Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke has backed efforts to introduce assisted-dying laws in his country. Speaking on a podcast titled “Better off dead”, Mr Hawke said opposition to euthanasia “doesn’t meet any requirements of morality and good sense”. The former PM said he had discussed end-of-life options with his wife, Blanche D’Alpuget. “I have Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Euthanasia’
Questions over Catholic MP chairing end of life inquiry
Tuesday, April 5th, 2016
The suitability of a Catholic MP to chair a parliamentary select committee’s inquiry into ending one’s life in New Zealand has been questioned. National MP Simon O’Connor is chair of the Health Select Committee, which is considering the issue in response to a petition by former MP Maryan Street and others. Mr O’Connor once studied for Read more
Prelate says consistent ethic of life could mislead
Tuesday, February 9th, 2016
The Archbishop of Los Angeles has criticised ‘consistent ethic of life’ approaches for leading some people to see all issues as morally equivalent. Archbishop Jose Gomez told a Hispanic pro-life gathering recently that such thinking is mistaken, the Catholic News Agency reported. He said pro-life issues are not just one issue among many. The archbishop Read more
Saying yes to assisted suicide dangerous
Tuesday, November 24th, 2015
Saying yes to voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide would take New Zealand into dangerous territory, and was open to significant abuse, said Dr John Kleinsman. “The legalisation of voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide is not merely a matter of individual choice and should not be based on high-profile individual tragic cases, such as the Lecretia Read more
One conversation about euthanasia in 15 years of medicine
Friday, November 13th, 2015
In 15 years of practicing medicine, I have had one conversation about euthanasia and a handful about medical marijuana. Alternative therapy comes up most days but the vast majority of my conversations as an oncologist are about prolonging life. They are about doing the utmost to extract the last drops from a finite life, if Read more
An open letter on assisted suicide
Tuesday, November 10th, 2015
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
Demand for euthanasia cannot be limited to a defined group
Friday, October 23rd, 2015
“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
Voluntary euthanasia bill launched by David Seymour
Friday, October 16th, 2015A bill that would legalise voluntary euthanasia has been launched by ACT leader David Seymour. The controversial issue is the subject of a parliamentary inquiry, following Wellington lawyer Lecretia Seales’ bid for the courts to rule in favour of assisted suicide. Seales died in June after a long battle with cancer. Just hours before she Read more
Is dementia a fate worse than death?
Tuesday, October 13th, 2015
When Canada effectually legalized euthanasia, I was dismayed. Dementia victims, certain to be targets, can be got to “consent” without any fixed or firm idea what they are doing. With the ageing of the world’s population dementia has become the new leprosy. As Marcus Roberts notes in a recent post on Demography is Destiny, the Read more