Tag Archives: Topic: Euthanasia

The ACLU of Washington has issued this press release that begins: “The ACLU of Washington hails passage of a statewide ballot initiative that would give terminally ill patients the ability to end their lives without unbearable suffering or indignity.”

LifeSiteNews.com reports: Campaigners against the Initiative said late in the campaign that although they had gained support, a critical lack of funding was likely to dash their hopes of protecting vulnerable patients in the state. In the end, money appears …

LifeNews.com reports: “Voters in five states dealt with more pro-life issues than those at stake in the presidential election as they considered votes on abortion, assisted suicide and bioethics issues. Exit polling data in those states help explain why voters …

Several states have ballot propositions addressing issues within ADF’s mission.

LifeNews.com reports: “The state of Washington has joined Oregon to become the second state in the nation to legalize the grisly practice of assisted suicide. Voters in the northwestern state approved I-1000 despite strong opposition from pro-life groups, doctors organizations, …

Margaret Datiles of Americans U. for Life has this post in the Washington Times. She writes:  Oregon soon may not be the only state saving money by denying coverage for lifesaving medications and encouraging suicide. The State of Washington is …

She contends that her purpose in writing the book was to show the connections between seemingly disparate issues and how they all work to harm people or the common good: contraception, abortion, assisted suicide and same-sex unions.

Purdy had claimed that by failing to clarify her husband’s position, the DPP was violating her right to a private life as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights . . .

The AP carries this report that mentions ADF and includes this excerpt: . . . One of Robert Lavers’ worst fears is that his wife’s situation will turn into something resembling the case of Terri Schiavo, a Tampa Bay area …

LifeNews.com reports: “An Oregon woman who was victimized by the state’s assisted suicide law is urging Washington voters to oppose I-1000, the ballot measure to make the state the second to legalize the grisly practice. Barbara Wagner found out Oregon …

LifeNews.com reports: “Although internal polling numbers show a much closer margin, a new poll from the University of Washington finds the measure that would make the state the second to legalize the grisly practice of assisted suicide leading by a …

In its key provisions, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill exhibits this malign abandonment of an ethics of humanity.

LifeSiteNews.com reports:  According to Dr. Julian Savulescu, the Uehiro Chair of Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford, and neonatologist and Oxford graduate student Dominic Wilkinson, bold steps may have to be taken to increase the supply of organs for transplant.  This, …

The AP reports: Connecticut prison officials inserted a feeding tube Thursday through the nose of an inmate who has been on a yearlong hunger strike and insists he is innocent of rape, the American Civil Liberties Union said . . …

California has had its fair share of attempts and failures at passing legislation aimed at legalizing physician-assisted-suicide (hereinafter “PAS”).

As of 10/10/08, the “Yes on 1000″ committee reported receipts of $3,274,877. This is the fourth highest all time record for money raised in support of any initiative campaign in Washington State.

To weigh the claims made by supporters and opponents of the proposed Washington state initiative, we ought to carefully examine the first decade of Oregon’s experience with physician-assisted suicide.

The Harvard Law Record reports: Doctor Jack Kevorkian, one of the foremost proponents of physician-assisted suicide, spoke to students in Ames Courtroom on Monday night. Kevorkian, nicknamed “Doctor Death” for his high-profile stance on the right of consenting adults to …

The ACLU of Washington reports: “The ACLU of Washington is supporting a statewide ballot initiative that would give terminally ill patients the ability to end their lives without unbearable suffering or indignity.”

LifeNews.com reports: “A new study shows about one-fourth of the people killed in assisted suicides in Oregon were depressed, yet they received lethal cocktails anyway. Researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University conducted the study and skeptic say it …

The Americans United for Life Blog reports: “Last night Gov. Schwarzenegger signed AB 2747 into law. This law requires physicians to give patients with treatable illnesses information on suicide, including financial information.”

LifeNews.com reports: “The leading group in Washington battling against the November ballot measure to legalize assisted suicide has launched its first set of radio ads. The spots feature actor Martin Sheen, a pro-life Democrat known for his role as the …

Ken Connor has this commentary on Townhall: “A waste. A burden. That is how influential medical ethics expert Baroness Warnock views people suffering from dementia. Lady Warnock, a prominent adviser to the British government, told the Church of Scotland’s Life …

“We agree with the circuit court that ‘unlawful and intentional killing’ within the meaning of this statute does not include assisting another to commit suicide.”

