EuthaNEWSia (www.euthanewsia.ca)

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http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news_digest/Cabinet_seeks_to_crack_down_on_suicide_tourism.html?siteSect=104&sid=11417286&ty=nd

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The plan to clamp down on Dignitas [EuthaNEWSia, Jul. 20]
http://www.euthanewsia.ca/archive/2009/07/enid200907201139.4.html

The report says that the agreement restricts the way assisted suicides are carried out, who can be helped to take their own life and how much they can be charged. Swiss national Justice Minister Eveline Wildmer Schlumpf said: "Two variations of the legislation are going to be considered in autumn, one is a complete ban on assisted suicide and one is the introduction of stricter, clearer legislation".

"Death tourism" leads Swiss to consider ban on assisted suicide [Guardian]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/oct/28/swiss-consider-ban-assisted-suicide

"The Swiss cabinet, which is divided on the emotive issue, sent two proposals into the legislative process for consultation, which will last until 1 March: one for tighter regulation, and the other for an outright ban. The Swiss parliament is said to prefer the less drastic route, which would set down strict guidelines for assisted dying groups to follow. The new rules would include requiring patients to obtain two medical opinions proving their illness was incurable and probably fatal within months. These doctors must state that the dying person had the mental capacity to assert their wish to die, and prove they had held this wish for some time. The new proposal would also require assisted dying groups to provide better written records to stop organisations profiting from patients wanting to die — and to help in case of any subsequent investigation and prosecution."

Swiss crackdown on "suicide tourism" could spell end of Dignitas clinic [Times Online]
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6894726.ece

"If the law goes through — the deliberation period lasts until March and the restrictions could come in soon afterwards — the federal Swiss state will have to take over the policing from regional authorities. Doctors' recommendations will be controlled and those who prescribe fatal drugs observed more closely. The draft law will also ban any attempt to charge more than basic expenses for assisted suicide."

Regulating assisted suicide stirs debate in Switzerland [The Earth Times]
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/292400,regulating-assisted-suicide-stirs-debate-in-switzerland—feature.html

"Also, the changes would include a requirement that two independent doctors declare the suicidal person has the legal capacity to make the decision and that the individual suffers from a "physical illness that is incurable and will result in death within a short period.""

Expert slams plans to curb assisted suicide [Swissinfo.ch]
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/front/Expert_slams_plans_to_curb_assisted_suicide.html?siteSect=105&sid=11423286&rss=true&ty=st

Frank Petermann, an expert in medical law in St Gallen, says: "The proposals go against decisions by the federal court and against the European Convention on Human Rights as well as the Swiss constitution. From a legal point of view every human being is free to choose the moment when and the means by which he or she wants to die."

Swiss to tighten assisted suicide rules, consider ban [Thomson Reuters]
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE59R3X820091028?sp=true

""This option [of tighter legislation] rests on the belief that individuals working in assisted suicide organizations are never actually motivated by purely altruistic reasons, and may develop a close relationship with the suicidal person," it said in a statement. "Suicide must only be a last resort. The government believes that protection of human life must be uppermost," the justice ministry added. Assisted suicide should be restricted to the terminally ill and not be available to chronically or mentally ill individuals, the ministry said, adding the government wanted to promote palliative care and suicide prevention. The new rules would also "prevent organized assisted suicide becoming a profit-driven business," it said."

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Switzerland

Euthanasia "Exit Pill" Developed [Voxy.co.nz]
http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/euthanasia-039exit-pill039-developed/5/28849

"A single solid pill for a peaceful death has been developed by Exit International. The pill is made from a stable inert form of the barbiturate Nembutal that has been developed for long term storage and transport. To use the pill to achieve a peaceful death, the pill is altered into the soluble active drug and reconstituted as a small drink."

Nitschke to promote illegal pill [ABC News]
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/30/2728364.htm

Darwin-based euthanasia campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke says he does not expect to be arrested for promoting a new illegal pill here and overseas. The drug has been developed from the euthanasia drug Nembutal and manufacturers say it can be stored for 50 years.

