Administrators

With the April 8 signing of Hawaii’s assisted suicide (AS) law, AS is now legal in 6 US states and the District of Columbia. Since Oregon first legalized AS in 1997, it has taken well-funded, determined, and persistent proponents 21 years of hard fighting to get 6 new legalizations.  We should not forget that, thanks to its less well funded but equally persistent and … [Read more...] about Bad News, Good News, and Some Thoughts About What We Must Keep Fighting

On January 15, 2018, the Vermont Department of Health presented its first report to the legislature and public on the implementation of the state’s physician assisted suicide law.  The legislature had passed the law, Act 39, in 2013 and replaced it in 2015 with Act 27, which maintains Act 39 under “Oregon-style” regulations, including a requirement for biennial … [Read more...] about Almost Information-Free But Quite Revealing First Report on VT Assisted Suicide

This horrific story of neglect and exploitation is, unfortunately, not an unusual one.  A caregiver, after neglecting his charge, filed a Medicaid claim after his death. This caregiver was caught because he was not careful to cover up his neglect, but it would not have been hard for him to clean up and escape punishment. The obvious danger of adding legal assisted suicide … [Read more...] about Vermont Neglect Case Points to Danger of Legal Assisted Suicide

The article linked below was first published in The National Review, then on the blog of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/451145/ny-high-court-rejects-assisted-suicide-right Wesley Smith points out that, while the NY Court of Appeals' unanimous rejection of a constitutional right to so-called "Aid in Dying" was not unusual, the … [Read more...] about NY High Court Rejects Doublespeak, Finds No Right to Assisted Suicide

For more than a year, rumors have circulated that the American Medical Association is about to change its long-held position of opposition to the legalization of assisted suicide.  Whether or not that is true, only time will tell. A Vermont physician wrote the following eloquent letter to the AMA, expressing her vehement opposition to any softening of its opposition.  It is … [Read more...] about A Vermont Doctor’s Letter to the American Medical Association