In a significant move, the NZ Catholic bishops are promoting open and informed life discussion through a modernised and broadened document, Te Kahu o te Ora – A Consistent Ethic of Life. The modernisation seeks to fill a twenty-six-year gap and reflect some of the modern challenges. Dr John Kleinsman, director of the NZ Catholic Read more
Seven years ago I was told I had a 25 percent chance of living five years without the cancer returning; two years ago I was given 12 months to live. Plainly the upcoming End of Life Choice referendum concerns me, others like me, and all those involved in my care. I’ve just put the phone Read more
There has never been a more critical time than now to think about who you would want to speak up for you should you become sick and dying, and what matters to you most. “Contemplating one’s death may be the most profound form of meditation. Death is the backdrop of life, and at times like Read more
Parliament has started hearing submissions on the End of Life Choice Bill, and if the last round of submissions is anything to go by, they’ll hear a lot of opposition. In response, MPs may be tempted to think they can fix the Bill—narrowing the scope, tightening the wording, maybe limiting it to terminal illness and Read more
A churchgoing man in England has been euthanased against his will, because his killer reasoned that a dog would not have been allowed to suffer like he did. Heather Davidson, 54, has been sentenced to life imprisonment after she smothered cancer victim David Paterson, 82, with a pillow, only hours away from his natural death. Read more
A controversial end-of-life protocol is to be abolished in Britain following an independent review that found numerous cases of abuse and suffering among dying patients. The report on the Liverpool Care Pathway echoed concerns raised by Catholic physicians and by Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth, who said doctors were being asked “to make a definitive Read more
The British Government has announced an independent review of an end-of-life protocol used in New Zealand hospitals, following allegations that it is being used as a means of euthanasia for the terminally ill. The inquiry will focus on the Liverpool Care Pathway, designed to ease the suffering of patients in their last hours or days Read more