The Netherlands has said it will broaden its euthanasia regulations to allow doctors the ability to end the lives of terminally ill children between 1 and 12 years old. The rule change is an adjustment of an existing protocol and doesn’t require parliamentary approval. The decision comes after years of requests from some Dutch doctors…

The Netherlands has said it will broaden its euthanasia regulations to allow doctors the ability to end the lives of terminally ill children between one and 12 years old. The rule change involves the government adjusting an existing protocol, and does not require parliamentary approval. The decision comes after years of requests from some Dutch…

Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) has closed an investigation into allegations that veterans were offered assisted suicide, stating it found only four incidents where medical assistance in dying (MAiD) was “inappropriately discussed,” according to a report. “VAC has concluded these were four incidents completely isolated to a single employee” and that “this is not a widespread,…

Sonia Bélanger, the Quebec minister responsible for health and seniors, tabled Bill 11 on Thursday, which would allow people diagnosed with serious illness—such as Alzheimers—to give advanced consent to medical assistance in dying (MAID) before they are incapacitated. Quebec currently has the highest number of MAID deaths per capita of any place in the world,…

An employee of Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) who allegedly suggested military veterans consider euthanasia is no longer employed by the department. Erika Lashbrook Knutson, spokesperson for Minister of Veterans Affairs Lawrence MacAulay, said privacy rules prevent the government from disclosing whether the female employee was fired or resigned. She was first suspended. “We had to follow to…

Members of the New South Wales (NSW) Legislative Council will progress to a final vote on the Voluntary Assisted Dying bill this week, as the debate over amendments resumes from Tuesday. A number of politicians, unions, charity organisations and pro-euthanasia groups on Tuesday gathered together to urge upper house members to support the bill. Under…

Commentary Misleading language is a friend to tyrants, for whom it works as a placebo against public unrest. In Russia, the charged words “war against Ukraine” are forbidden. Russians must use the more soothingly anodyne “special military operation.” Ideologues are also masters of the weasel-word craft. In the domain of euthanasia, a concept tainted with…

Recently released statistics and anecdotal accounts have caused anti-euthanasia activists increased concern, as they believe medically assisted death is not only permitted, but encouraged. Medically assisted deaths in Quebec rose to 2,426 in the year ending March 31, an increase of 37 percent over the year before, and represented 3.3 percent of all deaths. The…

Almost 1,700 health care professionals signed a letter to the UK’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid to voice their opposition against a new law legalising assisted suicide, a campaign group said on Wednesday. An open letter with 1,689 signatories, including current and retired doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and medical students, said “the shift from preserving life to…

The number of Canadians seeking medically assisted dying grows with each passing year, a trend that is expected to continue due to its legal expansion and other trends in society and health-care delivery. In 2020, 7,595 Canadians received medical assistance in dying (MAiD). This was an over 34 percent increase from 2019’s 5,660 figure, but…