Category Archives: Euthanasia

Published: 1/27/2022 2:40:04 PM

Modified: 1/27/2022 2:38:47 PM

Sen. Jo Comerford got it right, Dr. Mark Rollos comments in a Jan. 15 letter are misleading (Wishes Comerford would drop fight for physician-assisted suicide).

As family physicians in this community who have cared for patients in all phases of life, and who have a long history of support for racial and class equity, we are taken aback by Dr. Rollos misleading tactics to try and prevent the passage of the End of Life Options Act, which would legalize Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) in Massachusetts.

To avoid honestly stating his own personal stance against MAID, Dr. Rollo cherry picks and references long outdated polls from small sections of Massachusetts to advance the ridiculous idea that MAID represents an effort of wealthy white authorities to inflict some sort of fantasmagorical set of atrocities upon the poor.

Yes, we believe that disadvantaged people of all races should have the right to choose MAID, if they so wish. We do not believe Dr. Rollo represents the views of any particular portion of the diverse Massachusetts public. We find Dr. Rollos reference the Nazi euthanasia program (as a means of attacking the Death with Dignity Act) to be not merely offensive, but egregiously mendacious . As a child whose parents were both Holocaust survivors, Dr. Berkowitz is only willing to support MAID (End of Life Options Act) because of the stringent safeguards in place in the Massachusetts bill.

Dr. Rollo states, it was not the Nazis who taught the doctors how to kill; it was the other way around. The Jewish Virtual Library notes on their pages regarding Nazi murder, that the term euthanasia reflects the Nazi penchant for euphemism and that there was no intent to provide mercy for those suffering from painful terminal conditions, but rather, the killing program reflected the philosophy of racial purity eugenics was the philosophical cornerstone of Nazi doctrine. The initial orders to begin the Nazi T-4 (euthanasia) program was given to Dr. Karl Brandt by Adolf Hitler in 1939. Nazi doctors were following proverbial orders.

In short, Dr. Rollo is either quite misinformed or purposely spreading overtly false information because he is personally against MAID. It must be noted that no victim of the Nazi T-4/euthanasia program every requested death. The Nazis, as any student of history knows, used the T-4 program to develop their system of gas chambers disguised as shower rooms. People were deceptively murdered in line with violent Nazi policies toward all people who had no place in their eugenic utopia. This program never had a medical foundation, but used medical jargon as a front for racist murder.

Please refrain from distracting hyperbole when discussing these issues, and allow people to have the option to make their own personal, voluntary choices. Lets be perfectly clear about what MAID is: It is about rational, mentally clear individuals with a terminal illness who want to have a choice to end their own suffering and pain on their own terms.

As in other states where MAID has been legalized, we do not expect this option to be frequently used by our patients. We simply want the choice to be available for our patients when appropriate.

Dr. Shelly Berkowitz lives in Northampton and Dr. Kate Atkinson lives in Amherst.

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My Turn: Doctors support End of Life Options Act - The Recorder

Meg Brew| UF/IFAS, Lake County Extension

As residents of Lake County, we share our habitat with the Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floridansus), the only species of bear found in Florida. Once considered a threatened species, the black bear is now thriving with an estimated populated of more than 4,000 bears (as of 2018).

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Compared to their more fearsome cousins, like the Grizzly, the Florida black bear is not considered an especially aggressive animal. However, when they become food conditioned and lose their sense of fear, the potential for human-bear conflict is far more likely.

Like us, black bears are omnivorous. Their natural diets are largely plant-based with 80 percentof their daily meals being comprised of nuts, berries, and acorns. They will readily consume insects such as termites, ants, and grubs to the tune of 15 percentof their diet and make up the remaining 5 percentby scavenging for the carrion of small mammals like opossums.

These healthy eaters also have very healthy appetites, with adult males consuming up to 20,000 calories per day (thats 10times what the average adult human requires). In order to satisfy their hunger, bears are equipped with an excellent sense of smell and are able to sniff out a meal from up to a mile away.

This need to feed is what brings otherwise shy bears into close contact with humans, and this close contact can lead to conflict.

