Canadian has become one of world’s leading opponents of euthanasia and assisted suicide

Canadian has become one of world’s leading opponents of euthanasia and assisted suicide | LifeSiteNews.com: Alex Schadenberg has dedicated his life to defending the vulnerable. As head of Canada’s Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, Schadenberg has become one of the world’s leading opponents of legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide. Perhaps most notably, in 2009 he spearheaded a lobbying campaign that led to the overwhelming defeat, 228-59, of a euthanasia bill in Canada’s legislature.

A ‘perfect storm’ for euthanasia in the UK

A ‘perfect storm’ for euthanasia in the UK | LifeSiteNews.com: The falling standards of care in British hospitals and nursing homes, said Anthony Ozimic, communications manager for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, are a result of decades of deterioration in medical ethics. The incursion of utilitarian principles into medicine, starting with legalisation of abortion in 1967, has, he said, grown into the “perfect storm” in which the care needs of vulnerable elderly patients are seen as a burden on hospital staff.

Flynt expresses disdain for Sarah Palin for not aborting Trig

Hustler pornographer admires Obama family, disdains Palin for not having abortion | LifeSiteNews.com: "Larry Flynt, 69, is wheel-chair bound and speaking with difficulty but remains unrepentant. In a recent interview, Flynt showed great disdain for Sarah Palin, especially in that she did not abort her Down’s Syndrome child.

“Sarah Palin is the dumbest thing,” Flynt told Johann Hari of London’s Independent newspaper. “She did a disservice to every woman in America. She knew from the first month of pregnancy that kid was going to be Down’s Syndrome. It’s brain dead. A virtual vegetable. She carries it to all these different political events against abortion, she did it just because she didn’t want to say she’d had an abortion. How long is it going to live? Another 12, 15 years? Doesn’t even know it’s in this world. So what kind of compassionate conservative is she? I don’t think anybody will want her near the White House.”

Editor: Need I mention the extreme ignorance these remarks reflect? Down syndrome cannot be detected in the first month. People with Down syndrome are not "its." They are not brain dead. They are self-aware and many live into adulthood.

Elderly patients dying of thirst

Doctors in the UK are prescribing drinking water for neglected elderly patients to stop them dying of thirst in hospital. The measure – to remind nurses of the most basic necessity – is revealed in a damning report on pensioner care in NHS wards. Some trusts are neglecting the elderly on such a fundamental level their wards could face closure orders. Daily Mail

Charitable Organizations and their Positions on the Life Issues

| ALL.org: American Life League researched organizations to learn their current positions on the following:

• Fetal tissue, cell or organ use when that tissue is acquired from direct abortion done at any time during nine months of pregnancy
• Human embryo research and/or experimentation
• Human embryonic stem cell research and/or experimentation
• Human cloning

Coping with Chronic Pain

Coping with Chronic Pain - Pain Management Center - Everyday Health: If you suffer from chronic pain, you should know that there are ways to cope. Chronic pain does not need to run, or ruin, your life.

Two Devices Treat Alzheimer's

Two Devices Treat Alzheimer's - Technology Review: Pharmaceutical companies developing Alzheimer's drugs have faced one hurdle after another. The most effective treatments are difficult to get into the brain, while those that show success in animals have yet to benefit humans.

Two startup companies aim to solve these problems by targeting the brain electrically rather than chemically. They're both using technologies that have proven successful for other brain disorders. One company plans to use deep brain stimulation, which has been used to treat tens of thousands of Parkinson's patients. The other hopes to find success with transcranial magnetic stimulation, a noninvasive approach used to treat depression and as a research tool to stimulate or inhibit specific parts of the brain.

Feeding tube risks for dementia patients often not discussed

amednews: Feeding tube risks for dementia patients often not discussed :: May 25, 2011 ... American Medical News: Nearly 90% of patients with advanced dementia have problems feeding themselves, lose weight or choke on food. About 40% of these patients die within six months of developing eating problems, previous research shows. But feeding tubes may not be the right response to the problem. Observational studies have found that feeding tubes do not prolong life, reduce aspiration pneumonia risk or improve quality of life for these patients.

And the tubes come with risks. Patients with advanced dementia who have tubes inserted often attempt to pull the tubes out, with the result that many patients are physically restrained or sedated. Feeding tubes also can become clogged and cause diarrhea. Yet those risks are not usually discussed, said the study, a survey of 486 people whose next-of-kin died of dementia in nursing homes in five states.

