^TagAssisted Suicide

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
September 7, 2023

Categorized
Technocracy

Tagged
Assisted Suicide, bioethics, Doctors, Freedom, healthcare, Medicine, Technocracy, Wesley J. Smith}

The Technocracy Continues to Grow

_{We live in a time where individual freedom is under material threat from an emerging technocracy} _{Wesley J. Smith

September 7, 2023

6

Technocracy}

Readers may recall two cases from the UK: Alfie Evans and Charlie Gard, infants with catastrophic illnesses whom the courts did not allow to be taken out of their hospitals — as desired by their parents — to receive treatment elsewhere. Now, also in the UK, a conscious and capable 19-year-old patient, referred to in legal documents as “ST,” with an apparent terminal disease has been told by a court that she can’t decide to continue life-extending treatment after the hospital sued to be able to move her to palliative care against her will. From the legal ruling involving the National Health Service Trust (emphasis added): The Trust’s case is that ST is “actively dying”. It became clear during the course of the oral evidence I heard Read More ›

Laboratory technician checking CDC specimen submitting form, laboratory testing for SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 Coronavirus disease infection,global pandemic crisis,swab collection patient specimen procedure

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
August 21, 2023

Categorized
Medicine and Health

Tagged
Assisted Suicide, CDC, Euthanasia, Health, Statistics, suicide, The National Review, Wesley J. Smith}

CDC Neglects to Include Assisted Deaths in Official Suicide Report

_{Assisted dying is a form of suicide, regardless of the ways our culture has euphemized the term} _{Wesley J. Smith

August 21, 2023

2

Medicine and Health}

2021 was among the worst years ever for suicides in the U.S., with 2022 looking to have been even worse. According to the CDC, in 2021, 48,183 people killed themselves. That number is projected to increase to 49,449 for 2022 once the data are tabulated. That’s a terrible tragedy. But it is even worse than that because assisted suicides are not included in the suicide statistics. Why? Because the laws legalizing assisted suicide in most states — which is euphemistically referred to as “medical aid in dying” (MAID) or “death with dignity” — redefine a doctor-prescribed overdose as other than what it is: suicide. Indeed, most of these laws require doctors to lie about the actual cause as the underlying disease Read More ›

Hallway the emergency room and outpatient hospital. 3d illustration

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
August 14, 2023

Categorized
Ethics

Tagged
Assisted Suicide, Culture of Death, Death, Dystopia, Euthanasia, Human exceptionalism, Mental illness}

The Small Steps That Lead to Dystopia

_{Revisiting a 1993 article warning about the future of assisted suicide} _{Wesley J. Smith

August 14, 2023

6

Ethics}

Editor’s Note: The following piece was originally published in Newsweek in June 1993. Today is my 76th birthday,” the letter began. “Unassisted and by my own free will, I have chosen to take my final passage.” Suicide. My friend Frances died in a cold, impersonal hotel room after taking an overdose of sleeping pills, with a plastic bag tied over her head suffocating the life out of her body. Frances was not a happy woman. She had family troubles. She suffered from chronic lymphatic leukemia and was facing the difficult prospect of a hip replacement. She also had a chronic nerve condition that caused her to feel a burning sensation on her skin. But Frances was lucid, aware and involved. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
July 12, 2023

Categorized
Ethics, Medicine and Health

Tagged
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Assisted Suicide, Canada, CBC, Euthanasia, Medicine, Ontario, Wesley J. Smith}

Patients Opting for Euthanasia in the Face of Painful Circumstances

_{Receiving assistance takes a long time. But to be made dead? Not so much.} _{Wesley J. Smith

July 12, 2023

3

Ethics, Medicine and Health}

So much compassion! A disabled woman with quadriplegia named Rose Finlay in Canada has asked to be euthanized because she is destitute, and the disability benefits she applied for would not arrive in time for her to be properly housed and cared for. From the CBC story: A quadriplegic woman in Bowmanville, Ont., has applied for medical assistance in dying (MAID), saying it’s easier to access than the support services she needs to live her life comfortably. Receiving assistance takes a long time. But to be made dead? Not so much: The single mother of three boys previously supported her family with earnings from disability advocacy work through her company, Inclusive Solutions. That’s also how she could afford to hire her own support Read More ›

Beauty injection concept. Syringe with violet liquid for hypodermic injection.

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
June 12, 2023

Categorized
Medicine and Health

Tagged
Assisted Suicide, bioethics, Culture War, Depression, Euthanasia, Legislation, mental health, Politics, Portugal, suicide, Wesley J. Smith, Western Culture}

This Country Just Legalized Euthanasia

_{The law isn't even limited to those who are terminally ill} _{Wesley J. Smith

June 12, 2023

2

Medicine and Health}

Alas. The president of Portugal just signed into law a bill legalizing euthanasia by lethal injection. It is not limited to the terminally ill — which is at least honest, since that is not what euthanasia/assisted suicide is really all about. From the Reuters story: The law specifies that people would be allowed to request assistance in dying in cases when they are “in a situation of intense suffering, with definitive injury of extreme gravity or serious and incurable disease.” It establishes a two-month gap between accepting a request and the actual procedure and makes psychological support mandatory. Strict guidelines and all that jazz. Not only are they unlikely to be strictly enforced but will soon be redefined from protections to barriers, Read More ›