Human homes often feature a high-calorie smorgasbord of easily accessible food: trash cans fullof fragrant rotting garbage, barbecue grills plastered with the residue of recently grilled meat, yards full of fruit trees ripe for the picking, cat food bowls filled to the brim, and birdseed in feeders just waiting to be raided.

These temptations draw bears in and keep them in close proximity to neighborhoods. The promise of an all-you-can-eat buffet eventually becomes more compelling than their innate desire to avoid humans.

Bears and humans are both growing in population, leading to an inevitable increase in the number of human-bear conflicts.As residents of bear country, we have an important role to play in preventing these conflicts.

By eliminating, or at least minimizing, negative interactions with bears we can enjoy safer neighborhoods while at the same time knowing that bears will be less likely to face euthanasia because of losing their fear of humans and becoming aggressive in their pursuit of food.

Purchasing, and using, a bear-resistant trash can is a good way to prevent bears from accessing your refuse. Ideally, your cans should be stored in a closed garage or other secure structure until the morning of pickup.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission has instructions on how you can retrofit your existing trashcan to become more bear resistant https://myfwc.com/media/20202/combined-retrofit-kit-directions.pdf.

Everyone loves a good BBQ, including bears. After you grill out, or use a smoker, be sure to thoroughly clean your grill/smoker and store it in a secure area where a bear cannot help himself to leftovers.

If you enjoy feeding birds, take care to assure that birds are all you are feeding by hanging feeders at least 10 feet off the ground and fourfeet from any attachment points. Use a catch pan to capture waste seed and only put out enough seed to last a single day, bringing in the feeder at night.

Of course, bird seed is not the only animal feed that attracts bears they will readily help themselves to pet and livestock feed if available. When feeding your animals, only put out enough feed for a single day, bring in leftovers, and dont leave feed out overnight. Store feed inside if possible, and in airtight containers to keep the smell from attracting a would-be bear burglar.

By taking these simple steps we can help to keep bears wild, and our neighborhoods safe. For more information on being bear aware please visit https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW389 from which this article was adapted. To report problem bears in your neighborhood, please contact the FWC at 352-732-1225.

UF/IFAS Lake County Extension is open regular business hours8 a.m. to5 p.m. Monday through Friday or visit us online anytime at sfyl.ifas.uf.edu/lake and follow UF/IFAS Lake County Extension on Facebook. Our Gardens are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the same days, as well as the 3rd Saturday of every month.

An Equal Opportunity Institution. UF/IFAS Extension, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Andra Johnson, Dean for UF/IFAS Extension.

Single copies of UF/IFAS Extension publications (excluding 4-H and youth publications) are available free to Florida residents from county UF/IFAS Extension offices

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From the Extension: Be mindful of your neighbors the bears - Daily Commercial

Bishop David A. Zubik

Some of you may remember Father Patrick Rager, a priest of our diocese ordained May11, 1985. Not long after his ordination, Paddy (as he was affectionately called by his family) was diagnosed with a very rare form of ALS, better known as Lou Gehrigs Disease.

For over twenty-five years of his priestly life, until his passing on July20, 2010, Father Ragers disease robbed him of almost every activity associated with a normal day of life: walking, running, eating, touching, speaking and, in his case, some might even say priesting. Father Rager was confined to bed in his moms home, paralyzed from his neck to the tips of his toes. His only means of communication were his eyes and his smile. Father Paddy was at the very least a marveland many of us believe him to be a saint.

Because of the ALS, he was not able to celebrate Mass, preach a homily or offer the sacraments. Yet, he still communicated Gods gracethrough his radiant smiling eyes. Some in our culture might claim he was useless. Nothing could be further from the truth! He helped others who struggled with disabilities. He helped me grow in holiness. He did so with a deep Christ-like presence, evident in his gentle and discerning eyes.

What a sharp contrast his life is to the main character in a 1970s playlater a movieentitled Whose Life Is It, Anyway? The storyline focused on a promising sculptor paralyzed from the neck down following a car accident. Both the movie and the play became a forum in support of euthanasia. They advanced the idea that the sculptor was trapped in a useless body and should have the right to say whether he should live or die.

