Tasmania. Tasmanian parliament will vote on whether to allow “voluntary euthanasia.”
However, the Dying with Dignity Bill 2009 is destined to be referred to a parliamentary committee of inquiry before a show of hands is required.
An advocate emerges:
DR TONY Large, 86, has more reason than most to understand the suffering of prolonged dying.
The retired Ulverstone doctor and World War II Royal Navy veteran lived through two sinkings and spent five weeks in a lifeboat during the war.
Note that his age is mentioned. If a euthanasia campaigner is over the age of 70, their age is often mentioned in press reports. Presumably the fact that they are “old” gives them more authority on the subject of death.
Germany. Counselling people about the best way to kill themselves is a good way to make a living in Germany. According to a researcher, “Many of those choosing to die are sick, depressed or just lonely.”
Take the case of 97 year old Frieda Felger, counselled into suicide. Her unbearable condition was, wait for it:
She suffered from shortness of breath and “restless legs” syndrome.
She was also worried about falls, and, to quote the guy who convinced her to do the deed, was “just old.”
Switzerland. Assisted death clinic Dignitas is under investigation after helping a depressed Canadian man die. That’s all that was wrong with him: depression.
Paul Tauberg, a friend, said: “It made me angry. I was indignant, and I still am, that somebody actually helped him with this, instead of treating him and preventing him.”
The Calgary Herald’s take: Killing Depressed People is Insane. “Swiss police should press murder charges against the members of Dignitas who helped Canadian Andrei Haber commit suicide because he was depressed.”
But that’s what you get with giving doctors the right to administer euthansia: a gordian knot of conflict of interest. Maybe they should have slipped him some anti-depressant and told him it was sodium pentobarbital. What’s he gonna do… sue for making him happy instead of dead?
The locals aren’t happy about becoming the death capital of the world, and there’s a push to have Dignitas closed.
Britain. British Lords will vote on whether to make assisted suicide legal in June. The Dignitas clinic seems to have pushed the issue to the forefront.
At present anyone found guilty of helping someone else commit suicide faces a maximum jail sentence of 14 years.
But at least 100 Britons have travelled to the Dignitas clinic in Zurich to die, and some – including 23-year-old Daniel James, who was paralysed playing rugby – were not terminally ill.
Oregon. As the economy goes down, more pets who need expensive surgery are getting euthanased. But this should be left to the experts apparently:
“It’s not something people should do,” he warns. “There’s a reason veterinarians go to college for eight years.” Anyone without that training doesn’t understand “there’s nuance and many details to consider” when putting an animal down peacefully, including age, size, condition and other matters. Furthermore, untrained people “have no secondary systems to fall back on” if something unexpected happens.
Time was when you took the horse out to the back paddock with a gun. Those times are behind us… it’s white coats all round.
India. The debate on euthanasia has again become a live issue in India as the supreme court of India recently passed a verdict that attempted suicide is not a crime.
Scotland. Australia’s own Dr Death (we’re so proud) talks in Glasgow, but has been criticised by another euthanasia campaigner for telling people how to kill themselves.
Dr Irwin accused Dr Nitschke of being “totally irresponsible” for telling people how to obtain an “easy access” drug either for their own suicides or to help with the deaths of seriously-ill relatives. The drug, Nembutal, is illegal for human use in Britain but obtainable through the internet.
Luxembourg. Luxembourg becomes the third EU country to legalise euthanasia after the Netherlands and Belgium.