Federal agents raid California suicide kit seller

Federal agents raid California suicide kit seller - US news - Crime & courts - msnbc.com: Sharlotte Hydorn was surprised when her doorbell rang at 7:30 a.m. and she heard the voices of men threatening to bust their way in. The 91-year-old says she opened the door Wednesday and was greeted by about a dozen federal agents who were there to seize kits that Hydorn sells online and that people can use to kill themselves.

Latest issue of Caring Right at Home

• Managing Medication Safely at Home
• Depression May Double the Risk of Dementia
• For Seniors, Art Benefits the Mind, Spirit, and Body

Now for something heartwarming: The rescuing hug

The photograph of Kyrie hugging her little sister, dubbed the “Rescuing Hug,” appeared in both Life magazine and Reader’s Digest. It brought fame to the pair and spurred a growing interest in co-bedding premature twins, triplets, and quads. European Life Network

Could Conjoined Twins Share a Mind?

Could Conjoined Twins Share a Mind? - NYTimes.com: Krista and Tatiana are not like most other sets of twins. They are connected at their heads, where their skulls merge under a mass of shaggy brown bangs. The girls run and play and go down their backyard slide, but whatever they do, they do together, their heads forever inclined toward each other’s, their neck muscles strong and sinuous from a never-ending workout.

Vital organ donation

Vital organ donation: If you were to compare a dead body with someone declared 'brain dead,' you would find that the dead body is pale, cold, stiff, and unresponsive. There is no heartbeat, no body functions, no breathing, and no movement. Someone declared 'brain dead' is warm and flexible. There is a beating heart, normal color, temperature, and blood pressure. Most functions continue, including digestion, excretion, and maintenance of fluid balance with normal urine output. There will often be response to surgical incisions. In a long enough period of observation, someone declared 'brain dead' will show healing and growth, and will go through puberty if they are a child.

'The process is beautiful': Chilling boast of 'New Dr Death' after assisting almost 300 suicides

Retired anesthesiologist Lawrence Egbert, 83, has been dubbed 'The New Doctor Death' after being charged by two states for his work as medical director of the Final Exit Network. He said he became interested in the 'right-to-die' movement in the mid-1980s when a Unitarian pastor in Dallas convinced him to take part in the euthanasia of a parishioner suffering with cancer.

While the woman's daughter talked her out of it, Egbert was convinced that they would have done the right thing. He then joined the Hemlock Society, which helped pass the nation's first law allowing doctor-assisted suicide in Oregon, before forming the Final Exit Network.

As the group's medical advisor, he decides which prospective patients are ill enough to take on. 'For at least 95 percent, we say OK,' he said. In comments that will rile those who do not agree with assisted-suicide, Egbert, who has been personally present for nearly 100 deaths, argued that the process is 'beautiful'. Daily Mail

Film director puts human face on assisted suicide

Film director puts human face on assisted suicide | Reuters: With the blunt title, 'How To Die In Oregon,' the documentary debuts on cable channel HBO on Thursday after winning the top nonfiction film prize earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. It aims to put a human face on the 17-year old 'Death With Dignity Act' in Oregon that made the U.S. state one of the few places in the world where doctors can prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill patients. In the case of Oregon, the patient must have less than six months to live.

Welcome to Holland

Creative Parents.Com: Emily Perl Kingsley wrote in her famous essay, "I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability- to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this..."

Get to Know: Down Syndrome Pregnancy

About Us - Down Syndrome Pregnancy: Down Syndrome Pregnancy, Inc. is a New Jersey charitable corporation which provides information and support to expectant parents preparing for the birth of a baby with Down syndrome. "All of our materials are geared to non-political, honest, compassionate and informative support for those in post-diagnosis pregnancy or waiting until birth for a confirmed diagnosis."

The site offers a free, downloadable pregnancy book entitled Diagnosis to Delivery: A Pregnant Mother’s Guide to Down Syndrome by Nancy McCrea Iannone and Stephanie Hall Meredith"

Abortions on Disabled Babies: The Prenatal Testing Sham

Each year, March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day. The date 3/21 was chosen as a representation of the genetic cause of the condition, a triplicate of the 21st chromosome. WDSD seeks to raise awareness of a genetic condition that may very well diminish to the point of disappearing. This is due to the prenatal testing sham. . . .

