I am a teacher in a high school in Porirua. Along with other qualifications I hold a BSc majoring in both Zoology and Psychology. My father passed away in 2004 due to stomach cancer and my grandmother was in long term care for three years as the result of becoming disabled after several strokes. As Read more
“The experience of those countries that have already legalised euthanasia shows that the demand for euthanasia cannot be limited to a carefully defined group,” say the New Zealand Catholic Bishops in their most recent statement on euthanasia. “In the Netherlands euthanasia was initially only available to dying adults with terminal illness who were able to Read more
Former Jesuit seminarian Governor Jerry Brown of California has signed into law a bill legalising physician-assisted suicide in the state. The new law is modelled on Oregon’s statute, passed in 1997, which saw 105 people die by assisted suicide in that state last year. Governor Brown said he had carefully read material opposing the new Read more
A bill aiming to legalise doctors helping terminally ill people commit suicide has been overwhelmingly defeated in Britain’s House of Commons. The private member’s bill, sponsored by Labour’s Rob Marris, was defeated 330-118, with 220 MPs absent at the vote on September 11. Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark said he hoped the result meant that Read more
Leaders of the United Kingdom’s major faith groups have called on their MPs to reject a bill that would allow legal assisted suicide. On Friday, the House of Commons will debate the Assisted Dying (No 2) Bill, put forward by Labour’s Rob Marris. The bill would allow patients judged as having no more than six Read more
The New Zealand Catholic Bishops have welcomed the Terms of Reference released by Parliament’s Health Select Committee for an investigation into ending a person’s life in New Zealand. The inquiry will look at the factors that contributed to a person wanting to end their life, as well as the experiences of other countries who have Read more
An alliance of Christian and Jewish clerics has voiced support for plans to change the law to allow a form of assisted suicide in the UK. In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, several [Anglican] bishops, priests and rabbis argued that, far from being a sin, helping terminally ill people to commit suicide should be Read more
The Medical Association does not support doctors deliberately helping patients die, no matter the circumstances or law says New Zealand Medical Association chairman Stephen Child. He said that doctors should be removed from any process aimed at making decisions about dying. Doctors were not trained to kill people, were not equipped to determine whether a Read more
Announcing an inquiry into voluntary euthanasia on Wednesday, chairman of the health select committee, Simon O’Connor, said members were “ready to engage” on what was an “important conversation that needs to be had”. The inquiry will consider how best to involve the public and what questions and terms of reference need to be included, he Read more
Recently Care Alliance participated in the High Court case Seales v Attorney General. It needs financial support to help pay the legal fees for this case. Care Alliance consists of a number of organisations who are united in their opposition to the legalisation of euthanasia. These mainly small participating organisations do not have big financial resources. Read more