EuthaNEWSia Headlines

The third edition of EuthaNEWSia ends

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:36:00 GMT

The third edition of EuthaNEWSia ends

EuthaNEWSia
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Friday, January 14, 2011
Tags: EuthaNEWSia

Description:

Michael Dawson, outgoing editor of EuthaNEWSia, writes:

The time has arrived: EuthaNEWSia has now had three editors. We've had the long-running Themis Anno edition of EuthaNEWSia, then the Paul Zollmann edition, and now the Michael Dawson edition. We all look forward to edition number four, and hope that publication will resume soon.

Later: I don't have anything to add to my January 7th message. The email address of editor@euthanewsia.ca will soon redirect to info@righttodie.ca.

The oldest stories in the EuthaNEWSia Archives are for the month of November, 2002. Though the links don't work any more, I found reading the headlines to be interesting and entertaining: http://euthanewsia.ca/archive/anno/euthanewsia-0211.html

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Montana lawmaker sponsors bill to address "aid in dying"

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:35:00 GMT

Montana lawmaker sponsors bill to address "aid in dying"

KXLH.com
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Friday, January 14, 2011
Tags: aid in dying; legislation; Montana; U.S.A.

Description:

This report begins:
MT State Senator Anders Blewett (D-Great Falls) introduced a bill on Wednesday in the Montana Legislature which would allow terminally ill patients to choose aid in dying.

Later: Opponents of the bill say that terminally ill people can be easily manipulated into accepting a prescribed death, while bill advocates say that supporting physician-assisted suicide provides a way to die with dignity.

Blewett said, "We need to create a regulatory framework for this, create a standard of care, and most importantly make sure that doctors feel safe in performing these procedures."

And: MT State Representative Dick Barrett (D-Missoula) will carry similar legislation in the Montana House of Representatives.

[Note: a copy of the bill is available from this page.]

[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]
[There are stories in the Overflow section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

France prepares to debate legalization of assisted suicide

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:34:00 GMT

France prepares to debate legalization of assisted suicide

LifeSiteNews.com
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Friday, January 14, 2011
Tags: assisted suicide; legislation; France

Description:

The anti-euthanasia site, LifeSiteNews, reports:
The French Senate is preparing to debate the legalization of assisted suicide for patients suffering from an "advanced" stage of a serious illness, according to La Croix, a national Catholic newspaper.

The language of the two bills under consideration, which were respectively proposed by a communist and a socialist legislator, would legalize euthanasia under vague terms that would permit patients to be euthanized because of "psychological" suffering, or even because they are indignant over their circumstances.

One bill, proposed by communist Jean-Pierre Godefroy, states that "any mature person, in the advanced or terminal phase of a accidental or pathological affliction that is grave or incurable, causing physical or psychological suffering that cannot be relieved and that she judges to be unendurable, can request to receive (…) medical assistance to die."

The second, proposed by socialist Alain Fouche, allows that "anyone capable, in an advanced or terminal phase of an illness that is recognized s grave and incurable or placed in a state of dependence that she regards as incompatible with her dignity, can ask to receive (…) medical assistance to die."

The debate represents the first time that the Senate has agreed to consider such measures. France has been subject to an intense pro-euthanasia campaign since 2008, when several cases of medical patients requesting assisted suicide were publicized by the French media.

Later in the report: The debate is scheduled to be held on January 25.

[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]
[There are stories in the Overflow section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Can an Alzheimer's victim end their own life?

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 19:46:00 GMT

Can an Alzheimer's victim end their own life?

Assisted-Suicide Blog
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Tags: assisted suicide; Alzheimer's disease; suicide; Derek Humphry

Description:

Derek Humphry begins his reaction to Monday's story on the Connecticut assisted suicide prosecution:

By far the worst and most wrenching dilemma in the field of a person's right to choose to die involves victims of Alzheimer's Disease. Once the disease has got hold, are they ever able to make a decision about ending their life? Suicide is not a crime, but assistance in the act is.

After reviewing the coverage, he says: Perhaps this court case will publicly highlight the controversial and tragic situation of Alzheimer's victims who want to end it. In the early stages of Alzheimers, there are spells when the patient goes in and out of being competent. - D.H.

[Note: See the links below for a piece by Terry Pratchett, the author with Alzheimer's disease, who calls for euthanasia tribunals.]

[There is information in the Notes section below.]
[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Connecticut: In Alleged Assisted Suicide, A Question Of Ethics

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:07:00 GMT

Connecticut: In Alleged Assisted Suicide, A Question Of Ethics

The Hartford Courant
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Monday, January 10, 2011
Tags: assisted suicide; prosecution; Connecticut; U.S.A.

Description:

Helping someone commit suicide can be a selfish act, or it can be done out of love, said [Stephen] Latham, a medical ethicist at Yale University. And helping someone with a mentally disabling condition like Alzheimer's disease, as in George Brodigan's death, creates those complex ethical issues.

George Brodigan, a prominent retired lawyer, died Sept. 14 at his Timberwood Road home with a half-filled bottle of Mount Gay rum and a copy of Derek Humphry's "Final Exit," a guide to ending one's life, at his bedside. Yellow pills were found underneath his body.

Connecticut law makes it illegal for a person to assist in another's suicide, and Bruce Brodigan, a 46-year-old teacher from Somerville, Mass., was charged with helping his father. Police said Bruce Brodigan told them he directed his father to write his own suicide note and prepared some bread and butter for his father to eat before he took his own life - steps recommended in "Final Exit."