Already, existing prenatal testing is followed by high termination rates, exceeding 70 percent in California, and 90 percent in England and Europe. At this high percentage, it is more accurate to call it an “elimination rate.” With each advance in prenatal testing, the next generation of children born with Down syndrome is smaller, so much so that there are close to 50 percent fewer children born with Down syndrome than if all were carried to term.

Some have argued that this impact is modern-day eugenics. . . . But the test developers, and many others, are quick to point out that the testing itself is purely informative. . . . Furthermore, professional medical associations, noted bioethicists, and many courts in this nation have found an obligation that prenatal testing be offered, out of respect for the mother’s autonomy and her right to choose whether to continue her pregnancy. This is the medical, ethical, legal, and industry line: the availability of prenatal testing for Down syndrome is required out of respect for a woman’s right to choose. This, too, is a sham. . . .

What’s more is that, for all the talk of prenatal testing being only the sharing of information and not requiring abortion, test developers nonetheless count on most mothers terminating. They have to in order to justify the unnecessary costs of their testing. Over 99 percent of pregnant women are not carrying a child with Down syndrome. LifeNews

Annual Symposium Focuses on Building Euthanasia Opposition

Annual Symposium Focuses on Building Euthanasia Opposition | LifeNews.com: The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is sponsoring the Third International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide from June 3-4 in Vancouver in order to educate people about the ways in which activists are promoting euthanasia and assisted suicide and to build opposition to the practices. Speakers are from Australia, England, Scotland, Canada, United States and Netherlands.

Dubai rejects demands to enforce euthanasia

Dubai rejects demands to enforce euthanasia - Emirates 24/7: Dubai health authorities have rejected demands by a group of local doctors for enforcing euthanasia, better known as mercy killing of dying patients, saying ending a human life is not permissible in the UAE. In their petition, the doctors said they should be allowed to apply Euthanasia on some patients, mainly those who are clinically dead, on the grounds this practice is enforced in many other countries.

Terminally ill could get right to die faster under law approved by Spanish government

Terminally ill could get right to die faster under law approved by Spanish government - The Washington Post: The Spanish government has approved a law that gives terminally ill patients the right to hasten their deaths by halting medical treatment. The law would not affect bans on euthanasia or assisted suicide, which outlaw actions that lead to the deaths of those who otherwise would have lived. Halting medical treatment in terminal cases is common practice in Spanish hospitals but was never explicitly permitted.

Victorians stocking up on death drug used by vets via web

Victorians stocking up on death drug used by vets via web | News.com.au: More than 100 Victorians have the deadly drug Nembutal on standby, according to euthanasia advocates, as new figures reveal almost 50 attempts to smuggle doses into the country in the past two years.

Exit International founder Dr Philip Nitschke said Victorians had increasingly opted to buy the lethal veterinary barbiturate over the internet from Mexico or Asia over the past three years, rather than travelling overseas to bring it back. 'Along the border cities like Tijuana there is a lot of violence with the drug wars and people found it increasingly worrying to go to these areas,' he said.

Editor: So, you've got to be careful about where you buy your suicide pills or you might get yourself killed. Funny!

Related: Modern Suicide Obsession A Troubling Sign of Nihilistic Times

How to pray for grieving parents

Kristin Koning is a stay-at-home wife and mom to 5 children, 3 boys and 2 girls. She longs to see her three youngest -- Noah Scott, Joanna Claire, and Emilie Alyse -- again in heaven. She writes the "My Times . . . In His Hands" blog and compiled this list of what would not only be appropriate prayers specifically for her and her family, but also for other parents grieving the loss of a child who died during pregnancy or shortly after birth.

May 25: World MS Day

By all means, raise awareness about multiple sclerosis on World MS Day. But also be aware that some of the major advocacy groups support embryonic stem cell research. Find info here and here.

What are they really up to?

Wesley Smith writes: "As I watch Compassion and Choices (once the Hemlock Society), it appears to have a couple of long term goals. First and foremost, of course, is the complete legalization of assisted suicide throughout the country, supposedly restricted to the terminally ill under guidelines. Then, the guidelines and limitations would soon be attacked and streeetchhhed–evidenced by the organization explicitly opposing the very guidelines in Montana (after a court ruling creating a constitutional right to assisted suicide, later vacated), that it had bragged about establishing in Oregon.

"Second, its leaders hope the assisted suicide advocacy group can become the Planned Parenthood of death, complete with public funding and imbedding into the political ruling Establishment.

