EuthaNEWSia (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Robert Yagi, 71, is accused of attempting to kill his terminally ill wife as she lay in her hospital bed in Castle Medical Centre. Police think Yagi also wanted to end his own life.

Over the past 20 years, state lawmakers have considered the issue of physician-assisted suicide several times. The Legislature last held a hearing on a physician-assisted suicide bill two years ago. A hearing on a "death with dignity" bill also was held in 2005, but it didn't advance far…. State House Majority Leader Blake Oshiro, D-33rd ('Aiea, Halawa Valley, 'Aiea Heights), introduced the physician-assisted suicide bill in 2007 and in previous years, and said he would like the Legislature to again discuss "death with dignity."

But Andi van der Voort, board member of the national Final Exit Network and a longtime local advocate of physician-assisted suicide, said Yagi may not have resorted to violence if his wife had the option of taking a prescribed lethal dose of medication. "If you are terminally ill and you want to terminate your life, I think it's awful that someone has to shoot you," she said. Van der Voort added that she isn't hopeful a physician-assisted suicide bill will be passed in Hawaii anytime soon.

[Note: Some other recent stories related to this topic are in the Links: section below.]

To read the full article click on one of these links, both of which go to the same destination. A short link is provided for the convenience of readers. Also, readers may search and browse past advisories on the web (see bottom.)

Vorsino, Mary. "Attempted killing puts issue of terminally ill back in spotlight". Honolulu Advertiser. Posted on: Sunday, December 13, 2009. <www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20091213/NEWS01/912130366/Attempted+killing+puts+issue+of+terminally+ill+back+in+spotlight>. Honolulu Advertiser, 605 Kapiolani Blvd., Honolulu, HI 96813, U.S.A.

Tags (or keywords) briefly indicate some major topics of the report.

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid200912141264.
Mailed: Monday, December 14, 2009 14:28:21 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>.

-------------------------------------------------------------

euthanewsia-subscribe@euthanewsia.ca
SUBJECT and TEXT may be left blank

euthanewsia-unsubscribe@euthanewsia.ca
SUBJECT and TEXT may be left blank

-------------------------------------------------------------