SINCE 2002 Belgium has been one of the very few countries in the world in which doctors can perform euthanasia. Patients need to be in a hopeless state of constant and unbearable physical or mental pain that cannot be alleviated, or suffering as a result...
There is so much we get wrong in the provision of health and care services. Everyone has a story: of misdiagnosis, of receiving the wrong treatment, of hopeless gaps in communication or care. Sometimes such things happen through deliberate cruelty or neglect, but more often...
On Dec. 30, 2017, as snowflakes fell outside his window, my husband and the love of my life, J.J. Hanson, took his last breath. He was 36 years old. I was with him, holding our two young sons in my arms. We had known the day...
OPPOSITION to assisted dying is usually derided as being religious in nature, which is easier than confronting hard questions or inconvenient truths. It is easier to shut down “religious bigots” than to consider what they say, just as it is easier to use the term...
Bioethicists have for several decades discussed whether Physician Assisted Death (PAD) can be distinguished from other forms of suicide. The question is of critical importance for suicide prevention initiatives in countries where PAD is legal, as it may be the case that the practice of...
I am an attorney and president of Choice is an Illusion, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Formed in 2010, Choice is an Illusion fights against assisted suicide and euthanasia throughout the United States and in other countries. David Grube’s Aug. 5 guest commentary in The Star said Oregon’s...
The American Medical Association recently voted to request further clarification of a report on physician-assisted suicide published by its Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs. That may sound dull and procedural, but it has an unmistakable significance for the doctors' group, which has always opposed...
Assisted suicide is becoming more popular throughout the developed world. The New Zealand Parliament is currently debating its legalization. A legalization proposal in Guernsey in the United Kingdom was recently voted down, but in nearby Jersey a majority of politicians up for election support legalization....
A disputed case of euthanasia in Belgium, involving the death of a dementia patient who never formally asked to die, has again raised concerns about weak oversight in a country with some of the world's most liberal euthanasia laws. The case is described in a letter...
An Ontario man suffering from an incurable neurological disease has provided CTV News with audio recordings that he says are proof that hospital staff offered him medically assisted death, despite his repeated requests to live at home. Roger Foley, 42, who earlier this year launched a...