LifeNews.com reports: “Backers of euthanasia promise to spend as much as $1 million on making Washington the next state to legalize assisted suicide. The group that sponsored Oregon’s first-in-the-nation law has already put in over $300,000 for the ballot measure …

The Americans United for Life Blog reports: AB 2747, a dangerous bill promoting assisted suicide, was placed on the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at 11 a.m. this Thursday, September 18, 2008. The Governor has twelve days starting Thursday to …

The Telegraph reports: “Elderly people suffering from dementia should consider ending their lives because they are a burden on the NHS and their families, according to the influential medical ethics expert Baroness Warnock.”

LifeSiteNews carries this commentary by Dr. Paul A. Byrne, M.D. who concludes:   What is going to happen when it becomes better known that “brain death” was a hoax from the beginning? Do doctors and laymen not realize that destroying human …

This Article will discuss why mediation may provide the most effective means of resolving end-of-life disputes. Part II provides some background information regarding previous judicial attempts at resolving end-of-life disputes and discusses the numerous criticisms of court decisions involving the removal of life-sustaining treatment.

LifeNews.com reports: “The parliament of the Australian state of Victoria has rejected a measure that would have legalized assisted suicide there. The vote comes at the same time as the body is considering a bill to officially legalize abortions, even …

An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney has secured an agreement to keep a hospitalized patient’s feeding tubes in place to preserve her life.

The socialist government of the Spanish province of Andalucia is considering new legislation that could fine doctors up to one million euros for “unjustified and useless measures for prolonging life”, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

The Americans United for Life Blog carries this post that indicates: “California AB 2747, a bill promoting suicide, passed the California Assembly this past Thursday by a 42-32 vote. If Gov. Schwarzenegger does not sign or veto the bill within …

A new report reveals that doctors in Colorado removed dying infants’ hearts from their bodies just minutes after the hearts stopped beating so the organs could be transplanted.

An article in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), questioning the criteria of “brain death” and “cardiac death” especially in relation to organ donation, could affect the validity of ethical arguments approving the practice of organ donation at a person’s apparent death.

The Minister of Justice in Spain, Mario Fernandez Bermejo, received the members of the organization, Right to Die with Dignity, in a meeting and vowed to meet the demands of their group dedicated to promoting euthanasia and suicide.

PVS is the only modern medical diagnosis that denies the personhood of a patient, and thus is fraught with logical and ethical problems.

LifeNews.com reports: “A new poll shows a plurality of voters favor a measure appearing on the November ballot in Washington that would make the state the second to legalize assisted suicide. Only Oregon currently allows the grisly practice and I-1000 …

LifeNews.com reports: The parliament of the Czech Republic is set to debate a measure that could have the eastern European nation follow its western counterparts in legalizing assisted suicide. Currently the practice is only allowed in the Netherlands, Belgium and …

LifeNews.com reports: “A group of leading doctors have sent the Italy attorney general a letter asking that the European nation do more to help prevent Eluana Englaro’s euthanasia death. Englaro is the subject of the latest battle similar to the …

ADF-allied attorney successful in ensuring nutrition is restored after 11 days without food or water; trial to be held July 29.

LifeNews.com reports: “Twelve days after she was initially denied food and water, a California court ruled that Janet Rivera is entitled to the nutrition and hydration that a guardian revoked. Rivera is the latest disabled patient like Terri Schiavo to …

The Fresno Bee reports: In a case similar to that of Terri Schiavo, relatives of a comatose woman are fighting Fresno County to put her back on life support. Janet Rivera of Sanger has been without food or water since …

LifeNews.com reports: “Jesse Ramirez was badly injured in an automobile accident in May 2007 and nearly became a victim of euthanasia when his wife made the decision to have his feeding tube removed. Now, Ramirez has recovered to the point …

I have heard from the Jesse Ramirez family–and the news is good.

LifeNews.com reports: “Elections officials in Oakland County have certified that assisted suicide crusader Jack Kevorkian has submitted enough signatures on petitions to qualify for the November ballot as an independent candidate.”

WorldNetDaily reports: “Members of the Delaware House of Representatives have approved a resolution declaring ‘it is against the public policy of this state’ for food and water to be withheld from a 24-year-old woman left with brain injuries following a …

The Telegraph reports: “The mother of a terminally ill six-year-old girl is to launch a ‘right-to-life’ legal battle against a hospital after doctors said they would refuse to give her daughter life-saving treatment.”

The NY Times reports: When Roger Kusch helped Bettina Schardt kill herself at home on Saturday, the grim, carefully choreographed ritual was like that in many cases of assisted suicide, with one exception. Ms. Schardt, 79, a retired X-ray technician …

The AP reports on Newsday: “The American Civil Liberties Union went to court on Tuesday in an attempt to prevent the state from force feeding a prison inmate who has lost over 100 pounds while on a hunger strike.” The …

The tragedy of Washington v. Glucksberg is that every day across the country, terminally ill patients are being forced to suffer longer and being denied an essential aspect of their autonomy and personhood.

