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
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Vermont Neglect Case Points to Danger of Legal 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
NY High Court Rejects Doublespeak, Finds No Right to 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
A Vermont Doctor’s Letter to the American Medical Association
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
Pressure to Die: A Case Study of Abuse of Act 39
Eighteen months ago True Dignity ran the following story about an elderly Medicaid patient who felt pressured to request assisted suicide by caregivers in the facility where she was admitted for recovery from a fall. The patient did not have a terminal diagnosis. Beth Neill, the patient's daughter, who reported the abuse to True Dignity, has since passed away. We are running … [Read more...] about Pressure to Die: A Case Study of Abuse of Act 39