‘Quebec’s law permitting assisted dying and voluntary euthanasia is now in force, even though the federal government in Ottawa is still drawing up national legislation on the right to die. Quebec has been allowed to go ahead with its own law after the province’s highest court rejected a challenge led by a physicians’ group and a disabled patient.’
See:
Voluntary euthanasia is now legal in Quebec, says appeal court
‘A former emergency doctor has reportedly tried to kill himself after being convicted of poisoning one of his terminally ill patients.
Nicolas Bonnemaison, 54, was handed a two-year suspended sentence last week for killing one of his patients’.
‘One week later he was found slumped in a vehicle in southwestern France after reportedly trying to gas himself with exhaust fumes, according the Daily Telegraph.
He was flown to hospital by helicopter where he is in a serious condition.
In a trial that has gripped France, Bonnemaison was accused of poisoning “particularly vulnerable people” – five women and two men – between March 2010 and July 2011.
He said he gave the injections to “relieve but not to kill” patients who were suffering when he appeared in front of the appeals court, according to The Local.
This month the appeals court acquitted him of six of the deaths, backing a lower court ruling on the case.’
‘Assisted dying is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. In France, a law allowing medics to place terminally ill patients in a deep sleep until they die was overwhelmingly agreed in March, CCN reported at the time, while UK MPs overwhelmingly rejected plans to give patients “the right to die” last month.’
Related Articles:
French euthanasia doctor Nicolas Bonnemaison accused of poisoning patient ‘tries to kill himself’
French ‘euthanasia’ doctor gets symbolic suspended sentence- The Telegraph
‘The California legislature on Friday approved a bill to legalise physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients despite opposition from religious and disability rights groups, sending it to Democratic Governor Jerry Brown for his approval or veto.
The bill would allow mentally competent patients to request a prescription that would end their lives if two doctors agree the patients have only six months to live.
The measure, based on a similar law in Oregon, passed the state Senate on Friday on a vote of 23-14, after passing the Assembly on Thursday.’
See:
‘Today, MP Rob Marris’s Assisted Dying Bill will be brought before the Commons for its second reading. If I can get a seat, I will be in the public gallery myself, having followed the heartfelt and compelling arguments presented on both sides with more interest than most.
I am currently undergoing my third round of chemotherapy for recurring triple negative breast cancer. It is an aggressive form of cancer with more limited treatment options available than with other types.
The quick succession of recurrences in my case means it is considered incurable. I have recently joined a clinical trial and do try to retain some sense of hope, but the reality is that I will most likely die from this disease.
It is not a question of if, but when.
If the Assisted Dying bill were to pass, it would provide me, and at least as importantly my children, family and friends, with peace of mind that I won’t have to suffer an unnecessarily agonising death.’
See:
Breast cancer sufferer: ‘I don’t want to die, but Parliament needs to let me go’
‘MPs have rejected plans for a right to die in England and Wales in their first vote on the issue in almost 20 years.
In a free vote in the Commons, 118 MPs were in favour and 330 against plans to allow some terminally ill adults to end their lives with medical supervision.
In a passionate debate, some argued the plans allowed a “dignified and peaceful death” while others said they were “totally unacceptable”.
Pro-assisted dying campaigners said the result showed MPs were out of touch.
Under the proposals, people with fewer than six months to live could have been prescribed a lethal dose of drugs, which they had to be able to take themselves. Two doctors and a High Court judge would have needed to approve each case.’
See:
Assisted Dying Bill: MPs reject ‘right to die’ law
Assisted dying: Hearing arguments for and against a Bill that’s divided Britain- The Independent
‘People must be helped to take their own lives without being forced to travel to Switzerland, a former Crown Prosecution Service chief has urged as politicians prepare to debate a possible change in the law.
Sir Keir Starmer said it is time politicians protected compassionate loved ones from prosecution by legalising assisted dying.
Last year at least 35 Britons went to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to end their lives, campaign group Dignity in Dying said.
A fresh Commons bid to give terminally-ill patients the right to die will be considered when Parliament returns next month.
Sir Keir, now a Labour MP, told The Times: “The law needs to be changed.’
See:
Former chief prosecutor says laws must change to allow people to die
‘Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has attacked the idea that bearing excruciating pain while terminally ill is a “noble thing”, in a message of support for the Assisted Dying Bill.
See:
Lord Carey: Euthanasia for terminally ill is ‘profoundly Christian’
“What alternative do I have? The other methods, to my knowledge, are either illegal or I would need to go to [the Dignitas clinic in] Switzerland, and I want to die in my own bed.”
These were the words behind the decision made by Jean Davies, 86, to end her life through a 5 week fast, which she admited to being an ‘intolerable’ method but the only option for her to exercise her right to die.
In England and Wales both euthanasia and assisted dying are illegal.
She passed away on the 1st October 2014.
See:
Right-to-die campaigner who starved herself said she had ‘no alternative’
The deaf Belgian 45-year-old twins requested to die after learning from doctors that they would eventually go blind due to a ‘genetically caused form of glaucoma’. After having been denied by their local hospital, the brothers finally found a medical institution willing to provide and perform the lethal injection almost 2 years later.
This case was long in the press and was a great moral dilemma among the Courts. In the end, Tony Nicklinson, who suffered locked-in syndrome, lost his fight for his legal suicide. But 6 days later he got his wished and died after his condition worsened post-trial.
See: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/health/news/article3515356.ece
Issue Continued: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article3647531.ece
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