"Third, it hopes to use “mandatory information” laws about palliative care to promote the death agenda, evidenced by the original proposal in California under AB 2747, which, among other provisions, would have required doctors to put the terminally ill into artificial comas and then dehydrate them to death on demand. That broader agenda was temporarily scaled back after AB 2747 hit a wall of resistance, with a law eventually passed requiring doctors to give palliative care information to their terminally ill patients."

End-of-life care changes called for

End-of-life care changes called for - Health - CBC News: End-of-life care falls short of what the average person wants, says a new study that compares palliative care in the U.S. and Ontario. While most patients prefer supportive measures that avoid a hospital death, U.S. patients received more chemotherapy. Ontario patients have more days in hospital, have more use of emergency rooms, and were much more likely to die in hospital.

Electrical stimulation helps paralyzed man

Electrical stimulation helps paralyzed man - The Washington Post: After Rob Summers was struck by a hit-and-run driver in 2006 and left paralyzed from the chest down, he faced the grim prospect of spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair. And despite three years of intensive therapy, Summers showed no signs of improving. But after becoming the first patient to undergo an experimental treatment, he can now do something no one else in his condition has ever been able to do: stand up, move his hips, knees and ankles, wiggle his toes and even take a few steps.

Editor: Look! No embryonic stem cells!!

Family goes to court to keep dad alive: 'He talks to us with his eyes'

Family goes to court to keep dad alive: 'He talks to us with his eyes' - thestar.com: Hassan Rasouli’s wife and two children see something in him that doctors do not. Lying unconscious at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre with tough odds of recovery, he can nevertheless communicate silently with them, hear and understand their voices and somehow make them understand his wish for a chance at life, they insist. “He talks to us with his eyes,” says Rasouli’s 27-year-old daughter, Mojgan. “We want my father alive.”

For-profit hospice industry raises worries

For-profit hospice industry raises worries - UPI.com: End-of-life hospice care was once the province of charitable organizations, but 52 percent of hospices are now part of the for-profit sector. For-profit hospice industry grew by 128 percent from 2001 to 2008, while the non-profit sector grew by only 1 percent. During the same period, government-sponsored hospices increased by 25 percent.

For-profit hospices, and especially publicly traded chain providers, generate higher revenues than their non-profit counterparts by selectively recruiting longer-term patients, most of whom do not have cancer, thereby "gaming" the Medicare payment system. Medicare currently pays hospice providers a fixed per diem payment throughout a patient's stay, regardless of whether services are provided on any given day.

Jack Kevorkian Hospitalized

Assisted Suicide Crusader Jack Kevorkian Hospitalized | LifeNews.com: He was rushed to William Beaumont Hospital in suburban Detroit, Michigan, Wednesday night suffering from kidney problems and pneumonia. He is expected to stay in the hospital a few days.

Who makes end-of-life decisions?

Who makes end-of-life decisions, family, or doctors? Ontario court to decide | LifeSiteNews.com: Doctors at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, where 59-year-old patient Hassan Rasouli has been since surgery in October, say the Iranian immigrant is in a persistent vegetative state, with no hope of recovery. They are appealing a Superior Court decision from April that ruled the doctors needed the family’s permission, or permission from Ontario’s Consent and Capacity board, in order to remove Rasouli from life-support.

The Rasouli family disagrees with the doctors’ diagnosis. They say that their father, who suffered bacterial meningitis after surgery to remove a brain tumor, is able to communicate with them and shows progress in his recovery, although he presently requires the assistance of a ventilator and feeding tube.

The Myth and Manipulation of “Brain Death” (Part I)

The Myth and Manipulation of “Brain Death” (Part I) | LifeNews.com: Biologically speaking, if the other organs are sufficiently perfused with oxygen and retain their intrinsic function, it’s a safe bet to assume that the brain also retains sufficient oxygen and intrinsic function. The truth is that the brain is the final frontier of the human body, and we know relatively little about its ability to direct its own recovery and healing.

Soaps ‘distort the truth’ on assisted suicide

Ethicist: Soaps ‘distort the truth’ on assisted suicide | News | The Christian Institute: TV soap operas such as Emmerdale [in the UK] distort the truth about the demand for assisted suicide, a leading pro-life ethicist has claimed. Dr Peter Saunders, Director of Care Not Killing, says very few tetraplegic sufferers wish to die.

