Belgium’s legal system has granted the wish of a long incarcerated Mass-going prisoner to die by assisted suicide. Frank Van Den Bleeken, 50, had been in prison for decades after being convicted of murder, rape and other sexual crimes. He had argued that he had no prospect of release, since he could not overcome his violent Read more
Dr Philip Nitschke, the Australian euthanasia campaigner dubbed “Dr Death”, has had his medical registration suspended with effect throughout Australia. The South Australian Board of the Medical Board of Australia used its emergency powers in making the decision to “keep the public safe”. The measure is an interim action, separate to other inquiries the regulator Read more
Britain’s House of Lords has allowed a second reading to a bill that would legalise assisted suicide, which is currently a crime. The assisted dying bill, proposed by the former Lord Chancellor, Charles Falconer, would allow doctors to prescribe a lethal dose to mentally competent patients who have less than six months to live. But Read more
Have the body-snatchers taken Lord Carey? This is what I ask myself as I read his support for assisted suicide. He comes up with all the usual clichés used to justify turning doctors into assisted killers. Compassion, care, but worst of all, Christian love. He abuses each and every concept. Lord Carey also conflates a Read more
Death Cafes are the latest twist to New Zealand’s cafe culture. However, interest in Tauranga’s Death Cafes has been disappointingly low says chairwoman, of the Tauranga’s Voluntary Euthanasia Society and rest home nurse Tess Nesdale. The society hosted its first Death Cafe in April at the Grindz Cafe, but with such low interest the society plans Read more
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa has backed the right of the terminally ill to be able to legally end their lives. Writing in England’s Observer newspaper, Archbishop Tutu said laws preventing this are an affront to those affected and their families. Calling for a “mind shift” in the right to die debate, he said Read more
Prime Minister John Key has signalled possible loosening of euthanasia laws. But he said he would not vote for a bill proposed by Labour MP Maryan Street. Street’s bill allows any adult suffering from a condition likely to cause their death within 12 months to request medical assistance to die. “If it’s the same bill, I’ll Read more
A deacon who allegedly killed at least 40 hospital patients in Belgium believes he was acting out of compassion for them, because their suffering was excessive. Although euthanasia is legal in Belgium, Ivo Poppe, 57, is facing charges because there is no evidence patients consented to his actions. Poppe allegedly killed his victims at the Read more
“The right to die would very quickly become a duty to die,” says the director of the New Zealand Catholic Bioethics Centre, John Kleinsman. He was speaking to close to 140 people at a public meeting in New Plymouth last week. Kleinsman said his opposition to euthanasia was based on social concerns that its introduction, Read more
The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister David Cameron has expressed his opposition to an assisted suicide bill before the issue is debated in Parliament Mr Cameron argued that people who are terminally ill will feel unfairly pressurised into ending their lives. Mr Cameron has opposed assisted dying before, but he was speaking out because a private Read more