Washington (CNS) – The Administrative Committee of the U.S. National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) unanimously condemned legalized euthanasia in a statement released September 12. (See full text below). They urged Catholics and “all persons of good will” to reject euthanasia proposals such as Initiative 119, a referendum facing Washington state voters November 5. The Initiative seeks to legalize “aid-in-dying” as a [...]
A Bill intended to change the Criminal Code and allow physicians to kill their patients passed its first reading in the House of Commons, June 19, 1991. The Bill C-261, is the brainchild of the NDP member for Saskatoon-Clark’s Crossing, Chris Axworthy. * * * * Certain steps are required before a doctor inserts the needle and injects the poison. The person [...]
Ontario MPPs would be prudent to learn from U.S. experience when they consider Bill 108, Substitute Decisions, and Bill 109, Consent to Treatment Act. Living Wills and Substituted Judgment in the United States directly threaten the lives of many handicapped people as well as the old and the “unwanted.” Today, many people are afraid. The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (TASH), [...]
NDP MP Chris Axworthy (Saskatoon-Clark’s Crossing) has introduced a Private Member’s Bill to “legalize the administration of euthanasia under certain conditions to persons who request it and are suffering from an irremediable condition.” Bill C-261, which received First Reading in the House of Commons on June 19, would amend the Criminal Code to make it lawful for a qualified medical practitioner who [...]
Addressing a hundred and ten participants in a one-day workshop on euthanasia, Professor Joseph Boyle of St. Micheal’s College, University of Toronto, denounced the hypocrisy surrounding euthanasia or mercy killing. “There is no difference between passive and active euthanasia,” he stated. “Both end in the death of a human being.” Professor Boyle then went on to say that passive euthanasia, homicide by [...]
Some 110 pro-lifers received an education in the complex issues surrounding euthanasia at an April 21 conference sponsored by Campaign Life Coalition (CLC). More complicated Prof. Joseph Boyle, Ph.D, of St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, and Dr. Barry De Veber, M.D., of London, Ontario, made it clear that the question of euthanasia is more complicated than that of abortion. [...]
The media are full of euthanasia propaganda. Do you have the list of the effects of dehydration quoted by the judge in the Paul Brophy case? C.N., Toronto. Mr. Justice Kopelman noted these probable effects before Brophy died of starvation and dehydration: - His mouth would dry out and become caked or coated with thick material. - His lips would [...]
Canadian doctors are helping their patients to commit suicide, the director of medical ethics and legal affairs of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) claimed. Dr. Eike-Henner Kluge, who approves of euthanasia, explained the procedure in a recent issue of the Canadian Medical Journal (CMAJ, 1991; Vol. 144 [3]. Prescriptions Kluge described two ways in which doctors are involved in the suicides of [...]
On March 27, Fraser Valley West MP Robert Wenman introduced a Private Members Bill that called for cessation and refusal of medical treatment for terminally ill patients. Wenman, a Conservative, who considers himself to be pro-life, voted in favour of Bill C-43 in July 1990. Bill C-43 would have legalized abortion on demand in Canada. The measure was defeated in a tie [...]
Professor William E. May, moral theologian at the Catholic University of America has written a lucid and important article on the controversial subject of withdrawing or withholding medical treatment (Linacre, August 1990). Moralists Professor May takes strong issue with two highly influential Catholic moralists, Richard McCormick, S.J. (see below) and Kevin O’Rourke, O.P. He regards their position on the withdrawal or withholding [...]
The Interim has tried to keep abreast of the growing strength of the ‘Dying with Dignity’ movement (See, for example, the articles “Doctors hear euthanasia warning” and “Dying with Dignity recommends that right to kill,” in our June 1989 issue). For November 1989 till March 1990, The Interim published four lengthy articles by Charles Eckman on the threat of active euthanasia and [...]
What is meant by ‘organic farming’? L.W., Toronto This is a development which some scientists see as a part of the ‘Brave New World.’ It is suggested that human beings could be developed for their ‘spare parts’. Women would be paid to have babies which would be aborted in order that they be cannibalized when doctors ‘harvested’ their organs—heart, liver, pancreas, etc. [...]
Nancy Beth Cruzan, a 33-year-old Missouri woman reported to be in a coma since a 1983 car accident, died December 26, 1990, in Mount Vernon, Missouri, 12 days after the liquid diet fed to her through a stomach tube was stopped. Pro-life activists who opposed this action maintained that Miss Cruzan was not in a coma. She was not terminally ill, they [...]
AT HOME Just working girls Alexandre Highcrest, the AIDS-Educator with the Toronto-based Prostitutes for Sage Sex Project (PSSP), writes in the most recent issue of The New Facts of Life, the newsletter of the Canadian Public Health Association: “We advocate a positive attitude towards sex, sexuality, and sex trade workers, and we’re constantly trying to educate the public as to the realities [...]
A Conference on Euthanasia, sponsored by the Dutch Embassy, was held at Mt. Saint Vincent University.Both Dianna [Smith] and Ann Marie [Tomlins] attended; along with Mary Ann Hennessy from Nova Scotians United For Life (NSUL).We listened with horror as a representative of the Dutch government described Dutch policy regarding euthanasia. Having done our research, we became aware that the representative of the [...]