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Category Archive for 'Opinion Pieces'

What happened to the pioneering right-to-die group When Gerald Larue and Derek Humphry entered the Los Angeles Press Club on 12 August 1980 to announce to the world the formation of the Hemlock Society, there were many doubters that it could last. After all, it was the only organization in America currently saying that assisted [...]

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The Golden Gate Bridge operators in San Francisco have put up a web site to invite comments on the placement of a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge: www.ggbsuicidebarrier.org Some have commented that a suicide barrier should not be placed because, just as women have the right to decide if they should give birth, [...]

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Welcome Back Dr. Kevorkian In a June 1st MSNBC editorial, Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, called Dr. Jack Kevorkian a “dangerous killer.” Melody Youk, wife of Thomas Youk, whose Kevorkian-assisted suicide was broadcast on “60 Minutes,” said, “I don’t consider it murder. I consider it humane.” Youk’s mother and brothers agree. [...]

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By Derek Humphry The release of Dr Jack Kevorkian is welcome news. He has suffered the eight years of imprisonment with calm and fortitude and deserves a peaceful retirement. But the thought he might have any influence on further developments does not make any sense. And while we are currently among the media circus surrounding [...]

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ONE in five people will die a “shameful death” alone, ravaged by dementia and without dignity, new British research claims. A book by sociology professor Allan Kellehear, A Social History Of Dying, argues this kind of death would be considered “shameful” by previous generations. In a bleak portrait of death in the 21st century, the [...]

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A NEW WAY TO SECURE THE RIGHT TO DIE: LAWS AGAINST CAUSING PREMATURE DEATH SYNOPSIS: Most recent attempts to secure the right to die have focused on adding provisions to the health-care sections of our laws so that physicians could prescribe life-ending drugs to be taken by the patient when he or she chooses to [...]

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The Daily Herald in Utah posed this question: Should the state allow an inmate to waive his death sentence appeals because he is chronically ill and wants to end his misery, as in assisted suicide? U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell was confronted with that question when Ronnie Lee Gardner said he is suffering too much [...]

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Four out of five people in Britain believe the law should allow a doctor to end the life of a terminally ill patient who is in pain if they wish to die. In a finding confirming that British public opinion is at odds with the law, the British Social Attitudes Survey reveals strong support for [...]

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What do you call death and an assisted death? By Derek Humphry Recent controversy in Oregon about the best term to describe how a doctor helps a terminally ill person to die under the Oregon Death With Dignity Act (1994) set me thinking about all the terms we use to describe ways of dying and [...]

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For those interested in reading about the subject of the right to choose to die when at life’s end, these sites offer some thought-provoking information 1. Eopinons 2. assistedsuicide.org

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