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Advance directives Assisted suicide Europe Euthanasia

Italy Moves Toward Euthanasia Ban

Michael Cook at Bioedge reports on Italian efforts to ban assisted suicide and euthanasia here. The legislation would also require provision of artificially administered food and hydration when needed.

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Assisted suicide Euthanasia Organ Donation

Wesley Smith on Organ Donation and Suicide

At the First Things blog Wesley Smith comments on a tragic story of a 12-year Indian girl who commited suicide to provide organs for her father and brother.

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Advance directives Assisted suicide Death and dying Hospice Religious views

DNR’s, dementia, and assisted suicide

The Chicago Tribune has an opinion piece today entitled Do not resusictate . . . do not feel remorse. The author describes her mother’s last year of life, struggling with old age and dementia. The mother ultimately dies at home after the family refused to allow a feeding tube. The author also briefly considers how […]

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Chronic pain Death and dying Health Care Reform Hospice

Do we need more oversight of hospice care?

In The Truth Behind the Hospice Numbers J. Donald Schumacher, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, responds to criticisms of poor oversight and rising hospice payments by government.

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Death and dying Europe

Nursing Home Residents Views on Death

A study of 121 nursing home residents in England reveals that the residents’ views on advance directives and end-of-life care do not vary much from the views of the general population, notwithstanding deaths of other nursing home residents. The study is summarized with citation at Science Direct here.

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Death and dying Europe Euthanasia Religious Views

Protestanism and Suicide

Researchers at Warwick University have published a new paper entitled Knocking on Heaven’s Door: Protestanism and Sucide. According to the abstract: We model the effect of Protestant vs. Catholic denomination in an economic theory of suicide, accounting for differences in religious-community integration, views about man’s impact on God’s grace, and the possibility of confessing sins. […]

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Canada Death and dying Feminism Women's health

Motherhood’s Protective Effect on Suicidal Impulse

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among young adults and the elderly. According to a short article on international efforts to prevent suicide: “According to World Health Organisation statistics, in the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60% worldwide and the global suicide rate was 16 per 100,000 in 2009. […]

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Chronic pain Death and dying Euthanasia

Lou Gerhig’s Disease and Seeking Control of Death

The Sunday New York Times has an opinion piece entitled “The Good Short Life” describing a man’s struggle with Lou Gerhig’s disease and his decision to take his own life at some point. Classifying this piece as an opinion piece makes sense when we consider that emotion, rather than reason, is the basis of public […]

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Abortion Canada Conscience protection Constitutionality Court cases Death and dying Europe Euthanasia Feticide infanticide International International Legislation Politics Population Control Research sites and suggestions United Nations

Great News Source on Life Issues Abroad

Marie Smith, wife of Congressman Chris Smith, runs a remarkable organization, the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues (PNCI). PNCI coordinates efforts among members of democratically-elected legislatures – collectively known as parliamentarians – to advance respect for the inherent value, worth, and inviolable dignity of every human being from fertilization until natural death. The PNCI website […]

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Chronic pain Death and dying Hospice

New report on treatment of pain by the Institute of Medicine

Relieving Pain in America is a new report by the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine. The introduction to the report describes the report as follows: Relieving Pain in America assesses the state of the science regarding pain research, care, and education and offers a blueprint for developing a population-level strategy to increase awareness […]