“Senators Want HHS to Monitor Assisted Suicide”
From LifeNews.com, here is a report on a letter from US senators urging HHS to monitor assisted suicide in states where the practice is legal in order to ensure that the practice is not discriminating against those with disabilities. “US Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) sent a bipartisan, bicameral letter to Health […]
New York Agrees Not to Force Catholic Nuns to Help Assisted Suicides
From the Becket website, here is a report on an important development in the suit brought by Catholic nuns to avoid being forced to participate in assisted suicides: “With agreement from the state of New York, a federal judge ordered the state not to enforce its assisted-suicide mandate against four orders of Catholic nuns and […]
“Europeans Call for Elderly Euthanasia”
Here is a link to an analysis by Kelly Heilman. Heilman discusses an effort by EU-backed groups to include assisted suicide in a new treaty on the rights of older persons. The treaty is in the early stages of development. Given other troubling recent developments in Europe, this new treaty bears watching carefully.
Catholic Bishop and religious sisters sue New York over Assisted Suicide Requirements
Here is a link to a Becket Fund press release about a lawsuit that a Catholic Bishop and four communities of religious sisters filed against the state of New York to avoid being forced to participate in the process of assisted suicide.
France Legalizes Euthanasia
This story from EWTN News describes the vote from the French National Assembly legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide. The French Senate had previously rejected the legalization effort but the French Prime Minister was able to take the issue to the National Assembly for final approval. France joins several other European countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and […]
Richard Doerflinger and the Slippery Slope
Here is a link to a good essay by Richard Doerflinger about assisted suicide and the slippery slope. Doerflinger’s essay is a response to a recent editorial in The Economist supporting the legalization of assisted suicide. Doerflinger explains that the experience with assisted suicide in the US illustrates that opening the door to legalization typically […]
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Rejects Fundamental Right to Assisted Suicide
Here is a link to an article in the National Right to Life News about this important decision. This decision follows the trend (which is of course not universal) of state supreme courts (even quite liberal such courts) rejecting the argument that there is a fundamental constitutional right to assisted suicide under the state constitution. […]
Important Ruling from European Court on Euthanasia
Here is a link to a report from ADF International about an important ruling from the European Court of Human Rights. “In a major case on the right to life, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of Tom Mortier, son of Godelieva de Troyer, who died by lethal injection in 2012, aged […]
John Keown on the Link between Voluntary and Non-Voluntary Euthanasia
Here is a link to an excellent paper by John Keown, which was recently published in the Cambridge Law Journal. The paper is entitled “The Logical Link Between Voluntary and Non-Voluntary Euthanasia.” Here is the abstract– “The logical “slippery slope” argument is of key relevance to the ongoing debate about “assisted dying”. The argument runs […]
Massachusetts Court Considers Right to Assisted Suicide
Here is a link to a Reuters story on the oral argument before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. The Court is considering whether there is a state constitutional right to assisted suicide. In 1997, the US Supreme Court rejected a federal constitutional challenge to laws banning assisted suicide.