Police said the amitriptyline found in George Brodigan's body was an antidepressant medication prescribed to his son. In addition, George Brodigan had a blood alcohol level of 0.13, well over legal definitions of impairment. The cause of death was listed as an overdose of amitriptyline and alcohol, police said, and the manner of death was listed as undetermined.

[There is information in the Notes section below.]
[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Canada: De-criminalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, says law prof

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:07:00 GMT

Canada: De-criminalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, says law prof

Canadian Lawyer
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Monday, January 10, 2011
Tags: assisted suicide; euthanasia; legalize; Canada

Description:

Euthanasia and assisted suicide should be taken out of the Criminal Code, argues law professor Jocelyn Downie.

Downie will be giving a lecture at McGill University on Jan. 13 and says she will not only review where Canadian laws currently stand on these issues, but also suggest the need for law reform.

"My ideal [situation] would be that it, euthanasia and assisted suicide, be taken out of the Criminal Code and be handled through a commission that oversees what's going on and sets out very clear standards under which euthanasia or assisted suicide can be practised," she says.

The lecture is co-sponsored by the McGill Research Group on Health and Law and the McGill Biomedical Ethics Unit.

This lecture comes on the heels of public hearings on euthanasia in Quebec and a new poll commissioned by the CBC and Radio-Canada. The poll revealed that 83 per cent of Quebeckers support euthanasia and assisted suicide. However, a minority would not consider this end-of-life option for themselves or a loved one.

Currently, the Criminal Code prohibits euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Later: Downie says Canada can look at other countries or states as models for new laws in this area. She points to Belgium, the Netherlands, Washington, Oregon, and, most recently, Montana.

And: "I'm not sure how familiar people are with the data and the evidence that's coming out of countries that have started to allow euthanasia and assisted suicide," she says. "People still make the ‘slippery slope’ argument . . . but there's no evidence for this."

[There is information in the Notes section below.]
[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Canada: Evelyn Marie Martens, Canadian Right to Die Activist

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:17:00 GMT

Canada: Evelyn Marie Martens, Canadian Right to Die Activist

World right-to-die news list
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Friday, January 7, 2011
Tags: Evelyn Martens; assisted suicide; prosecution; Right to Die Society; Canada

Description:

Russel Ogden writes the story of Evelyn Martens. An extract:

By 1994 Evelyn was a Regional Advisor to the Right to Die Society of Canada. She later became membership director, provided member-support, and she participated actively in NuTech research for improved methods for self-deliverance. Evelyn was a compassionate woman and believed nobody should have to die alone. Around 1997 she sat for the first time at the bedside of an individual who decided to end their suffering by a carefully planned suicide. When there was nobody else to support a dying person, Evelyn, ever the compassionate one, was there.

In 2002, at the age of 71, Evelyn was charged in the deaths of Monique Charest and Leyanne Burchell. She was the first and only right-to-die activist in Canada ever prosecuted for the offence of aiding suicide, and she faced a maximum penalty of 28 years in jail. In the small town of Duncan, BC, Evelyn stood strong through a preliminary inquiry that lasted from November 13, 2002 to June 12, 2003. The criminal trial started October 12, 2004.

On November 4, 2004 a jury of 12 women and men found Evelyn not guilty. Evelyn's victory was celebrated by many Canadians who had come to see her as a caring hero with the courage to stand up for her convictions. Her solid legal defence by Catherine Tyhurst and Peter Firestone was funded by supporters from around the world who contributed to the Right to Die Society of Canada fundraising campaign.

Evelyn Martens acquittal was significant because it clarified that mere compassionate presence at suicide is not a crime in Canada. In 2005 the Humanist Association of Canada awarded Evelyn Martens the prestigious title, Humanist of the Year.

[Note: for convenience, the items from the Wednesday EuthaNEWSia are also in the Links below.]
[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]
[There are stories in the Overflow section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Britain: Family pay tribute to tragic mercy kill couple

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:17:00 GMT

Britain: Family pay tribute to tragic mercy kill couple

KentOnline
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Thursday, January 6, 2011
Tags: mercy killing; suicide; Britain

Description:

The grieving family of a guilt-ridden pensioner who committed suicide after drowning his wife] have paid tribute to the couple today.

Former soldier Alan Thomas, 79, held his wife Winifred under water in the bath at their home in Rainham in an apparent mercy killing. Seventy-seven-year-old Mrs Thomas had been suffering from arthritis and was in a great deal of pain.

Mr Thomas was later charged with murder and had been due to appear in court after being released on bail. But before he made a formal plea - and exactly three months after his wife's death - Mr Thomas used a plastic bag to suffocate himself.

Later: In a statement released after today's hearing, the couple's sons David and George said: "The events of recent months have been a tragedy for our whole family.

"The death of mum and dad has been a terrible loss of very loving parents and grandparents.

"Despite her best efforts, mum had been increasingly afflicted by her chronic rheumatoid arthritis and its associated ailments and in the six months or so leading up to May her health significantly deteriorated further. "We have no doubt that dad's thoughts were to help to stop this suffering.

"As a result of the circumstances, dad found it difficult to cope with what had happened and very sadly made the decision to take his own life.

And: "There has been nothing but praise for mum and dad from everyone who knew them and we really appreciate the time and effort people have spent to send their condolences.

"There has also been a lot of support and understanding from Kent Police and we would like to thank them for their help.

[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)