The Vatican has signaled a nuanced shift in its stance on providing food and hydration to patients in a vegetative state. The stance is outlined in a new document published by the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV). The text, titled “Small Lexicon on End of Life”, indicates a slight departure from the Church’s previous position. Read more
A physically healthy 29-year-old woman was allowed to end her life through physician-assisted suicide in the Netherlands on the grounds of depression. The decision has sparked renewed debate about the sanctity of life and legislation. Zoraya ter Beek died by euthanasia on May 22. Despite being physically healthy, the woman from Oldenzaal, a town near Read more
France appears set to legalise assisted suicide but will delay the presentation of its new end-of-life bill until after Pope Francis visits Marseille on 22-23 September. Originally planned for early this month, the bill is due to include “active aid to die”. Exact details have not yet been revealed, but the long debate about end-of-life Read more
A plan to introduce assisted suicide to teens in Australia has Sydney’s Catholic archbishop sounding the alarm. The ACT Labor-Greens government’s proposal to allow teenagers as young as 14 to access voluntary assisted dying could see assisted suicide become available to “anyone that wants it”, says Archbishop Anthony Fisher (pictured). Every jurisdiction that has introduced Read more
What if our health or happiness does not determine the age at which we die, but by those who deem us surplus to requirements and a burden on the state? In US author Lionel Shriver’s well-reviewed novel, Should We Stay Or Should We Go, a middle-aged married couple makes a pact to end their own Read more
More palliative care investment is needed in New Zealand, says Royal College of GPs medical director Dr Bryan Betty. He’s concerned about ACT Party leader David Seymour’s desire to widen the End of Life Choice Act criteria. Seymour argues the change is necessary, as many who want assisted suicide are “missing out”. Seymour says this Read more
A Canadian woman experiencing ongoing long covid symptoms more than two years after catching the virus has applied for voluntary euthanasia. Tracey Thompson, a Toronto resident in her 50s, told CTV News she had begun applying for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) due to her enduring illness and lack of financial support. MAiD first became Read more
A Canadian woman experiencing ongoing Covid symptoms more than two years after catching the virus has applied for voluntary euthanasia. Due to her enduring illness and lack of financial support, Tracey Thompson, a Toronto resident in her 50s, told CTV News she had begun the process of applying for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), a Read more
Canada’s palliative care programmes are suffering while assisted suicide programmes are “growing like a cancer”. Fewer than 50 percent of patients wanting palliative care can access it. These findings contradict the Government’s stated plans to its improve its palliative care provision. Evidence is mounting that assisted suicide is actively damaging the already inadequate palliative care Read more