Drake & Sobsey: “Let’s put this pet theory to sleep” on MercatorNet

March 27, 2009articles, dick sobsey, euthanasia, myths, Our News & Commentary Blog, pets, reality check, stephen drakeStephen Drake

…their site to read the article. –Stephen Drake Stephen Drake and Dick Sobsey | Friday, 27 March 2009 Let’s put this pet theory to sleep We have suffered long enough the euthanasia lobby’s myth that society is kinder to animals than to humans. Over the years, we’ve gotten thoroughly sick and tired of the repeated use of the myths surrounding pet euthanasia as an argument in favor of providing the same “service” for humans. The myth seems to gaining…

Ron Seigel: “My Confrontation with Kevorkian’s Lawyer”

April 13, 2009assisted suicide, euthanasia, futility, Kevorkian, medical decisionmaking, Our News & Commentary Blog, ron seigelStephen Drake

…gender or sexual orientation. It would also define as hate crimes acts of brutality and cruelty in hospitals and nursing homes. The Bill is called the Shereian Meadows Amendment. Those journalists who are allowed to attend Kevorkian’s press Conferences might well ask him how he stands on this issue of freedom of choice. Readers might want to write or e-mail their Senator, or Representatives, and ask the same. One hopes we will also ask ourselves t…

AP: Final Exit Network manual calls members “special”

April 22, 2009"special", assisted suicide, cults, final exit network, murder, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…a real news story instead of a softball treatment of FEN as some kind of “human interest” story: Stephen Drake of the Rochester, New York-based group Not Dead Yet, which is against assisted suicide, compared Final Exit Network and the wording in its training manual to a cult and said it’s hard to distinguish what the group does from murder. “What they do is reduce ambivalence,” he said. “I submit that anybody whose conditions for committing suici…

Peter Singer in the NY Times: Disabled Lives Worth Less, Hypothetically

July 17, 2009bioethics, media coverage, medical decisionmaking, neurodiversity, Our News & Commentary Blog, Peter Singer, reality check, telethonStephen Drake

…ar period, the lives of quadriplegics. That clashes with the idea that all human lives are of equal value. The problem, however, does not lie with the concept of the quality-adjusted life-year, but with the judgment that, if faced with 10 years as a quadriplegic, one would prefer a shorter lifespan without a disability. Disability advocates might argue that such judgments, made by people without disabilities, merely reflect the ignorance and preju…

Jury Acquits Transplant Surgeon in Ruben Navarro Death

December 24, 2008crime and punishment, Our News & Commentary Blog, professional accountability, Ruben Navarro, safeguardsStephen Drake

…Barack Obama’s book “Dreams From My Father,” his aunt, warning him of the rush of relations in Kenya that might want something from him, says “if everyone is family, then no one is.” Similarly, in a situation like the Ruben Navarro case, where every single person in the room shares a degree of guilt, the thinking might go something like this – “if everyone is guilty, then no one is.” In an interesting article I came across while reading for this…