Emmerdale is currently running an assisted suicide storyline, in which a paralysed man asks his mother to help him end his life.

The Palliative Care Information Act in Real Life

The Palliative Care Information Act in Real Life | Health Policy and Reform: New York’s Palliative Care Information Act took effect on February 9, 2011. Sponsored by the advocacy group Compassion and Choices New York, the law on its face simply mandates that physicians practice good medicine in caring for patients with a poor prognosis: “If a patient is diagnosed with a terminal illness or condition, the patient’s attending health care practitioner shall offer to provide the patient with information and counseling regarding palliative care and end-of-life options appropriate to the patient, including . . . prognosis, risks and benefits of the various options; and the patient’s legal rights to comprehensive pain and symptom management.”

Hospice care doesn't hasten death: study

Hospice care doesn't hasten death: study | Reuters: Terminally ill patients who opt to receive hospice care won't die any faster as a result of that choice, according to Korean researchers. Their findings add to a recent U.S. debate over hospices, which some fear might accelerate the decline of very sick people.

Hospice care focuses on easing the pain and distress of people whose doctors have ruled out any chance of recovery, instead of offering aggressive medical treatment, which often comes with side effects.

Australia's Dr. Death Lobbies for Euthanasia Down Under

Australia's Dr. Death Lobbies for Euthanasia Down Under - TIME: This year, Philip Nitschke, who has advocated for euthanasia abroad, might succeed in bringing the practice back to Australia.

OR Senate approves bill targeting 'suicide kits'

The Associated Press: Ore. Senate approves bill targeting 'suicide kits': Oregon senators voted Monday to impose a crackdown on companies that sell so-called 'suicide kits,' which contain hoods or other items intended to help a person end his or her life.
They unanimously passed a bill proposed in response to the death of a 29-year-old Eugene man, Nick Klonoski, who killed himself using a suicide kit he ordered through the mail from a California company.

Cancer patients denied pain relief in Ukraine, suffer unbearable agony

Cancer patients denied pain relief in Ukraine, suffer unbearable agony - The Washington Post: Rooted in archaic Soviet-era restrictions and a government campaign to fight illegal drug use, Ukrainian regulations for the use of opioid-based analgesics are among the strictest in the world.

Adult stem cell trial for ALS to start

BrainStorm to start adult stem cell trial for ALS | Reuters: BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc received approval from Israel's Health Ministry for a clinical trial of its adult stem cell therapy for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Brain injury survivor talks hope

Brain injury survivor talks hope | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: “I’m blessed by the accident,” Dan Rice said of the 2002 car crash that caused his traumatic brain injury. Rice spoke Sunday at Live Oak Community Church about his struggle with the brain injury and his book that chronicles that struggle, “End of the Trail.” He did not always feel so blessed by the accident.

'Regrets of the dying should influence end of life care'

'Regrets of the dying should influence end of life care' | Practice | Nursing Times: Maybe you are already familiar with the online article: “Top five regrets of the dying.” Written by Australian palliative care worker Bronnie Ware, it documents the most commonly expressed regrets of the dying. The article summarises many conversations she had with dying patients into five common areas of regret, namely:

“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
“I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”
“I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”
“I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”
“I wish that I had let myself be happier.”

It could be viewed as a rather sad piece about death and regret. But there is a subtext that is inspiring and potentially life changing.

Husband Celebrates as 'Brain Dead' Wife Wakes Up in Hospital

Husband Celebrates Miracle as 'Brain Dead' Wife Wakes Up in Hospital - FoxNews.com: A woman who was diagnosed as being brain dead has recovered three days after her husband begged doctors to put in a breathing tube before switching off a ventilator at an Australian hospital. When a doctor recommended that the ventilator be removed and Gloria Cruz be allowed to die, her husband told them, 'I'm a Catholic -- I believe in miracles. I told him that God knows how much I love her -- that I don't want her to suffer but I don't want her to leave us.” A doctor described her recovery as 'a miracle.'