What an interesting contrast with Father Rager; between a life lived in joy and compassion, and a life abandoned to despair and deemed useless.

This past week, we marked the 49th anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision, Roe vs. Wade. Whether physically present at the March for Life in Washington or prayerfully standing witness near home in one of our parishes, we had the chance to promote the joy that Father Rager knew. We stood for embracing the gift of life, and against a culture of death.

What value does our society place on human life? What value do we as daughters and sons of God place on human life? Once God is taken out of the equation as the Creator of human life, eliminating the truth that all life is sacred and in Gods hands, the question remains, Whose life is it, anyway?

Many in the secular world fumble for an answer or evade the question by claiming falsely that there is no answer. Biology alone should tell them that, from the moment of conception, each unborn child is a unique individual, genetically different from either parent, part of no one elses body. Our duty is to assist and protect both mother and child, before and after birth.

As I share this reflection, there are roughly 2,800 abortions a day in the United States, with about 22% of all pregnancies ending in abortion. There are strong political efforts to force the participation of medical personnel who have deep concerns of conscience over abortion, and to force you and me to pay for abortions with our taxes.

Several states have legalized physician-assisted suicide. Society cant figure out under what conditions we can give water to a dying person. Conventional wisdom has decided that any means to prevent birth is good. It is not! Capital punishment remains an acceptable option for doing away with criminals. It is not! These are ways our society has legally approved the culture of death.

When a culture denies God as Creator, life is reduced to a functionto what a person can do, not who they are. The horrific result allows those with power to decide who lives and who dies.

This kind of thinking shrinks in the face of Jesus own words: I came that they might have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).

As the movie Whose Life Is It, Anyway? is ending and the court gives the sculptor the option to kill himself, the camera pans to an overhead shot. It creates the illusion that the sculptor is in the hand of a statue representing God. While it might be clever cinematography, it advances a profound contradiction to the movies premise. God is the Creator of all Life. Our lives are in His hands, not our own.

That image of the statue takes on true meaning when we envision it enfolding the beauty and integrity of Father Ragers lifeas well as your life and mine. Created in the image and likeness of God, our lives belong to God, not to ourselves. Embracing that truth, we arrive at a true answer to the question: Whose life is it, anyway?

If our life belongs to God, then the value of our life can never be owned or determined by any human beingnot by a president, not by a physician, not even by ourselves. The value of a human life cannot be snuffed out by abortion or euthanasia nor by capital punishment. The value of a human life cannot be diminished by any ideology. Nor can it be redefined by any attempt to play god instead of acknowledging that God is the Creator of all Life.

Life is sacred because it comes from Godthe Giver of Life. Whose life is it, anyway?

It is Gods!

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Bridging the Gap: Whos life is it, anyway - Pittsburgh Catholic

Beavers and their dams can positively impact essentially any environment theyre placed in, even the scorching heat of the Moab Desert in Utah. And thats what a university researcher has achieved.

Looking for solutions to drought and wildfires, a Utah State University student began relocating problem beavers captured in other parts of the state into small, struggling waterways around the Price and San Rafael rivers.

Desert hydrology is delicate and fascinating. With far less rain than temperate ecosystems, many remain dry, or small trickles for large parts of the year before coming alive during short rainy periods. Decades of pollution and agricultural runoff means that many of Utahs small delicate waterways are heavily degraded.

Studies have shown that beaver dams can vastly improve the quality of wetlands and streams leading to better animal life and improved river health. It was for this service that the ecosystem engineer was targeted by Emma Doden as a potential rescuer, even if the idea of beavers in the desert raised a few eyebrows.

Working by the Price and San Rafael rivers that run through some of eastern Utahs driest areas, Doden specializes in passive river restoration, which means there is no help from homo sapiens.

We believed the system could support a lot more beavers, Doden told the BBC, and we wanted to supplement it with translocated beavers.

The translocated beavers would have been euthanized, so the project also gives the animals a second chance after invading urban areas.

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Beaver dams are gaining popularity as a low-tech, low-cost strategy to build climate resiliency at the landscape scale, says one study investigating beaver dams effectiveness at protecting against wildfires. They slow and store water that can be accessed by riparian vegetation during dry periods, effectively protecting riparian ecosystems from droughts.