This Article critiques conventional liberal arguments for the right to die on liberal grounds.

Because Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act has proven both useful and harmless, this Article concludes that it is time for other states to follow Oregon’s lead and enact their own legislation to allow their citizens an alternative to what otherwise could be a prolonged and painful death from terminal illness.

Ten years down the road, what is the enduring significance of the “assisted suicide” cases, Washington v. Glucksberg and Vacco v. Quill?

Once the right to PAS is grounded on self-determination or personal autonomy in controlling one’s own life and death, it no longer seems plausible to limit it to the terminally ill.

However, hospitals and doctors should be aware that the “safe harbor” of legal immunity that Texas offers as an incentive to doctors who make use of the .046 procedure is not as safe as it might appear.

The Religion Clause Blog reports: “Since last November, the family of 84-year Samuel Golubchuck, an Orthodox Jew, has been battling with Canadian doctors over whether Golubchuck should be kept on life support.”

Bobby Schindler has this article on Townhall. He writes: . . . the physically and mentally “inferior” are being denied the most basic care—food and water—in our nation’s medical facilities every day . . . Perhaps our general public doesn’t …

The Palm Beach Post reports: Karen Weber’s descent into limbo began on Florida’s Turnpike in November. She and her husband of 34 years, Raymond, had driven to Orlando International Airport to pick up her mother. On the way home to …

The AP reports: Supporters need to collect about 225,000 valid voter signatures by July 3 to get the “Washington Death with Dignity Initiative” on the November ballot. The campaign has raised more than $1 million, more than enough for a …

Kathy L. Cerminara, Tracking the Storm: The Far-Reaching Power of the Forces Propelling the Schiavo Cases (2005). Stetson Law Review, Vol. 35, 2005 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1144228 More than 15 years elapsed between the date Theresa Marie Schiavo suffered a …

CWNews reports: “London’s High Court has agreed to hear the plea of an English woman challenging the country’s laws against assisted suicide.” Google News contains numerous reports on the situation.

Bobby kindly informed Mr. Eagles that using the phrase “brain dead” to depict Terri’s condition was patently false, explaining that the term “brain death” is an authentic medical diagnosis and not an accurate term to describe a person in Terri’s condition.

OneNewsNow.com reports: . . . One pro-life attorney in Florida hopes the case in which he is now involved will not be a repeat of the Schiavo case in any of those respects. Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney Joseph Radowicz is …

A review of the way physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is being addressed in the United States reveal three models, each functioning out of distinctive concepts of autonomy: (1) litigation, which utilizes philosophical autonomy; (2) legislation, which utilizes political autonomy; and (3) act of conscience by a physician, which utilizes consumer autonomy.

LifeNews.com reports: “Florida woman who has been disabled by a stroke and is on a feeding tube could become the next Terri Schiavo. Karen Weber’s husband wants to have her feeding tube removed because he claims she is in a …

The Christian Post reports: It may soon become legal for doctors and nurses in California to “help” their patients die if a new assisted suicide bill passes through the state senate. Last week, AB 2747 made its way to the …

LifeNews.com reports: Leading pro-life advocates are worried that the campaign to make Washington the second state to legalize assisted suicide is gaining momentum. They say the organization behind the ballot proposal has raised almost $1 million, including hundreds of thousands …

The Alaska Supreme Court granted an Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney’s motion for stay and signed an order Friday that will keep Providence Hospital from removing Mari Chamberlain’s life-support tubes. Ending her life support could result in her death within minutes or days.

A state judge has signed an order, requested by an ADF allied attorney, to appoint a committee that will make recommendations on the health of Karen Weber whose husband wants to have her feeding tube removed . . .

Citizen Link reports: “Switzerland’s suicide center Dignitas reported that it has helped 868 people kill themselves since it opened 10 years ago. In the last two years, 335 people killed themselves — 85 percent of them foreigners . . .”

Last Tuesday, on a straight party line vote, the Assembly Judiciary Committee sent AB 2747 to the Assembly floor.

“Doctors know some patients needing lifesaving care won’t get it in a flu pandemic or other disaster. The gut-wrenching dilemma will be deciding who to let die.”

Undaunted by their repeated failure to get the California legislature to approve a bill legalizing assisted suicide, the sponsors of the bill are moving forward with a new measure that promotes euthanasia in limited circumstances.

The clock is ticking away the life of Lauren Marie Richardson, a 23-year-old woman who suffered an anoxic brain injury as the result of a heroin overdose in August 2006. A decision is due any day whether Lauren lives or dies.