement of her family, Maynard moved to Oregon and has completed the statutory pre-requisite changes to her status as a resident of Oregon so as to avail herself of the Oregonian law. Continue reading

Cross posted from Lives Worth Living. On Friday, 3 October 2014 Lives Worth Living Convenor Craig Wallace addressed the Senate Inquiry into the Exposure draft of the Medical Services (Dying with Dignity) Bill 2014. This is the prepared text of our opening remarks to the Inquiry:Firstly Senators thank you for this opportunity to give evidence here today and also for accepting a late and brief submission. Continue reading

Article by Craig Wallace, convenor of Lives Worth Living Australia. In The Age (Melbourne) back in August Ian Maddocks, Emeritus Professor of Palliative Care at Flinders University and Senior Australian of the Year 2013, wrote a reflective piece arising out of the decision of the Medical Board of Australia to use emergency powers to immediately suspend the then Dr Phillip Nitschke, after he admitted to supporting 45-year-old Perth man Nigel Brayley in his decision to commit suicide despite knowing he was not terminally ill.Professor Maddocks intelligent piece crystallises a dilemma faced by euthanasia advocates in the wake of the Nitschke deregistration as they attempt to craft a new argument for medically assisted dying based on process, nuance and evidence, not just the wielding of emotion or the idea of suicide as the exercise of a personal right. There are lessons here too for the anti-euthanasia lobby which has sometimes equally allowed itself to be painted into a corner with black and white arguments founded in dogma. Continue reading

By Dr Kevin Fitzpatrick (first published at Alex Schadenberg's blog )Director of EPC - International and a leader of Not Dead Yet UK. Health24.com (23/9/14) reports a story from SAPA (the South African Press Association):A doctor, previously convicted in New Zealand for assisting his mother's death now admits helping a South African quadriplegic to commit suicide.Dr Anrich Burger, quadriplegic after a car accident in 2005, worked for Health24's CyberDoc. He died in November 2013. Sean Davison's spokesperson confirmed he had aided Burger to die, after Davison spoke at last week's euthanasia conference in Chicago, US. Davison said: Continue reading

by Nic Steenhout first posted on the Canadian Living with Dignity website: We mourn the death of Yvan Tremblay, a man with disabilities who committed suicide rather than be forced out of his apartment on September 14. Isabelle Maréchal describes the situation well: "He decided to end his life because he could no longer deal with an inhuman system."For 10 years, he lived in adapted housing. The managers of the building where he was staying expelled him because of new safety regulations imposed by the government. Apparently, he could not stay there because it would be impossible to evacuate him in case of fire. If he did not leave by himself, Mr. Tremblay would have been placed in a much smaller home, without even a kitchen. No space for his things. His options were drastically reduced. Continue reading