Another study found that the ponds which are created on the dammed side of the beaver lodges can store huge amounts of sediment, then distribute it more safely around the river ecosystem.

This is the case, the study found, both in entirely wild areas with no human alterations and those adjacent to intense agricultural regions, meaning that no matter the conditions of sedimentation, beaver dams can help keep waterways clearer.

RELATED: Once Biologically Dead, Londons River Thames Rebounds With Seahorses and Seals

Sediment runoff from intense agriculture can result in heavily degraded waterways, and even degraded ocean ecosystems as the sediment reduces light, chokes coral, and causes toxic algae blooms.

Dodens university has a program for catching problem beavers and relocating them to the desert, where they will build dams to provide these benefits.

The ultimate goal is to get them to build dams, she said. The dams are what are going to increase habitat complexity and restore water.

In the dam-building seasons of 2019, 2020, and 2021, Doden and her team released more than 50 beavers into the area, some of which moved off downstream sometimes as far as 12 miles to build their dams.

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Bill Thomas Hamilton wrote about trappingin Utah in My Sixty Years on the Plains, and how the rivers were plentiful with beaver, such that it would take 8 months to trap out an area.

Currently, little research exists, Doden says, on dam-building and river restoration in desert environments. But if research in other biomes is any indication, the project should be a resounding success, as millions of beavers used to lodge on Utahs rivers.

SHARE The Fascinating Eco-Restoration Story on Your Dam Social Media,,,

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Beavers Saved From Euthanasia Transform and Replenish Rivers in the Utah Desert - Good News Network

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich will be a guest speaker at the March for Life Chicago Rally on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022 at 1 p.m.

Chicago, (Jan. 6, 2022) The Archdiocese of Chicago will participate in local events in January commemorating the March for Life, an annual pro-life gathering in Washington, D.C., occurring on the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade court decision legalizing abortion. The Archdiocese of Chicagos Respect Life Ministry is a sponsor of March for Life Chicago.

When a child is born, our lives are enriched and our human family benefits from this great gift of life and the contributions and talents we dream and pray a child will bring to our world, said Cardinal Cupich. Then, quoting the papal nuncio, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Cardinal Cupich continued, The Church must be unapologetically pro-life. We cannot abandon our defense of innocent human life or the vulnerable person. Yet, (we also need) to understand better why people seek to end pregnancies; what are the root causes of choices against life and what are the factors that make those choices so complicated for some; and, to begin to form a consensus with concrete strategies to build the culture of life and the civilization of love.

Pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Chicago will join Catholics from dioceses across the country at the National March for Life Pilgrimage from Thursday, Jan. 20 Sunday, Jan. 23 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The archdioceses Respect Life Ministry promotes the dignity and protection of human life through programs, education, pastoral care and advocacy. Programs focus on many topics, including protection of the unborn, euthanasia and assisted suicide. For more information about Respect Life events, please visit https://pvm.archchicago.org/human-dignity-solidarity/respect-life-chastity-education/events.

Originally posted here:

The Archdiocese of Chicago to Participate in Local Respect Life Events throughout January - archchicago.org

Served as a giant of the pro-life movement for nearly 40 years

PROSPECT HEIGHTS After serving as the director of pro-life activities for the New York State Catholic Conference (NYSCC) for almost four decades, Kathleen M. Gallagher is retiring at the end of January.

No one in New York State, or across the country, has done more to advocate on behalf of all human life from conception until natural death than Kathy Gallagher, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York and president of the NYSCC, said in a statement.

He thanked Gallagher for her service in the organization that represents the states bishops in areas of government and public policy and called her a giant of the pro-life movement who fought for the most vulnerable.

In that time, she has not only represented the New York State bishops, but has been a national leader in the pro-life movement, advocating against abortion, capital punishment, and euthanasia, and in favor of supports for pregnant women in need and people near the end of life, Cardinal Dolan added.

Even in Gallaghers retirement, Cardinal Dolan said she will still serve as a consultant to the NYSCC: God knows we need her voice.

