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Michael Cook

Michael Cook likes bad puns, bushwalking and black coffee. He did a BA at Harvard University in the US where it was good for networking, but moved to Sydney where it wasn’t. He also did a PhD on an obscure corner of Australian literature. He has worked as a book editor and magazine editor and has published articles in magazines and newspapers in the US, the UK and Australia. Currently he is the editor of BioEdge, a newsletter about bioethics, and MercatorNet. He also writes a bioethics column for Australasian Science and contributes occasional op-ed pieces to newspapers and websites in the US, UK and Australia.

A dying bioethicist warns of the peril of euthanasia
Michael Cook | 23 Nov 2010
Melbourne bioethicist Nicholas Tonti-Filippini is dying and in pain. He has written a letter to the Premier of South Australia, Mike Rann, urging him not to support Voluntary Euthanasia Bill 2010. This is one of the most eloquent and cogent expressions of the argument against euthanasia that I have ever read. Here are a few paragraphs.

Doggie euthanasia is not pretty, either
Michael Cook | 20 Nov 2010
Target, on right“Dogs get euthanased; why not humans?” is one of the oldest chesnuts in the euthanasia debate. One counter-argument is the experience of a recently euthanased dog.

Do the disabled really want death?
Michael Cook | 19 Nov 2010
One of the most eloquent voices on euthanasia in Australia is Dr Erik Leipoldt, a quadriplegic who is a lecturer at the Centre for Research into Disability and Society at Curtin University of Technology, in Western Australia. Alarmed at the prospect of legalized euthanasia, Dr Leipoldt has written a very persuasive essay in Australian Policy Online arguing that legalization would hurt the disabled most.

Blow for assisted suicide campaign in Scottish Parliament
Michael Cook | 19 Nov 2010
A committee of Scotland’s Parliament has recommended by a vote of 5 to 1 that a bill to legalise assisted suicide be thrown out. Under the bill, terminally ill people over 16 would have the right to kill themselves with the help of a doctor.

Steep rise in official Dutch euthanasia
Michael Cook | 13 Nov 2010
An English translation of the government report on 2009 euthanasia cases in the Netherlands has been released. It includes the statistics about reported cases plus a number of fascinating case studies, including three in which the doctor did not comply with the criteria.

Euthanasia: the musical
Michael Cook | 13 Nov 2010
It had to happen: a musical about euthanasia. Of course, nearly every film coming out of Bollywood is a musical, but director Sanjay Leela Bhansali has tried to make Guzaarish (The Request) a lush melodrama with Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai in the lead roles.

Is activists’ favourite suicide drug “torturous”?
Michael Cook | 13 Nov 2010
It is unlikely to derail activists, but the drug of choice for assisted suicide activists is being described as “untested, [and] potentially dangerous, and could well result in a torturous execution” of an Oklahoma man on death row.

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