Category Archives: Assisted dying

New Zealand votes to legalise euthanasia in referendum

Posted on by

Results must be enacted by the new Labour government by November 2021, but second referendum on legalising cannabis fails to find support

New Zealanders have voted to legalise euthanasia for those with a terminal illness, in a victory for campaigners who say people suffering extreme pain should be given a choice over how and when to bring their life to a close.

The decision on whether to legalise euthanasia appeared as a referendum question on the 17 October general election ballot paper, alongside a second referendum question on whether to legalise cannabis – which did not succeed, according to preliminary results.

Continue reading...

New Zealand counts down to verdicts on cannabis and euthanasia votes

Posted on by

Campaigners for legal changes could be stymied by voter desire for the status quo after a tumultuous year

The results of New Zealand’s referendums on whether to legalise cannabis and euthanasia will be released this week, with campaigners nervous that the upheavals of 2020 could have tilted the vote to the status quo.

Political experts say that in years of unrest and instability voters tend to veer towards keeping things as they are, which could affect the likelihood of both referendum questions passing.

Continue reading...

New Zealand euthanasia vote: polls point to ‘yes’ amid campaign of fear and doubt

Posted on by

The ‘yes’ campaign has Jacinda Ardern’s support but opponents say they believe New Zealand’s most vulnerable will be at risk

On Saturday, New Zealanders will be asked to vote yes or no on whether Kiwis enduring “unbearable suffering that cannot be eased” have a legal right to end their life.

For Matt Vickers, the former husband of lawyer and euthanasia campaigner Lecretia Seales, the vote can’t come soon enough.

Continue reading...

Facebook blocks livestream of assisted dying campaigner’s death

Posted on by

Terminally ill French man is told his plan was blocked because it could promote self-harm

Facebook has blocked a terminally ill French campaigner for assisted dying from livestreaming his own death.

Alain Cocq, who has been suffering for 34 years from a rare and incurable degenerative disease, has stopped taking food, drink or medicine, and says he wants his death to be seen to help persuade French authorities to lift a ban on medically assisted suicide.

Continue reading...

Dutch court approves euthanasia in cases of advanced dementia

Posted on by

Ruling means doctors cannot be prosecuted even if patient no longer says they want to die

Doctors in the Netherlands are able to carry out euthanasia on patients with severe dementia without fear of prosecution even if the patient no longer expresses an explicit wish to die, the country’s highest court has ruled.

The supreme court’s decision followed a landmark case last year in which a doctor was acquitted of wrongdoing for euthanising a woman in 2016 with severe Alzheimer’s who had requested the procedure before her condition deteriorated.

Continue reading...

When assisted dying means you have to go before you’re ready

Posted on by

Grappling with Alzheimer’s, Leila Bell decided to end her life. She used her final days to call on Canada to change its rules

Leila Bell, an 85-year-old great grandmother in Vancouver, decided the circumstances of her death warranted one last act of advocacy.

She told a handful of close friends, her psychologist and her doctor about her plan. Her long-time confidante Sarah Townsend made the arrangements.

Continue reading...

Canada’s government seeks to expand access to assisted dying

Posted on by

Proposal would include for the first time people who are not in immediate risk of dying

Canada’s government has proposed broadening a 2016 law on medically assisted death to include for the first time people who were not at immediate risk of dying.

Ottawa made the announcement after a court in the province of Quebec last September said part of the law on physician-assisted suicide was too limited and should therefore be considered unconstitutional.

Continue reading...

Belgian doctors go on trial for murder for helping woman end life

Posted on by

Medics accused of poisoning Tine Nys, 38, in country’s first euthanasia criminal case

Three Belgian doctors go on trial for murder on Tuesday for helping a woman end her life in the country’s first criminal case concerning euthanasia.

The doctors, whose names have not been made public, are accused of unlawfully poisoning 38-year-old Tine Nys on 27 April 2010. Prosecutors say Nys did not fulfil the conditions under Belgian law to be euthanised.

Continue reading...

New Zealand’s euthanasia and cannabis referendums will rightly give power to the people | Bryce Edwards

Posted on by

Some politicians may fret about the consequence of a public vote on these two issues, but with an increasing suspicion of elites, it’s the best way forward

New Zealanders will take part in a world-leading double referendum next year when they vote in the country’s general election. In addition to electing a new government, one referendum question will ask about the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use, and the other will ask whether euthanasia should be legalised in certain circumstances.

It’s going to be messy, emotional, and polarised. There’s already a lot of anxiety and negativity about the referendums across the political spectrum. Much of this is influenced by the ongoing fallout from the Brexit referendum, as well as a general fear of conservative populism.

Continue reading...

Assisting a suicide is not always a crime, rules Italian court

Posted on by

Trial of a euthanasia activist who helped a tetraplegic, blind DJ to die may lead to new law

Italy’s constitutional court has ruled it was not always a crime to help someone in “intolerable suffering” commit suicide, opening the way for a change of law in the Catholic country.

Parliament is now expected to debate the matter, which was highlighted by the Milan trial of an activist who helped a tetraplegic man die in Switzerland.

Continue reading...

Netherlands euthanasia case: doctor ‘acted with best intentions’

Posted on by

Prosecutors say doctor still broke law in trial on whether dementia patient could have given consent

A doctor has gone on trial in the Netherlands in a landmark case expected to probe the law on whether patients with advanced dementia can give consent to assisted dying.

Prosecutors argue the unnamed female doctor “acted with the best intentions” but broke Dutch euthanasia law by failing to ensure the consent of a 74-year-old woman with advanced dementia, who may have changed her mind about dying.

Continue reading...

Three euthanasia cases face investigation in Netherlands

Posted on by

Inquiries confirmed following controversy over death of anorexic teenager

Three euthanasia cases involving women with psychiatric conditions and dementia are under investigation in the Netherlands, the Observer can reveal.

Prosecutors confirmed that the deaths, in 2017 and 2018, were being investigated for potentially breaching strict conditions in the 2002 law that allows people in the Netherlands to ask a doctor to help them die.

Continue reading...

Belgium investigates right-to-die group offering ‘suicide powder’

Posted on by

Last Will provides advice to members on how to obtain lethal drug to end their lives

Belgian prosecutors are to investigate a right-to-die group that has been offering advice on the use of a “suicide powder”.

The Last Will group, which has about 23,000 paying members with an average age of 69, was blocked by the Dutch authorities last year from helping approximately 1,000 people purchase the lethal drug but continues to offer advice on legal ways to obtain it.

Continue reading...

Arrest over ill wife’s death renews Spanish euthanasia debate

Posted on by

Ángel Fernández recorded video with his wife, who had MS, discussing their plan

Spain is again wrestling with the issue of euthanasia after a man was arrested for allegedly helping his seriously ill wife to die.

Ángel Fernández, 70, is reported to have confessed to assisting in the death of María José Carrasco, 61, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 30 years ago. He was arrested in Madrid on Wednesday and released on Thursday night pending further inquiries.

Continue reading...