The impact of assisted suicide on the most vulnerable members of society
Watch this new video from @hopeire1 on the impact of #assistedsuicide & #euthanasia for the most vulnerable members of society.
You Don’t Discourage Suicide by Assisting Suicides
September is National Suicide Prevention Month Luke’s Story “Every suicide is tragic – whether you’re old or young, healthy or sick, your life is worth living,” says Luke Maxwell, 19, who survived an attempt to take his own life.
Legalizing assisted dying can actually increase suicides
One of the arguments we hear is that assisted dying will bring down the number of violent suicides. It will provide a more peaceful death to patients in unbearable suffering who would otherwise have violently killed themselves. For other patients, the mere option of assisted dying (even if it will never be effectuated) is said …
Legalizing assisted dying can actually increase suicides Read More »
Investing in palliative care will help build a more compassionate society
We must invest in strengthening the nature of our society by raising the level of palliative care and resist all efforts towards facilitating the death of the vulnerable among us. Earlier this month, a cross party group of Parliamentarians heard from internationally renowned Dutch ethicist Professor Theo Boer who, in 2002, initially supported the legalization …
Investing in palliative care will help build a more compassionate society Read More »
Dutch euthanasia supporter warns UK to be wary of ‘slippery slope to random killing of defenseless people’
A champion of the Dutch euthanasia system has admitted that British critics are right to warn that assisted dying is a slippery slope to ‘random killing of the defenceless’. Dr Bert Keizer said that the type of patients whose lives are ended in the Netherlands has spread far beyond the terminally ill and now includes physically …
Assisted suicide, care rationing threaten the disabled
New York is considering legalizing assisted suicide, but such a law would threaten the most vulnerable in society: the elderly, the terminally ill and people with disabilities. As someone who lives with a disability and advocates for the rights of people with disabilities, I strongly encourage the New York Legislature to reject assisted suicide, …
Assisted suicide, care rationing threaten the disabled Read More »
The Prioritization of Life-Saving Resources in a Pandemic Surge Crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic is shedding new light on the way patients are treated. In his recently published article, Dr. Jeffrey White discusses the prioritization of life-saving resources in a pandemic surge crisis. We must not allow brutal utilitarian calculus to sacrifice the principles of trust and equity on the altar of crisis, fear or latent …
The Prioritization of Life-Saving Resources in a Pandemic Surge Crisis Read More »
World Suicide Prevention Day: Here’s how to help
Every 40 seconds, someone in the world takes their own life. That’s at least 800,000 people a year, according to the World Health Organization, and the numbers are rising in some parts of the world. In the United States alone, suicide rates have increased by 35% between 1999 and 2018. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls …
World Suicide Prevention Day: Here’s how to help Read More »
Pandemic reveals unethical bias
Michael Hickson was a 46-year-old African American resident of Texas, a quadriplegic with a brain injury. Despite these challenges, he was leading a fulfilling life with his family. Then he contracted COVID-19. Over the objections of his wife, doctors at a Texas hospital refused to treat Hickson, stating that lifesaving care wouldn’t be justified …
Ableism in Medical Care Has Life or Death Consequences
Melissa Hickson’s husband, Michael, was a 46-year old quadriplegic suffering from COVID-19 who died after the hospital ended his treatment because of what they considered to be his low quality of life. Hickson’s experience, like mine, highlights the ableism that permeates our medical system and often results in a refusal to treat those whose …
Ableism in Medical Care Has Life or Death Consequences Read More »