A Long Island native, Gallagher graduated from the New York Institute of Technology and joined the NYSCC in 1984 after a brief stint working in the New York Legislature. At that time, she served as the organizations pro-life lobbyist and spokesperson. Her initiatives helped spearhead pro-life advocacy groups including New Yorkers for Life and the New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide.

She has received the Diocesan Pro-Vita Award from the dioceses of Brooklyn, Rockville Centre, and Buffalo, and the Bishop Broderick Award from the Diocese of Albany.

I am grateful to Cardinal Dolan and the bishops for allowing me to represent them for so long, Gallagher said, and blessed beyond measure to have received a salary to advocate for moral principles in which I deeply believe.

In addition to being an outspoken advocate for pro-life policies regarding abortion, the death penalty, and assisted suicide, Gallaghers efforts have resulted in several state-approved programs including the Prenatal Care Assistance Program that serves low-income mothers and their children; the continuation of the state-funded abortion alternatives; and the Health Care Proxy Law that allowed competent adults to appoint agents who can help decide health care options in the event they become unable to decide for themselves.

Pro-life work is not an easy vocation, but Kathy never lost faith, said NYSCC Executive Director Dennis Poust. She has continued to put all of her passion into her work to implement policies that protect human life in the law and to convert hearts toward a culture of Life.

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Kathleen Gallagher to Retire as NYSCC Pro-Life Activities Director - The Tablet Catholic Newspaper

Cat-Themed NFT Play-to-Earn (P2E) Game Nyan Heroes Aims to Save 1 Billion Cats from Euthanasia in Animal Shelters Across the United States

Nyan Heroes is an upcoming NFT battle royal shooter style game built on the Solana blockchain that will allow players to compete against each other using NFTs depicting animated cats which are used to pilot mechanical robot NFTs in the game.

The US-based project has been in development since October and the game is slated for release in Q4 2022. Its first NFT drop is currently available for hodling and trading in markets such as Fractal.

According to data from Solana Art, Nyan Heroes is the fourth NFT project on Solana in terms of seven-day volume and market cap, at $ 279,000 and $ 18.2 million, respectively.

In an interview with TBEN, Nyan Heroes co-founder and Australian Wendy Huang described the companys charitable vision for the future, as well as an overview of the game to come.

Huang has been involved in crypto since 2016 and has also built a successful career as a creator of content ranging from vlogs to DIY videos, pranks and music and has amassed nearly 14 million subscribers on YouTube.

Huang said that she and her co-founder Max Fu, love for cats was a key factor behind linking animal-focused charity work to Nyan Heroes. She said they had an ambitious goal of saving 1 billion cats from euthanasia in animal shelters via charitable donations generated by a portion of the projects NFT sales.

Nyan Heroes revealed his first efforts in this area on December 24, when he announced a donation of $ 250,000 from the proceeds of his first NFT drop to the non-profit Best Friends Society. It was one of the proudest moments I have had on this project, she said.

The Best Friends Society provides a no-kill sanctuary for orphaned animals and also prevents the deaths of cats and dogs at shelters across the United States through its charitable work. The group estimates that its no kill movement has helped reduce the number of cat and dog deaths in animal shelters from 17 million per year to around 347,000.

Huang revealed that the game project will launch a DAO that will give its members the right to vote on the future allocation of Nyan Heroes donations.

Were going to create a young DAO hero. And part of those DAO responsibilities will be deciding where to donate funds, to which animal shelter, and to what causes in that particular area. she said.

Related: A game to win organizes a Christmas charity campaign for the Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Huang pointed out that a major sticking point for P2E blockchain games is sustainability over a long period of time. She said that many P2E games depend on a continuous flow of new users to stay profitable and suffer as players continually cash in and withdraw value from the game.

We dont know how many players will enter the economy. So we have to realize that building a game is not just about the game, but also the economic system and the sustainability of everything, she said.

Huang said that Nyan Heroes sustainability model relies on several factors, such as the introduction of a stablecoin into the game to reduce the volatility of its assets, rewards for wagering on NFTs, and a triple A gaming experience. similar to Fortnite which has historically attracted gamers who want to spend money on the game:

The way we approach it is to deliver a better game where users will actually want to play the game and inject value into the system to balance the players who enter the ecosystem for value.

