While Compassion and Choices is gearing up for a new year of assisted suicide advocacy, its President, Barbara Coombs Lee, has announced that their proposed legislation will no longer include the “needless and intrusive burden of government reporting.” I’ve always had problems with the Oregon “Death With Dignity Act” Reports, and now the Washington Reports […]
Two interesting and fairly unusual related things happened over the last two weeks. First, CNN reporter Elizabeth Landau contacted both NDY and the National Council on Disability (NCD) for interviews in connection to a story on assisted suicide. This was surprising considering that when CNN ran a mini-media tour with Jack Kevorkian during the promotion […]
Not exactly a big surprise, but Compassion and Choices (aka “Conflation & Con Jobs“) has weighed in on the disappointing outcome of the trial of Final Exit Network (FEN) members in Arizona. I am cynical enough to believe that reporters who use this press release from the organization are too shallow, lazy or generally lacking […]
Well, whatever else you can say about Scott Foster, Communication Director of Communications at the Hawaii Death with Dignity Society, he churns out an op-ed pretty quickly. Like lots of communications folks, he regurgitates stuff he’s written elsewhere, but every once in awhile he introduces some new gem and there are several items of interest […]
Recently, we became aware of a very disturbing development. Every year, the National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) hosts a conference on abuse of the elderly and people with disabilities, sharing research and prevention strategies. The 2010 conference is being held next week in San Diego, California. The conference sessions and workshops are a reflection […]
To be honest, the letter from Katie Densley in the Spokesman-Review on Sunday didn’t surprise me at all. That is, the content of the letter didn’t surprise me. The fact that her letter was published did surprise me. I suspect there are more stories like hers in Washington – and even more in Oregon. But […]
On September 1, the Missoulian published a story that is becoming all-too-familiar, titled “Fire investigation reveals ‘mercy killing in Libby“: An investigation into a house fire in northwestern Montana took a grisly turn when authorities discovered the elderly couple living there were involved in a murder-suicide that police say was meant to be a mercy […]
Elenor Schoen has written a good analysis of the recent efforts of Compassion and Choices (aka “Conflation and Con Jobs”) in several states in the National Catholic Register. I recommend reading the whole article, titled “Selling Assisted Suicide, State by State,” but I’ll share the last part of the article, devoted to disability concerns, as […]
Last week, I happened to be watching The Ed Show on MSNBC. Thankfully, the host – who I think is trying to be a liberal imitation of Sean Hannity – was on vacation. Christopher Hayes, Washington editor of The Nation, was subbing for the regular host. I was kind of paying half-attention, getting ready for […]
Good news and appropriate headline from the Hartford Courant: No Appeal in ‘Aid in Dying’ Case I’d like to think that the editors at the paper used the scare quotes on purpose. Superior Court Judge Julia Aurigemma consistently framed the term that way in her decision to dismiss the case. The article gives an indication […]