Downloadable Materials for Starting a Ministry to People with Disabilities

Downloadable Materials (Access): Access Ministry at from McLean Bible Church in Virginia has created various downloadable materials that may be used as training resources for getting your disability ministry started or refined:

• Access Ministry's 'Differently Abled' booklet
• Including Persons with Autism in the Life of the Church
• Keys to Setting Up A Specialized Classroom
• Making Changes That Lead to Real Inclusion
• Sib Talk
• Starting A Special Needs Ministry in Your Church
• The Top Ten Things
• Understanding Autism
• Welcoming Those with Disabilities

Drake Isn't Dead Yet

Drake Isn't Dead Yet - Roseville California News including Rocklin & Placer County: Not Dead Yet was founded in 1996, shortly after the third time Dr. Jack Kevorkian was acquitted for being involved in suicides, the last time with two women with non-terminal disabilities. That same year, the Supreme Court had two cases on whether a person had a constitutional right to assisted suicide. At that time, many individual disability advocates were speaking out against assisted suicide, but it was clear a group was needed to focus on that issue alone.

70% of disabled fear pressure to die if assisted suicide legalized: UK poll

70% of disabled fear pressure to die if assisted suicide legalized: UK poll | LifeSiteNews.com: A survey conducted recently of disabled people in Britain, commissioned by the disability group Scope, found that 70 percent are “concerned about pressure being placed on other disabled people to end their lives prematurely” “if there were a change in the law on assisted suicide.” More than a third were worried they would personally experience such pressure. Concerns about the dangers of legalized assisted suicide were shared equally by young people and those in older age groups.

Ex-Minn. nurse gets less than 1 year in jail for encouraging 2 he met online to commit suicide

Ex-Minn. nurse gets less than 1 year in jail for encouraging 2 he met online to commit suicide | StarTribune.com: A former nurse who stalked suicide chat rooms online and was convicted of encouraging two depressed people to kill themselves was sentenced Wednesday to 360 days in jail by a southern Minnesota judge who said the defendant showed a minimal level of remorse despite admitting his deeds were 'dark' and 'disgusting.'

Zurich voters keep 'suicide tourism' alive

Zurich voters keep 'suicide tourism' alive - FoxNews.com: Voters in Zurich have overwhelmingly rejected calls to ban assisted suicide or to outlaw the practice for nonresidents. Out of more than 278,000 ballots cast, the initiative to ban assisted suicide was opposed by 85 percent of voters and the initiative to outlaw it for foreigners was turned down by 78 percent.

Euthanasia group set to launch advice line

Euthanasia group set to launch advice line | News | The Christian Institute: Compassion in Dying, the British offshoot of the pro-euthanasia lobby group Dignity in Dying, is preparing to launch a controversial end-of-life advice line later this month for people who want to end their lives.

Suicide drugs over the counter if assisted dying is legalized

Suicide drugs over the counter if assisted dying is legalised | News | The Christian Institute: Suicide drugs could be available over the counter in chemists if assisted suicide is legalized, two of Britain’s top legal and medical experts have warned. Weakening the law could open the way for nurses and pharmacists to prescribe drugs to help people kill themselves, according to a report. It also warned that legalising assisted suicide could lead to state agencies being set up to decide whether or not people should be helped to die.

Ore. Senate approves bill targeting suicide kits

Ore. Senate approves bill targeting suicide kits - BostonHerald.com: The bill was introduced after a 29-year-old Eugene man took his own life with the help of a suicide kit her purchased online for $60. The bill does not conflict with Oregon’s 'Death with Dignity Act,' which allows physician-assisted suicide in certain circumstances.

The cost of comfort

TH - Top News Article: While some procedures make sense -- such as checking into what can be done to improve a dying man's vision so he can keep reading, others are not so clear-cut. Should a patient with terminal cancer be able to receive expensive chemotherapy treatments to extend their life by a few weeks? Should our tax dollars cover such costs? Those questions represent a fundamental problem.

Oregon Death with Dignity doc loses medical license

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition: Oregon Death with Dignity house doc loses medical license: Dr. Stuart Weisberg is the Portland Oregon Psychiatrist who made news last June 2010 for planning to establish an assisted suicide center in a similar manner to the Dignitas assisted suicide house in Switzerland. He wanted to call it the 'Death with Dignity' house. After a disciplinary hearing, related to other issues, the Oregon Medical Board removed his license to practice medicine.

Assisted Suicide Activists Claim It is “Only” About the Dying

Pro Assisted Suicide Activists Keep Shoveling the Manure That It is “Only” About the Dying » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: Thanks to the spread of suicide tourism, the UK is going through another in a series of pushes to legalize assisted suicide. But the activism in the UK about legalizing–and or, not prosecuting–assisted suicide has explicitly not been limited to the terminally ill. MSP MacDonald’s just-defeated bill in the Scottish Parliament, for example, specifically would have permitted assisted suicide for people with non terminal disabilities.