We keep the in-game token stable so that the value of your in-game items doesnt get stuck and burn. And we think thats what players need to want to stick with a game. You dont want your in-game items to be worth $ 1,000 one day and then $ 10 the next, she added.

Link:

P2E game Nyan Heroes aims to save 1 billion protected cats - The bharat express news

A horse-rescuer who built up her yard in Swanley from scratch has lost everything in a suspected arson attack at her stables.

The incident at rescuer Debbie Sinclairs yard in Church Road happened between 3pm on Wednesday, December 22 and 8am on Thursday, December 23.

Debbie rescues ex racehorses with injuriesand racers who cant find homes by providing them with a safe, loving home until their last days.

She said she is "absolutely devastated" at what has happened to her and her horses - whose alternative is "normally euthanasia".

Debbie told the News Shopper: "I am absolutely devastated that this has happened to me and more importantly my horses.

"All have raced and served the industry well.

"I take them on when they have nowhere or nobody to take them.

"The alternative for these brave noble animals is normally euthanasia.

"I ensure that they have a home for life with me and fund their wellbeing entirely alone."

According to Debbies friend Kristina Valentine, who has set up a GoFundMe page to help her out, Debbie and the horses have lost everything - including feed, hay, rugs, headcollars, tack buckets, medication and their homes.

Debbie Sinclair at the burnt barn

Kristina said Debbie deserves all the help we can give her right now as she faces a winter without her stables following the suspected attack.

Describing Debbie as a "kind, sweet woman", Kristina set upthe fundraising page as her friend hasgone above and beyond to save, rehabilitate and care for these horses, no matter their physical or behavioural issues.

Kristina also explained that Debbie spends out of her own pocket to pay for all their care, medical treatment and to keep them happy and healthy.

Debbie and horse Max

Debbie said: I needthe help of the local community.

"I have just been donated two very expensive rugs from Premier Equine who are a leading brand.

"I want to thank them for their kindness.

"I have been touched and am deeply grateful for the kindness people have shown.

"It has really restored my faith in human kindness after this wicked cruel act left my horses without shelter food or warmth at the most cruel time of year weather wise.

"How anyone could do this is beyond comprehension."

The GoFundMe page has a fundraising target of 5,000.

Postie and Local

Anyone with information about the suspected attack should call the Kent Police appeal line on 01622 604100, quoting crime reference 46/263756/21.

The full appeal from Kristina said: "Hi there, I am starting this fundraiser for my friend Debbie.

"Debbie is kind, sweet woman who rescues ex racehorses with injuries or racers who cannot find homes for various reasons.

"She provides them a safe, loving home until their last days and is there for them every step of the way.

"Debbie has built her yard up from scratch to keep her horses safe, and cares for them like no other, her horses are mostly unridden, retired horses no one else wanted and she spends out of her own pocket to pay for all their care, medical treatment and to keep them healthy and happy.

"Anyone who has thoroughbreds knows this is no easy task and winter is upon us. These horses have lost their stables and Debbie has lost everything.

"Their feed, hay, rugs, headcollars, tack, buckets, medication, and their homes.

"She is now facing a winter without stables and trying to get money together to rebuild her yard so her horses can stay safe.

"Please help in any way you can. Debbie has gone above and beyond to save, rehabilitate and care for these horses, no matter their physical or behavioural issues.

"She deserves all the help we can give her right now.

"One of Debbie's mares is 22 and needs constant arthritis medication from the toll of racing."

A spokesperson for Kent Police said: Officers are investigating a report of suspected arson at stables in Church Road, Swanley.

The incident happened between 3pm on Wednesday 22 December and 8am on Thursday 23 December 2021.

Investigators are urging anyone with information to call the appeal line on 01622 604100, quoting crime reference 46/263756/21.

You can also call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or complete the online form on their website.

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Horse-rescuer 'loses everything' in suspected arson attack at stables - News Shopper

The crossbench peer leading parliamentary efforts to end the ban on assisted suicide appears to be trying to use the governments health and care bill to make a parallel bid to introduce legalisation.

