Tuscany approved a bill regulating medically assisted suicide Tuesday, becoming Italy’s first region to approve a right-to-die law in the Roman Catholic country after the constitutional court effectively legalized the procedure in 2019. Click here to read the article
California State Senator Catherine Blakespear is reigniting the debate over assisted suicide by seeking to expand the state’s End of Life Option Act (EOLOA). The 2016 law, which allows terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to…
Governor John Carney Friday vetoed legislation that would have allowed people with a terminal illness who are able to make sound decisions for themselves to get access to medication that would end their lives. House Bill 140 received final legislative approval…
A citizens’ jury has overwhelmingly backed the legalisation of assisted dying for terminally ill people after hearing from experts over a period of eight weeks. Twenty out of 28 jurors based in England agreed the law should be changed, with seven disagreeing…
Euthanasia in the simplest sense involves intentionally ending a person's life to relieve ongoing suffering such as suffering from an irrecoverable or an incurable state of being and is a complex and evolving issue in the Indian landscape. While death…
A report into the development of voluntary assisted dying laws in the Northern Territory has recommended the government legalise the practice in line with other Australian jurisdictions. Released on Wednesday, the NT government-commissioned report summarised the findings of an independent…
Pippa Hudson of CapeTalk interviews Willem Landman, co-founder of Dignity South Africa. Dr. Sean Davison was detained in the United Kingdom in July of 2024 on charges of assisting suicide.
French President Emmanuel Macron on July 23, 2024 announced a national debate on end-of-life options that will include exploring the possibility of legalizing assisted suicide. A 2016 French law provides that doctors can keep terminally ill patients sedated before death…
The Pontifical Academy for Life released a new booklet to aid in the public debate on end-of-life issues. The booklet, published only in Italian July 2, offers clear definitions and the Catholic Church's teaching on bioethics. The goal of the…
A mother has admitted giving her terminally ill seven-year-old son a large dose of morphine to stop his suffering and "quietly end his life". Antonya Cooper, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, said her son Hamish had stage 4 cancer and was in…
It’s been just over three weeks since the New York state Legislature again failed to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act, but the sting is still fresh for advocates of the proposed legislation. The act — which was first introduced…
In May, France's parliament began debating a controversial right-to-die bill backed by President Emmanuel Macron, who has made it a flagship reform of his second term. If the bill becomes law -- at the end of discussions likely to last…
Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter has said she is considering breaking the law to aid her mother’s wish of assisted dying.The 83-year-old, who fronted the BBC show That’s Life!, is one of the leading advocates for assisted suicide in the UK after being diagnosed…
In the Netherlands, this is known as duo-euthanasia. It’s legal, and it’s rare - but every year, more Dutch couples choose to end their lives this way. Jan and Els were married for almost five decades. In early June, they…
Two women with incurable cancer are urging the next UK prime minister to allow a vote on assisted dying in the first 100 days of the new parliament and free them from fear of a painful death. Sophie Blake, 51,…
Legislation legalizing medical aid in dying in Delaware is headed to the governor’s desk after narrowly passing in the Delaware State Senate. The bill passed the Delaware Senate on an 11-10 vote June 25th after failing 9-9 last week. Senate…
March 27, 2024 - Scottish Parliamentarian Liam McArthur MSP introduced Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) bill on March 27, 2024. It will allow terminally ill adults in Scotland, who are eligible, to lawfully request, and be provided with, assistance by…
In Delaware, a Medical Aid in Dying bill just passed the state House of Representatives and is now up for consideration by the state Senate. If you live in Delaware, it's time to call, write, and email your state senator…
California End of Life Option Act Report 2022 Data Report
We'd like to share this great series of podcasts recorded by Andrew Flack in Oceanside, CA. He describes his project as "the story of a 33 year old man with terminal cancer exploring the physical, social-emotional, and spiritual elements correlated…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giTet2PLneU In this video, Christie shares the personal story of her mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at age 88. With no prospect of improvement, Christie's mother decided to end her life at Pegasos in Switzerland. Christie has carefully…