Cancer Steals Christopher Hitchens’ Voice

Cancer Steals Christopher Hitchens’ Voice » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: Hitchens describes the physical difficulties he experiences, such as ulcers in his mouth. But then gets to the cruelest cut of all – the loss of speech.

Should Religious People Tell Ailing Atheists They Are Praying for Them?

Should Religious People Tell Ailing Atheists They Are Praying for Them? » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: The root meaning of compassion is to “suffer with.” I think one of our duties as human beings is to suffer with the ill by offering them emotional support at the place where they are–not from where we might be.

Jury acquits Phoenix doctor in assisted-suicide case

Jury acquits Phoenix doctor in assisted-suicide case: It's not illegal to commit suicide in Arizona, but it is illegal to help someone else commit suicide. The question before a Maricopa County Superior Court jury Thursday was whether two members of a national organization had conspired to commit manslaughter in the death of a Phoenix woman who took her own life. It was the first time a jury pondered the question, and they split their decision. Not Dead Yet commentary

Dutch group offers Life Wish Declarations

Care for Life (NPV) of the Netherlands is an Evangelical group with more than 73,000 members which makes available Life Wish Declarations (Levenswensverklaring) which specify that the patient wants treatment to be continued if he is no longer able to express his wishes.

'I feel victorious,' says Baby Joseph's father

'I feel victorious,' says Baby Joseph's father: Moe Maraachli has been left with questions about why he and wife Sana Nader had to go to the U.S. for help. 'That's what makes me mad,' he said. 'Why I have to travel to St. Louis? I trust my medical system. We have a perfect medical system in Ontario.'

But the doctors in London, he said, let him down. He's not angry at the hospital itself, Maraachli said. But he said he feels he's owed an explanation for the decision to refuse Joseph the tracheotomy. He isn't sure how long Joseph will live. And he declined to to guess how much time he and his son have left.

Women halt Swiss trip after jail warning

Women halt Swiss trip after jail warning | Irish Examiner: Two women were approached by gardaí after booking flights to the central European country, where assisted suicide is legal. The pair were planning to attend the Dignitas clinic in Forch near Zurich so the seriously ill woman could die in a comfortable setting and without suffering an unnecessary amount of pain. However, officers became aware of the plan and warned both women that if the assisted suicide took place the surviving person would be facing up to 14 years in prison as the act is illegal in Ireland.

It is right that society offers late abortions

It is right that society offers late abortions | Jennie Bristow | spiked: In this writer's view, "Women who terminate their pregnancies following a diagnosis of fetal anomaly – whether that is a heart defect, a chromosomal disorder such as Down’s Syndrome, a condition such as cleft palate, or one of many other congenital anomalies – are subject to an intense amount of media and political interest, and moral judgementalism."

Get to Know: Apostrophe'

Apostrophe' is an online magazine about and for people with disabilities. Check out the article about Shepherds College on page 56.

The DNA Age - Prenatal Test Puts Down Syndrome in Hard Focus

The DNA Age - Prenatal Test Puts Down Syndrome in Hard Focus - NYTimes.com: Sarah Itoh, a self-described “almost-eleven-and-a-half,” betrayed no trace of nervousness as she told a roomful of genetic counselors and obstetricians about herself one recent afternoon. She likes to read, she said. Math used to be hard, but it is getting easier. She plays clarinet in her school band. She is a junior girl scout and an aunt, and she likes to organize, so her room is very clean. Last year, she won three medals in the Special Olympics. “I am so lucky I get to do so many things,” she concluded. “I just want you to know, even though I have Down syndrome, it is O.K.”

Mommy Life: Children with Down syndrome and the mothers who love them

Mommy Life: Children with Down syndrome and the mothers who love them: Our kids have a little extra. A little extra enthusiasm, a little extra innocence, a little extra charm. Oh, and did I mention an extra chromosome? The one on the 21st pair that inspires so much fear in parents-to-be.

8 Exercises for Arthritis

Importance of Exercise for Arthritis - EverydayHealth.com When you have arthritis pain, the last thing you want to do is exercise — but exercise helps build muscle, which takes strain off of your joints.

Med School Series: What is Palliative Care?