Baroness Meachers assisted dying bill is awaiting its committee stage in the House of Lords, following a debate that appeared to show peers split on the issue of legalisation.

Disabled people opposed to her bill have described it as dangerous and incoherent and have called on parliament to focus on ensuring disabled people have a right to live independently, before even considering legalisation of assisted suicide, while warning that the bill adds to the distorted view that many have of disabled peoples lives.

But Baroness Meacher has now lodged an amendment to the governments health and care bill in what appears to be a second, separate attempt to secure legalisation.

Her amendment states that regulations in the health and care bill on patient choice must also apply to those with a diagnosis of terminal illness, or to another relevant person if the terminally-ill person lacks capacity for such a conversation.

The amendment also states that NHS and other relevant bodies must have regard to the needs and preferences recorded in such conversations when making decisions on whether to provide them with services.

Baroness Meacher had told fellow peers in a debate on the health and care bill on 7 December (pictured): Crucial to high-quality palliative care is the patients right to choose at the very end of life, and the bill needs to play its part in this area we cannot afford not to.

Soon afterwards, she lodged her proposed amendment to the bill.

Some commentators have suggested that this amendment would allow the legalisation of assisted suicide, even if her assisted dying bill fails to become law.

Baroness Meacher, a former social worker, is chair of the campaigning organisation Dignity in Dying, formerly known as the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, which is leading the campaign for legalisation.

When Disability News Service (DNS) asked her to clarify her intentions this week, she failed to rule out the possibility that her amendment would have the effect of legalising assisted suicide, if it became law.

When DNS asked if it was her intention that her amendment to the health and care bill would allow the introduction of legalised assisted suicide, she replied by email: It is a fundamental human right to ensure people dont suffer torture or degrading treatment.

Patient choice is vital in all contexts but particularly at the end of life.

DNS asked on Tuesday for further clarification of whether she intended that her amendment would secure legalisation, but she had not responded by noon today (Thursday).

A note from the editor:

Please consider making a voluntary financial contribution to support the work of DNS and allow it to continue producing independent, carefully-researched news stories that focus on the lives and rights of disabled people and their user-led organisations.

Please do not contribute if you cannot afford to do so, and please note that DNS is not a charity. It is run and owned by disabled journalist John Pring and has been from its launch in April 2009.

Thank you for anything you can do to support the work of DNS

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Peer 'makes new bid for assisted suicide legalisation' through health and care bill - Disability News Service

A new pro-abortion White House administration at the beginning of 2021 ended four years of simple but important executive-level advances for the pro-life movement. President Joe Biden swiftly reversed many of former President Donald Trumps pro-life policies. But the lasting victory of Trumps conservative Supreme Court picks brought hopes for the end of Roe v. Wade. Tensions increased at the state level as pro-life lawmakers reacted to a national political climate that is hostile to unborn babies. Meanwhile, abortion and euthanasia advanced internationally.

Two days after his inauguration, President Biden releaseda statement pledging to codify a womans right to abortion into law. That promise hasnt been fulfilled yet, but his administration has done plenty to chip away at protections for babies.

In January, Biden signeda presidential memorandum revoking the Mexico City policy, which had prevented federal funds from going to international health groups that offer abortions. That same memorandum also removed the United States from the Geneva Consensus, an international pro-life declaration, and initiated the process of reversing Trumps Title X rule that kept abortion providers from getting federal family planning dollars.

In April, Bidens Food and Drug Administration dealt another blow, announcingit would not enforce the requirement for providers to dispense the abortion pill in person. That opened the floodgates for pro-abortion websites to continue sending abortive drugs to women through the mail. Bidens administration in the following months continued to publicize its stance on abortion, releasingin June a $6 trillion budget proposal without the Hyde Amendment, a long-standing measure keeping taxpayer money from funding the abortion industry.

Abortion advocates werent satisfied with those advances. The advocacy group We Testify complained that it took the Biden administration 224 days to use the word abortion in a notable public statement. We dont need more evasive statements from the White House that further stigmatize abortion, the group said on its website.

