Euthanasia

New first for Belgium: prisoner euthanasia

Michael Cook | 16 September 2012

No doubt about it: Belgium is the place to be for creative applications of legalised euthanasia. Last year Belgian transplant surgeons revealed that they had harvested organs from four people who were voluntarily euthanased. Now it appears that one prisoner, a rapist-murderer, has already died after voluntary euthanasia and another has requested it.

Euthanasia denied to two paralyzed British men

Michael Cook | 18 August 2012

Two severely paralyzed British men have lost a High Court case to allow doctors to end their lives without fear of prosecution.

Doubts emerge about Dutch guidelines for terminal sedation

Michael Cook | 23 July 2012

Should deep, continuous sedation at the end of life really be treated as normal medical practice in the Netherlands, ask three Dutch authors in the Journal of Medical Ethics. Although they do not appear to oppose euthanasia, they argue that “morally problematic aspects inherent to palliative sedation do not get the attention they deserve” under current guidelines. Since palliative sedation accounted for more than 12% of deaths in the Netherlands in 2010, this is an important issue.

Victory for euthanasia foes in the UK

Robert Colquhoun | 29 June 2012

The British Medical Association has voted not to change its stand on assisted suicide from opposition to neutrality.

Let’s give intellectually disabled the right to euthanasia, say Belgian humanists

Michael Cook | 27 April 2012

People with intellectual disabilities, all children and people with dementia should be able to request euthanasia, the Belgian Liberal Humanist Association (HVV) has declared.

Questions asked about euthanasia for brain-damaged Dutch prince

Michael Cook | 03 March 2012

Dutch Prince Johan Friso, brain-damaged after being buried by an avalanche in Austria last month, has been transferred to Wellington Hospital, in London. Doctors believe that the 43-year-old is unlikely to recover consciousness, although will be weeks before they have a clear idea of his prospects.

Santorum sparks controversy over Dutch euthanasia

Michael Cook | 02 March 2012

So when US presidential hopeful Rick Santorum described the state of euthanasia in the Netherlands on February 3 in a forum in Missouri, he failed to kick a goal. In fact, the Washington Post fact checker, who is the son of Dutch migrants and whose uncle was euthanased, disparaged his “bogus statistics” and awarded him four Pinicchios. He was ridiculed in the New York Times and on Radio Netherlands.

Yes Minister’s guide to reports on euthanasia

Paul Russell | 22 February 2012

“Never suggest an inquiry unless you know the outcome beforehand.” A commonly used phrase in politics and, most likely, the kind of advice Sir Humphrey Appleby might have given Jim Hacker MP in the British political comedy, Yes Minister!

Is the slippery slope at work in Belgium?

Michael Cook | 11 December 2011

The “slippery slope” is often derided as a logical fallacy. But when one of the leading advocacy groups for euthanasia in Belgium posts an article entitled “Euthanasie: tijd voor de volgende stap, Euthanasia, time for the next step”, it’s hard not to think that it may not be so illogical after all.

Bulgarian parliament spurns euthanasia

Michael Cook | 05 September 2011

The Bulgarian Parliament has rejected a euthanasia bill by a vote of 59 to 13, with 29 abstentions.

Half of Austrian medical students favour euthanasia

Michael Cook | 29 March 2011

The proportion of medical students in Austria who are sympathetic to voluntary euthanasia has more than tripled in the past ten years. According to researchers at the Medical University of Graz acceptance of active euthanasia increased from 16.3% to 29.1% to 49.5% in the periods from 2001 to 2003/04 to 2008/09. In the general population it rose from about 49% to 62% between 2000 and 2009.

UK Doctors consistently oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide

Michael Cook | 16 March 2011

A review of research carried out over 20 years suggests that UK doctors appear to consistently oppose euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS). The findings -- which appear in the latest issue of the journal Palliative Medicine, -- highlight a gap between doctors' attitudes and those of the UK public.

South Australian MP seeks abortion on demand

Paul Russell | 16 March 2011

On the 10th of March, backbencher Steph Key MP introduced a new style of euthanasia and assisted suicide bill not seen before in South Australia. It is much like the draft bill circulated by the Health Minister at the time of the debate on the Parnell bill late last year.

Aruna Shanbaug can live (part 2)

Michael Cook | 10 March 2011

In the case of the brain-damaged woman Aruna Shanbaug India’s Supreme Court has created an important legal precedent, but it may have failed to clarify some important issues.

Most locked-in patients are happy, study finds

Michael Cook | 27 February 2011

What medical condition would definitely make life not worth living? At the top of most people’s lists would be locked-in syndrome: complete paralysis and inability to communicate other than by blinking. It was made famous in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a book and a film about French journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby.

Hawaii legislature rejects assisted suicide

Jared Yee | 10 February 2011

A Hawaii legislative panel Monday unanimously voted down a bill that would have legalised physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill, quashing the possibility that it would become legal this year.

French Senate rejects euthanasia

Michael Cook | 02 February 2011

After a passionate debate the French Senate has scuppered a bill allowing physician-assisted suicide. The margin was convincing – 170 to 142.

“Why do they keep children with these disabilities alive?”

Michael Cook | 21 January 2011

Is the tragic drowning of a disabled toddler in Sydney an indirect consequence of publicity given to the merits of legalised euthanasia?

Netherlands marks ten years of legal euthanasia

Michael Cook | 02 December 2010

The tenth anniversary of the legalization of euthanasia in the Netherlands on November 28 passed almost unnoticed.

Euthanasia: the musical

Michael Cook | 13 November 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.

Page 1 of 2 :  1 2 >