“We have to remember people who are eligible are already dying, this is just the way that they die – not the fact they will die.” https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/euthanasia-debate/300443715/assisted-dying-now-legal-in-new-zealand-end-of-life-choice-act-a-huge-relief-for-some
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/people-want-die-will-countries-allow-euthanasia-rcna3307?fbclid=IwAR1JowKHVmEkCH_FAKZy-7UVmpboWLHmdnyjP8LjtfT3H-Q0-wPTfPM2QpE
A group of doctors has just filed a lawsuit California challenging the self-administration requirement of the EOLOA. The complaint filed on 8/27/2021 states: "However, there is one group of Californians who cannot avail themselves of the benefits of this compassionate…
Available for pre-order and will ship July July 27, 2021. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/voluntarily-stopping-eating-and-drinking-9780190080730?lang=en&cc=ca#
A resource for patient-to-doctor referrals for medical aid in dying and educational information for clinical practitioners. https://www.acamaid.org/
In an article adapted from the newly-released book "The Inevitable," Dr. Lonny Shavelson, Chairman of the American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying talks about his experiences prescribing life-ending drugs to terminally ill people in California and how he…
A daughter's story of her father's decision to end his life when he lost his independence and freedom due to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He was facing quadriplegia. Her dad sent her a text message…
At the end of her training in internal medicine, Dr Puri was doubting the professional choice she had made, questioning if medicine was really what she wanted to do with her life. At the suggestion of a colleague, Dr Puri…
58 year old Kelly Bone, with early onset Alzheimer's, discusses her plans to go to a clinic for euthanasia. One of the requirements for all of the US medical aid in dying laws is mental capacity; Alzheimer's patients cannot use…
This important discussion highlights the ways in which faith-based institutions impose religious value based treatment decisions on doctors and patients. Most often, patients enter faith-based institutions without any idea that the institution is bound by Ethical Rights Directives which can…
The conference was held in Berkeley, CA on 2/13-15/2020. Some things discussed: Drug protocols Dr. Shavelson, in conjunction with anesthesiologist Carol Parrot, have researched why some people - ‘outliers’ take so long to die. They have developed a list of…
94-year old Rosemary Bowen experienced a loss of independence after a spinal compression fracture. She was clear throughout her life and after the compression fracture that once she was unable to care for herself she wanted to end her life.…
A Friends at the End talk by Dr Ellen Wiebe, a Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) provider from Canada. Dr. Wiebe talks about the criteria for physician aid in dying in Canada and tells us about some of her patients,…
This video shows a woman with congestive heart failure who chose to die by Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED), or Sterbefasten or Death Fast, as known in Germany. She died at home after 10 days, with round-the-clock care from…
The issue of advance directives for dementia is a hot topic in the right to die field. In the US there is little legal guidance on this issue. Ethicists argue whether it is ethical to honor these documents once a…
Opponents of assisted dying often use as an argument that assisted dying is not necessary because good quality palliative care can alleviate suffering at end of life. This report from England concludes that 17 people a day suffer at the…
by Thaddeus Mason Pope, J.D. The Asco Post, June 25, 2018 Attorney and law professor Thad Pope discusses the fact that Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED) is legally more accessible to terminally ill patients than Medical or Physician Aid…
The 2019 Annual Report is now out For 2018 337 California individuals died from ingestion of aid-in-dying drugs, a rate of 12.6 per 10,000 deaths based on 268,4743 deaths to California residents in 2018. 23 of those received their prescriptions…
Philip Nitschke makes the point that it is an illusion that patients have choice in Medical Aid in Dying. It is the doctor who decides and no one else. The right the patient has is simply to ask the doctor…
By Ryan Warner, Colorado Matters Podcast. May 1, 2019 A Colorado physician talks about medical aid in dying in Colorado. As he notes, you must ask about aid in dying. It is almost universal in the states that allow it…
by Dheeraj Raina, MD, psychiatrist - Kevin MD - March 27, 2019 A physician explains the good death and the comfort that hospice provided to his young wife and their family as she was dying from cancer. "Two of the…
by Dan Ayre - This.org - March 25, 2019 A husband relates the story of his wife's experience with Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) in Manitoba, Canada. In Canada, different provinces handle MAID differently. Two things stand out: 1. In…
