Dutch group want to allow people over 70 to die with assistance

A group of Dutch academics and politicians have launched a petition to legalize assisted suicide for the over-70s who are tired of life.

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2010/02/tired_of_life_group_calls_for.php

Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel on End of Life Decision Making

The following expert panel has just been announced. Given that Bill C-384, legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada, is scheduled to receive its second hour of debate on November 16th, and to be voted on on November 18th, the announcement of the panel is timely (even if largely ineffectual w.r.t. that debate and vote).

Text of the announcement in French and English below. It includes description of the membership of the panel, it’s terms of reference, and contact information.

RSC/SRC Expert Panel on End-of-Life Decision Making October 27, 2009

Among the many public-service roles of national academies around the world, one of the most important is the preparation of expert assessments on critical issues of public policy. The national academies in the United States are the most active in this regard, but the senior academies in other nations, notably in England, France, and other European countries, have been very active on this front for many years. Such reports are designed to be balanced, thorough, independent, free from conflict of interest, and based on a deep knowledge of all of the published research that is pertinent to the questions that have been posed. The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) also has a long record of issuing definitive reports of this kind, either on its own initiative, or in response to specific requests from governments or other parties. The project being announced today, “End-of-Life Decision Making,” is one of a new series that the Society has commissioned, at its own initiative, on issues of significant public interest and importance at the present time. Announcements on the other projects will follow over the course of the coming months. The Society relies on the advice of one of its senior committees, The Committee on Expert Panels (CEP), in formulating new projects of its own and in responding to requests for panel projects from external parties. In addition, the members of the Society’s CEP are responsible for selecting the membership of panels, including the chair; overseeing the conduct of panel activities; managing the peer review of the draft final report; and assisting the panel members with any difficulties that arise during the conduct of their work. Over the course of the past year, the CEP has brought forward suggestions on a new series of expert panel reports for consideration by the Society’s governing board. The board has approved a number of these suggestions, including the project on “End-of-Life Decision Making.” The additional information, below, identifies the members of the panel who have agreed to write this report, as well as the preliminary terms of reference for this project. Questions about this project may be directed to:

Physician-assisted-suicides in WA, OR, and MT

Five people have died under the new Washington physician-assisted suicide law, says an article on the American Medical News site . Two cases were referred to mental health professionals, who filed complaints. Fourteen people have requested doctors’ aid in dying so far. The article also includes the statistics of assisted suicide deaths in Oregon (60 deaths, the most in 2008) and explains the current situation of the Montana assisted suicide debate.

 

Links to articles on the fist case in WA

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/406483_death22.html

http://pugetsoundblogs.com/kitsap-caucus/2009/05/27/two-sides-of-the-first-assisted-suicide/

 

An article on the second case in WA

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009296724_websuicide03.html

Second International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

from Alex Schadenberg, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

There will never be a more important time to stop assisted suicide!

The promotion information for the Second-International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide states that registrations need to be in by April 25. The registration cut-off date has been extended until May 11. In the past week we have had an incredible number of registrations that have arrived. We will have an incredible Symposium, but more groups and individuals are needed to ensure a successful outcome.

The Second-International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide is at the National Conference Center on May 29 – 30, 2009 (near the Washington Dulles airport) and is possibly the most important conference ever on assisted suicide.

Consider the context:

Assisted suicide has been promoted by the euthanasia lobby for many years. The pressure to legalize assisted suicide has never been greater than now. Last November, Washington State legalized assisted suicide through a referendum vote making it the second state, after Oregon, to legalize assisted suicide. Last December, a Judge in Montana imposed assisted suicide upon that state by judicial fiat making Montana the third state to allow the direct and intentional killing of its citizens. That decision is being appealed. Last year Luxembourg legalized euthanasia. This Spring, the euthanasia lobby introduced legislation to legalize assisted suicide in Hawaii, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

Dan Savage on Assisted Suicide and Religion

Dan Savage, well-known for his column Savage Love, has written a moving essay, “In Defense of Dignity” on the very recent death of his mother in The Stranger. It is cast, in part, in terms of the upcoming referendum ballot in Washington state on assisted suicide, I-1000. Reading the article, together with the comments in toto is highly recommended, but here’s an excerpt:

People must accept death at “the hour chosen by God,” according to Pope Benedict XVI, leader of the Catholic Church, which is pouring money into the campaign against I-1000. The hour chosen by God? What does that even mean? Without the intervention of man—and medical science—my mother would have died years earlier. And at the end, even without assisted suicide as an option, my mother had to make her choices. Two hours with the mask off? Six with the mask on? Another two days hooked up to machines? Once things were hopeless, she chose the quickest, if not the easiest, exit. Mask off, two hours. That was my mother’s choice, not God’s. Did my mother commit suicide? I wonder what the pope might say. I know what my mother would say: The same church leaders who can’t manage to keep priests from raping children aren’t entitled to micromanage the final moments of our lives.