Second Thoughts” Abound at Assisted Suicide Hearing – Part 2

December 31, 2013Our News & Commentary BlogDiane Coleman

…f their suffering—well, I’m also suffering, and I’d rather die than live.” Ruthie Poole, President of the Board of MPOWER, a statewide membership organization made up of people with lived experience of mental health diagnoses, spoke to the limitations of personal autonomy in the presence of severe depression. Ruthie said: Absolute hopelessness and seeing no way out are common feelings for those of us who have experienced severe depression. Persona…

Farewell to Alison Davis – Ally and Activist (1955-2013)

December 6, 2013Alison Davis, assisted suicide, euthanasia, in memorium, Our News & Commentary BlogAlison Davis, assisted suicide, euthanasiaStephen Drake

…luntary Euthanasia Society have always protested that under their proposed rules my request for euthanasia would have been denied because they claim I was “depressed.” Apart from the breathtaking arrogance of presuming to know my state of mind at a time when they did not even know I existed, the truth is that the supposedly “strict safeguards” to a euthanasia law that the VES promotes, do not even mention depression as a disqualifying factor. In f…

More on Vatican Statement on Tube Feeding – Reactions and Overreactions

September 24, 2007bioethics, Our News & Commentary Blog, reality check, vegetative stateStephen Drake

…ately, this affects more than “just” Catholics – many hospitals around the world are run by Catholic organizations who will feel bound by the ruling, and will enforce the decisions stemming from it regardless of whether or not the patient themself is Catholic. The concern expressed here is a little premature. Catholic ethicists in the U.S. have been at the forefront of pushing the idea that tube-feeding is “extraordinary treatment” and that there…

The Song That Is Sung at Final Exit Network Meetings (Or Should Be)

January 26, 2010final exit network, humor, Our News & Commentary Blog, satireStephen Drake

…l & Morphine Sue– Get out the way. Here comes Helium Hugh. Helium [inhale]…runnin’ round my brain. A ten buck bottle on the street Gets you about a hundred fifty cubic feet Of helium…running round my brain. I’m all through with blow and boo, Bourbon, cigarettes and airplane glue. I no longer waste my breath Crying “Give me Librium or Give me Meth.” Breathe it in/ Up ya go. Nice and slow/ When you’re done And down ya come/ Cause helium Is really um…

Georgia: Response Letters to op-ed by Final Exit Network (FEN) president Wendell Stephenson

January 19, 2012Concrete Change, Eleanor Smith, final exit network, Georgia, Georgia Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, hospice, Our News & Commentary Blog, palliative careStephen Drake

…the same essay was published in December last year in the Metrowest Daily News and can still be read here. It’s the usual conflation of terminal illness with chronic illness, sensationalist language describing FEN members and supporters as victims of oppression, etc. This blog will probably be revisiting Stephenson’s piece in the near future. In the meantime, his op-ed drew some strong reactions that were published in the letters section of the A…