Canada: Some would welcome merciful release from their suffering

Description: [of the article from the The Stratford Beacon Herald]

Michelle McAndrew writes in support of legalizing euthanasia: I am approaching the 80-year mark in 2011. I am currently in a nursing home because of some physical limitations which prevent me from living alone. I'm certainly not enjoying the loss of independence or the chronic pain of 30 years duration. At first hand I can describe the waning years of 45 to 50 people, some of whom have severe dementia and others who "suffer" from worsening physical disabilities…

In concluding McAndrew says: Can you imagine the calculated savings of health care in Canada? Growing "old," although certainly often a frightening aspect of life, would not be so feared if an easier way out were possible. No doubt the issue of euthanasia will not be resolved in my lifetime, but the solution, if a person made this decision, could be his or her last form of independence!

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

Links:

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.)

  • http://tinyurl.com/yl4zzx5

  • http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2479110

    Also see:

  • Canada: At 95, trailblazer Bernice Levitz Packford wants the power to end her life [The Globe and Mail]
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/at-95-trailblazer-bernice-levitz-packford-wants-the-power-to-end-her-life/article1493285/

    Tom Hawthorn interviews Bernice Packford, 95, about her call for the right to assisted suicide. In her letter to the Times Colonist, she wrote: "I am tired and I am ready to die now" and she tells Hawthorn: "I want to go, I want to die, when I'm able. I want to go on my choosing." Hawthorn reports that "She has the most wonderful, infectious, impish laugh."

    In explaining Packford's background, Hawthorn reports: She turned 95 yesterday, a landmark birthday in a life of activism. Soon after arriving in Victoria in 1953, she could be found on a downtown street wearing a sandwich-board sign seeking foster parents for needy children. She became more sophisticated in her protests over the years, but has never wavered from a desire to improve the world, little bit by little bit. She has championed clean water, old-age pensions, and the importance of voting. She demanded a CBC Radio station in Victoria, which finally arrived a decade ago. In 1983, the tax man seized $549.21 from the pensioner's chequing account because she had diverted payments in opposition to military spending. She protests against Canadian participation in the war in Afghanistan. A local politician once greeted her in public with a hearty, "Bernice, my rabble-rousing friend!"

  • Canadian Legalisation developments [World Federation of Right to Die Societies]
    http://worldrtd.net/node/959

    A page concisely summarizing the three recent recent developments in the Canadian struggle for euthanasia.

Source:

McAndrew, Michelle. "Some would welcome merciful release from their suffering". The Stratford Beacon Herald_. Accessed Wednesday, March 10, 2010. <www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2479110>. The Beacon Herald, 16 Packham Road, Stratford N5A 6T6, Canada.

Tags:

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

  • euthanasia

  • Bill C-384, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (right to die with dignity)

  • Canada

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201003100575.
Mailed: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 14:46:07 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Etcetera:

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>. 

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