Vancouver church hosts right-to-die doctor [Vancouver Citizen, Canwest]
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Vancouver+church+hosts+right+doctor/2142389/story.html

"Rev. Steven Epperson of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver said he believes Dr. Philip Nitschke, director of the pro-euthanasia group Exit International, has the right to free speech, even if he's telling people how to kill themselves. "Historically, we have provided a forum, a space, for controversial, difficult ideas to be presented," Epperson told the Vancouver Province. Almost 40 years ago, Greenpeace held its inaugural meeting at the church, which is in its centenary year. And the church has a long tradition of allowing women and gays to speak out in their space."

Stacking the Deck For Euthanasia in Canadian "End of Life" Commission [Secondhand Smoke, Wesley J. Smith]
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2009/10/28/stacking-the-deck-for-euthanasia-in-canadian-end-of-life-commission/

Smith points out that Queen's Philosophy professor Udo Schuklenk wrote, in an essay on atheism: "According to [organized monotheistic religions], we are not ethically entitled to ask for physician assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia." He says that Scot philosophy professor Sheila McClean wrote the book, The Case for Assisted Suicide. Another panelist, Jocelyn Downie authored Dying Justice, a book urging the decriminalization of both euthanasia and assisted suicide. Further: "Another commissioner is a Dutch euthanasia researcher. Cute." This accounts for four of the six panelists.

It's alive! End-of-life counseling in health bill [The Associated Press]
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hH5D8HNGJ05AvGKc7Fxd33wv8dXgD9BKUE5O0

"The Medicare end-of-life planning provision that 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said was tantamount to death panels for seniors is staying in the latest Democratic health care bill unveiled Thursday. The provision allows Medicare to pay for voluntary counseling to help beneficiaries deal with the complex and painful decisions families face when a loved one is approaching death."

A man from Croxley Green with multiple sclerosis wants the law to change so he can die at home [Watford Observer]
http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/4708038.Croxley_man_fights_for_right_to_die/

"A man from Croxley Green wants to change the law in Great Britain, so he can die with dignity in his own home. Chris Handley, 55, from Links Way, has lived with a degenerative disease for 15 years. "My carers get me out at half nine, I sit in this cafe and then I'm back in bed by two. That's my life.""

BC letter: Spend just one day in his shoes [Comox Valley Record, BC]
http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_north/comoxvalleyrecord/opinion/letters/66543132.html

John Hiltz writes: "I'm dying of terminal cancer. I'm in near-constant pain. I'm hungry but can't eat, constipated, and so weak I can hardly stand up…. I'm not saying we should kill off everyone with a terminal illness. If someone wants to cling to life in a drug-induced stupor with drool dripping down their cheek, consuming valuable health resources, go right ahead and good luck to you."

Assisted Dying in Scotland [The Journal, Edinburgh]
http://www.journal-online.co.uk/article/6028-suicide-act-to-be-modified

Student newspaper interviews Dr Libby Wilson, and surveys the Scottish situation concerning assisted dying.

Doctors who back assisted suicide 40 per cent more likely to withdraw treatment [Times Online]
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6890633.ece

"Doctors who support the legalisation of assisted suicide are more likely to withdraw or withhold treatment from dying patients, a study has found. Actively helping someone to die remains illegal in Britain but more than a third of GPs and hospital doctors report making decisions which they expected would accelerate the death of a terminally-ill patient."

Ten Inevitable Tragic Consequences of National Health Care [The Huffington Post]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-peter-breggin/ten-inevitable-tragic-con_b_332740.html

American psychiatrist Dr. Peter Breggin writes of the dire consequences he predicts for a National Health Care system for the United States. His argument is predicated on government forcefully adopting cost-cutting policies such as euthanasia, assisted suicide, and abortion as alternatives to expensive medical treatment.

Ending it … [The National Forum, AU]
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=9610

David Fisher writes in an opinion article: "I will be 84 this month and am in good health, but I don't know what the future will bring. I belong to the Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Queensland which seeks to have the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act [the Northern Territory act from the 90's] enacted. At this time the Senate Community Affairs References Committee is conducting an "Inquiry into Suicide in Australia". The committee is open to submissions until November 20, 2009." He explains that he will be telling the committee about the suicides of his father-in-law and cousin.

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