Med School Series: What is Palliative Care?: "When I first thought of becoming a doctor, I was imagining a profession whereby I would learn the ins and outs of the body so that I could use it to treat illness. I saw the physician as an expert who always had some way of helping the patient get better, where getting better meant healing from a disease.

"Now, a few years later and studying medicine, I realize that my former view was incomplete. The role of the physician is to help the patient get better, but not just physically. I have come to realize that illness is not only disease – it is also the pain caused by the disease."

Elderly couple record message to be played on YouTube after assisted suicide past

Elderly couple record message to be played on YouTube after assisted suicide past - Telegraph: The bodies of Don and Iris Flounders were found at their home in Victoria, Australia, last Friday, having killed themselves the day before. The couple made no secret of their intention to die together and travelled to Mexico in 2008 to buy the drug they need for a controlled death. Mr Flounders, 81, suffered from mesothelioma, which is an incurable form of lung cancer. His 88-year-old wife, who was not suffering from a terminal illness, decided she did not want to live without him. Their message, which will be broadcast posthumously on Tuesday, tells of their desire to die in the manner that they choose.

Zambian man aims to "resurrect" faith-based disabled persons

Times of Zambia: Persons with disabilities the world over are associated with negative elements such as laziness, begging, dependence and other forms of stigmatisation.

Because of such stigmatisation, there has been thousands of articles, paper presentations and remedial proposals for the disabled persons to be empowered so that they can become economically independent.

This is not to mention the numbers of non-governmental organisations and Government programmes that have sprung up in the name of helping needy citizens like the disabled persons.

But none of these initiatives have been able to reach out to an institution where most of the disabled are, the church. This is why one Daniel Nsomekela, a disabled whose mobility is only by the aid of a wheel chair, led other disabled persons to form the National Christian Organisation for the Disabled (Nacodi).

Nsomekela says the idea to form the organisation came about because he identified the church as a place where the most needy disabled people run to for emotional support and hope for eternal future.

Editor: I've been communicating with Daniel for a few weeks. In one email he told me more about the plight of people with disabilities in his country --

African and Zambia fellow what the western believers most do, the church in Africa most of them have became so western in it's behavior but it has failed to implement social tenets that includes sanctity of disabled as human being. In [a] nutshell, the western do not propagate what it does to it's communities to our African Clergies who still live Christianity in one and Traditional of ignorance in the other - centered on secularism than embodiment of virtue of Jesus Christ.

The coming of Islam in the Southern Africa, has seen many underprivileged and the disabled are becoming forced Muslims because of their vulnerability. They go to Mosque on Fridays than on Sundays because Christians are too pretentious and uncaring, their hearts caroused especially in Zambia a Christian Nation since it was declared almost 20 years ago.

Our Preachers are more concern with the numbers of congregates and income it makes , off course these obvious excludes disabled who are by nature poor because of deliberate policies that does not uphold their bright.

The Disabled in Africa are considered demon possessed, most parents still hide their children from the public for fear of stigmatization - this painful thing, however it exist.

91-Year-Old Woman Sells Controversial Suicide Kits

91-Year-Old Woman Sells Controversial Suicide Kits - ABC News: Sharlotte Hydorn said the homemade kits, which she has been selling for four years, are intended to assist the death of those who are terminally or in severe chronic pain. But anyone can request the $60 kit, and she does not screen her clients before sending out the device.

May/June prayer calendar now available!

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Does God whisper?

The notion that each Christian can receive personal revelation from the Almighty was novel in times past. Nowadays, though, listening to Christians talk about it, the experience appears to be ubiquitous. Virtually everyone seems to be “hearing from God” in some fashion these days—pastors, writers, worship leaders, even the regular folks at our weekly Bible studies—so the basic idea must be right.

But is it? Must I “hear the voice of God” in order to know what He wants from me, as the author above suggested? Is this what Jesus meant by, “My sheep hear My voice,” or what Paul meant by being “led by the Spirit”? And what if I hear nothing but silence when I listen? Does this say something about my spiritual well-being? Am I living a substandard Christian life if I don’t have a hot-line to God? Addressing those concerns and more like them is so important that Greg Koukl is making them the focus of the next three issues of Solid Ground.

Media Pushes Suicide Assistance

Media Pushes Suicide Assistance » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: CBS-LA News has glorified an elderly woman selling suicide kits as “death with dignity” in a story headlined: “91-Year-Old Grandma Sells Suicide Kits To Help Terminally Ill Die With Dignity.”