Minnesota: Grand Jury Issues 17-Count Indictment Against 4 Final Exit Network Members

May 15, 2012assisted suicide, crime and punishment, final exit network, indictments, Jerry Dincin, lawrence egbert, Minnesota, Our News & Commentary Blog, reality checkStephen Drake

…right-to-die movement,” Dakota County prosecutor James Backstrom said at a news conference. “Rather, it is an effort to bring to justice a corporation and several of its officers and volunteers who we are alleging advised, encouraged or assisted Doreen Dunn in the taking of her own life on May 30, 2007, in violation of Minnesota law.” Here’s a breakdown of the Final Exit Network (FEN) members and their alleged roles in Doreen Dunn’s death: The ind…

National Disability Rights Group: Study Finds Medical System Violates Civil Rights of Disabled People

May 24, 2012"end of life", Ashley X, Back Door Euthanasia, bigotry, bioethics, civil rights, Curt Decker, national disability rights network, NDRN, Our News & Commentary Blog, passive euthanasia, sterilizationStephen Drake

…bilities whose growth was stopped through estrogen treatments and whose uterus and breast buds were removed. The intent of this treatment was to keep her permanently small and child-like. NDRN believes this practice is spreading worldwide. “The thought of doctors and guardians, together, deciding to remove the body parts and stunt the growth of a child based on assumptions about their awareness and quality of life is shocking and disgusting,” said…

Coleman and Drake in Hastings Center ‘Bioethics Forum’ – Bill Peace, Bioethics, and Being Pushed to Choose Death

July 11, 2012"end of life", better dead than disabled, bill peace, bioethics, Hastings Center, medical discrimination, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…iane Coleman and myself (Stephen Drake) on the Hastings Center Bioethics Forum. Below is the intro to the commentary on Bill Peace’s published article: A powerful essay in the July-August Hastings Center Report describes a chilling encounter between a physician and a seriously ill disabled patient. The author, William J. Peace, who has been paralyzed from the waist down since 1978, was hospitalized two years ago with a large, grossly infected stag…

NDY Board Member Rhonda Wiebe in Winnipeg Press: Expensive to Support Disabled but Suicide Kits are Cheap

July 23, 2012assisted suicide, Canada, cost containment, euthanasia, op-ed, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…for brief bio). The op-ed is a response to ‘ethicist’ Arthur Schafer. The newspaper published an op-ed by him on July 19 titled “Assisted-suicide slope not so slippery.” Schafer is a poor choice to deny the existence of slippery slopes. His name last came up on this blog in connection with his role in the Global News Live Blog event promoting the empowerment of parents and caregivers to be able to kill or order the deaths of children and adults w…

Loose Ends – Last Two Essays on Bill Peace’s ‘Comfort Care As Denial of Personhood’ Up at Hastings Center Bioethics Forum

September 14, 2012"end of life", bill peace, bioethics, Hastings Center, media, medical decisionmaking, medical discrimination, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…eace’s essay to do so, along with the commentary posted on the Bioethics Forum at the Hastings Center Site. Just to refresh people’s memories and to provide background info on Bill’s essay and the responses, here’s what we wrote in a previous post: Back in 2010, our friend, colleague and ally Bill Peace, experienced a long, expensive health crisis when he experienced a stage IV skin breakdown – with a long treatment process that was physically and…