By Sammy Caiola - capitol pubic radio - January 29, 2018 "Barbara Koenig, head of bioethics at the UC San Francisco, said bureaucracy can sometimes keep patients from exercising choice at life’s end. It’s a timing problem. If their disease…
Excellent overview of how the drug formulas under Death with Dignity Laws came about. by Jennie Dear, The Atlantic, Jan 22, 2019
by Matt Vickers - North & South, March 20, 2019 In Switzerland, providing the means for a person to take their own life is legal if done from non-selfish motives. '“Giving access to assisted dying is, in fact, suicide prevention…
This video features Dr. Stefanie Green, co-founder and current President of the Canadian Association of MAID Assessors and Providers (CAMAP). Stefanie is medical advisor to the BC Ministry of Health medical aid in dying oversight committee and moderator of CAMAP's…
Sept. 16, 2018 Speaker: Dr. Bob Uslander Dying Wish, the award winning 20-minute documentary was shown. It chronicles the journey of an eighty-year old retired surgeon with end-stage cancer, on hospice, who chooses to stop eating and drinking with the…
By Katie Hafner - New York Times. Aug. 10, 2018 "One in six hospital patients in the United States is now treated in a Catholic facility, according to the Catholic Health Association, a membership organization that includes 90 percent of…
By Michelle Faust - laist June 25, 2018 "Dr. David Wallenstein, a palliative care doctor at UCLA Medical Center, said, "my impression is that people who tend to think in terms of aid-in-dying medications probably are people who really need…
By Joseph Pierre, Psychiatrist - in Aeon May 15, 2018 "Indeed, the American Veterinary Medical Association Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals (2013) acknowledges that ‘there is no consensus on when it is appropriate to let [a] life go’, but…
Sponsor: Final Exit Network A Colorado woman with progressive multiple sclerosis turns to Life Circle in Switzerland to end her life with peace and dignity.
By Catherine Sonquist Forest - Vox, Sep 21, 2017 "Aid in dying has been legal in California for a year now. Many of my patients have been waiting for this." Read More
By Tracy Seipel - Bay Area News Group September 2016 "It’s a scene being played out throughout California, as scores of terminally ill patients are learning to their dismay — and outrage — that the state’s new aid-in-dying law comes…
First woman to take advantage of California's End of Life Option Act ? Opinion Piece by Kelly Davis - Voice of San Diego, August 9, 2016 Woman describes the experience of her sister, who had ALS, taking advantage of the…
NPR Host Diane Rehm discusses her book, On My Own and about how the death of her husband inspired her to take up a controversial cause: the right to die in America. She is fierce advocate for the right to…
PBS News Hour. March 3, 2016 Diane Rehm's husband, who had Parkinson's, was not eligible medical aid dying. He chose to voluntarily stop eating and drinking in order to end his life. "I rage at a system that wouldn't allow…
An Economist film Emily is 24 years old, physically healthy and lives in Belgium, where euthanasia is legal, even for children.
No one disputes that it’s against the law to take another person’s life, but is it against the law to sit with someone and watch while they commit suicide? We meet an elderly woman who sneaks around the country as…
Documentary of the process of dying by Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking. It follows a retired surgeon with end-stage cancer on hospice who chose this method to end his life. Click here for information from the producers about the film…
Award Winning Documentary - including 2011 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Award This exceptional film documents how physician aid in dying works in Oregon by following a woman with liver cancer over the months following her diagnosis. There…
by James Leonard Park Criteria for differentiating rational from irrational self-delivered death.
by Faye Girsh, President Hemlock Society of San Diego Love him or hate him, Jack Kevorkian was the face of the right-to-die movement for almost a decade. As he forced people to confront the struggle of suffering people seeking a…
Day 1 -- Monday, April 4, 2011 Jury selection begins this morning in the historical case of Arizona vs Dr. Larry Egbert (who was the Medical Director for the Final Exit Network) and Frank Langsner (who was an Exit Guide…
By Atul Gawande - The New Yorker - Aug. 20, 2010 "Our medical system is excellent at trying to stave off death with eight-thousand-dollar-a-month chemotherapy, three-thousand-dollar-a-day intensive care, five-thousand-dollar-an-hour surgery. But, ultimately, death comes, and no one is good at…
A quiz that tests whether you might be a candidate for an assisted, hastened death.
The Colombian Constitution provides a solid basis for decriminalizing merciful homicide, when a person who is undergoing intense suffering caused by an incurable illness, requests that it be put to an end, which implies causing death. I will briefly refer…