Le blog de Jacqueline Jencquel.

A severely disabled man who wants to die should not even be allowed to ask the courts to give permission for a doctor to kill him, the High Court in London heard yesterday.

Tony Nicklinson, from Melksham, Wiltshire, is asking senior judges to declare that anyone who intervenes to end his life with ‘dignity’ would not be charged with a crime.
The case would have serious repercussions for the laws on euthanasia, and lawyers for the Government, which is challenging the case, said it was not for the courts to decide on the issue, but Parliament to change the law instead.

David Perry QC, representing the Ministry of Justice, applied for the case to be ‘struck out’ of the High Court yesterday before it is even heard, arguing that Mr Nicklinson’s case was an open and shut one. Continuer la lecture →

A fresh attempt to legalise assisted suicide in Scotland has been launched, with proponents arguing the weight of public opinion is on their side.

Veteran politician Margo MacDonald unveiled a new consultation on the issue a year on from the defeat at the Scottish Parliament of her first bid to give people the right to choose when to die.

Ms MacDonald, Scotland’s only independent MSP, said she has « learned lessons » from her previous attempt and is proposing a « clearer, more straightforward process ».

Among the new proposals being put forward is a suggestion that a trained « licensed facilitator » – a so-called « friend at the end » – would have to be present when someone is at the point of ending their own life. Such a measure is primarily aimed at making sure any fatal medication is taken correctly. Continuer la lecture →

A fresh attempt to legalise assisted suicide in Scotland is being launched despite defeat just over a year ago.

Veteran politician Margo MacDonald, whose first bid fell in a free vote, argues there is consistent support among the public.

Ms MacDonald, Holyrood’s only independent MSP, will set out a new consultation at the official launch inside the Scottish Parliament. Continuer la lecture →

On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Washington Post Magazine attacked conservative pro-life values on another front – by profiling the new « public face of American assisted suicide, » Lawrence Egbert.

On January 22, the Washington Post Magazine’s Manuel Roig-Franzia wrote a long profile of Lawrence Egbert, the former director of the Final Exit Network, who by his own admission has been present at 100 peoples’ suicides, and « was responsible for signing off on all suicides » for the Final Exit Network.

Roig-Franzia began his piece by examining Egbert’s suicide apparatus – while describing Egbert as a normal individual who was « slightly built, genial and energetic retired anesthesiologist with a snowy goatee » and « an 84-year-old doctor, who formerly served as a campus Unitarian Universalist Minister and has taught as an assistant visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University. »
Continuer la lecture →

Former rugby player Tony Nicklinson had a high-flying job as a corporate manager in Dubai, where he went skydiving and bridge-climbing in his free time.

Seven years ago, he suffered a paralyzing stroke. Today he can only move his head, cannot speak and needs constant care.

And he wants to die.

To try to ensure that whoever ends his life won’t be jailed, the 57-year-old Nicklinson recently asked Britain’sHigh Court to declare that any doctor who gives him a lethal injection with his consent won’t be charged with murder. This week, the court will hold its first hearing on the case. Continuer la lecture →

An independent panel of experts in the U.K. says there is a strong case for changing British law to help terminally ill people die.

In a report Thursday, the Commission for Assisted Dying described the legal status of assisted suicide in Britain as « inadequate and incoherent. » It is illegal to help a terminally ill person commit suicide, but prosecutions are rare. In 2009, the government’s top prosecutor said most people who help terminally ill friends and family members die were unlikely to be charged.

The Commission said it would be possible to legally allow assisted suicide for terminally ill people under strict criteria: those who were at least 18 years old and who were making a voluntary choice free from coercion or mental health problems.

The experts called for additional safeguards should assisted suicide be legalized, including requiring patients to be seen by at least two doctors. The system would not let doctors administer a lethal dose but would give such medication to the patient to take when he or she chooses after the other criteria has been met.

« The Commission is not recommending that any form of euthanasia should be permitted, » the report said.

Critics, however, say the commission was biased, and the British Medical Association refused to participate in the report. The commission is supported by Dignity in Dying and other advocates who favor changing the law.

One anti-abortion group labeled the report « a renewed attack » on disabled and elderly people.

« This is part of a thoroughly nasty strategy to convince the public that many disabled people want to die, » Paul Tully of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said in a statement.

Source : http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2012-01-06/uk-experts-assisted-suicide-legally-possible#.Tx6pF2OP0Rg

If a commission recommends against legalization–as has happened repeatedly in the UK (and elsewhere)–-well the obvious answer is to…appoint another commission. Repeat as needed until one comes up with the desired answer. And now a UK commission has recommended in favor of legalization, so we can expect the appointment of assisted suicide investigative commissions to stop.

What’s that?  What did the commission recommend?  Does that really matter?  It’s the same-old, same-old. But here are a few details. From the Telegraph story:

“The independent Commission on Assisted Dying…” Continuer la lecture →

Figures from the Swiss assisted suicide organisation show that it had 893 members from this country by the end of last year, up 14 per cent on the figure for 2010.
It means more Britons belong to Dignitas than people from every other country except Germany.
In total, 182 people from this country have now ended their lives with the group’s help since it was set up in 1998, although the annual figure fell from 26 in 2010 to 22 last year.
The statistics come at a time of renewed debate over assisted suicide. The crime remains punishable by up to 14 years’ imprisonment but since the Director of Public Prosecutions was forced to set out guidelines on when charges are brought, 31 cases have been considered but none has led to court. Continuer la lecture →

A man paralysed from the neck down after suffering a stroke that left him with locked-in syndrome will on Monday begin a high court battle to allow doctors to end his life.

In the most ambitious attempt yet to loosen laws on the right to die, Tony Nicklinson, 57, wants a declaration that any doctor terminating his life will have a « common law defence of necessity » against any possible murder charge. Continuer la lecture →