Effectively shut out at the federal level but simultaneously empowered by Trumps conservative judicial nominees, pro-life activists changedtactics and focused their attention on state legislation.

The pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute called the 2021 legislative session the most damaging to the pro-abortion cause in decades. By April 29, states had introduced536 pro-life bills, and 61 had become law. By the same time in 2011, the previous record-holding year, states had enacted only 42 pro-life laws.

Arkansas in March passedone of the strongest bills, protecting even babies conceived through rape or incest, with an exception if a pregnancy threatens a womans life. Gov. Asa Hutchinson acknowledged that the law defied Supreme Court precedent but said, It is the intent of the legislation to set the stage for the Supreme Court overturning current case law.

The pro-life law that made the biggest waves passed in Texas two months later. Using a controversial enforcement mechanism, it protects babies from abortions once they have a detectable heartbeat, typically at around six weeks of gestation. The law went live in September and reportedly halvedthe number of abortions in the state. Thats causedan influx of clients at some of the states pregnancy centers, where staff have seen women sometimes angry, sometimes relievedthat they cant get an abortion after the first few weeks of pregnancy. The Supreme Court has allowedthe law to remain in effect as legal battles continue in the lower courts. Lawmakers in South Carolina also passed a heartbeat law in February, but that one hasnt gone into effect due to ongoing litigation.

In the fall, lawsuits over the Texas heartbeat law made a mad dash to the Supreme Court, which held oral arguments exactly two months after the rule went into effect. But the hearings focusedon technicalitiesjust a sideshow to the main abortion-related event in the high court this year.

The Supreme Court shocked pro-life and pro-abortion activists alike when it announced in May that it would take up Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, the case of a Mississippi law protecting babies from abortion after 15 weeks of gestation. The justices agreed to consider whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitchs July brief called on the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and give back to states the power to regulate abortion before the point in pregnancy when a baby can survive outside the womb.

Pro-life activists sawthe courts agreement to hear the case as a signal of potential willingness to scrap its messy, decades-old abortion precedent. Pro-abortion activists thought the same, but with apprehension: Organizers of the 2021 Womens March rebrandedthe nationwide October demonstrations as abortion justice marches, a response to the Texas heartbeat law and the arguments in Dobbs.

In oral arguments on Dec. 1, the more moderate justices implied a willingness to go against Roes precedent and allow the Mississippi law to stand. If nothing else, one pro-abortion attorneys reference to a baby demonstratedthe effect ultrasound technology has had on the national conscience.

In an amicus brief filed in the Dobbs case, South African Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng for the United Nations warned that overturning Roecould have catastrophic implications for so-called abortion rights throughout the world. We know that politically that what happens in the United States does have an impact in precedents elsewhere in the world, Mofokeng toldThe Guardian.

Pro-life groups in Latin America have felt the reality of that statement in the past year, but not in the way that concerned Mofokeng. In the final days of 2020, Argentina becamethe largest Latin American country to legalize abortion. Pro-lifers blamed the change on international monetary pressure and political pressure. Some speculated that the timing of the bills passage corresponded with the results of the U.S. election when it became clear the new Biden administration would support international abortion groups financially.

In September, the Mexican Supreme Court issuedrulings that will prevent Mexican states from enforcing pro-life laws and make it easier to pass pro-abortion ones. The timing of that case coincided with meetings between Mexican government officials and pro-abortion U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.

But at least one pro-life victory cameto Latin America in 2021: Honduras passed a bipartisan constitutional amendment to prevent lawmakers from legalizing abortion in the future. Pro-lifers there expect pressure from the United States to reverse the countrys position, but it would take a difficult three-fourths majority in the National Congress.

In a September radio interview, Pope Francis coupledabortion with euthanasia as signs of throwaway culture, calling the increasing legalization of euthanasia one of the tragedies of todays European culture.

This year, the Portuguese parliament twice passedlegislation that would legalize euthanasia in the country, but that bill has been held up for months by presidential vetoes and concerns from the countrys Constitutional Court. The practice advancedwith more ease elsewhere. Between March and September, three of the six Australian states legalized euthanasia for people with terminal illnesses. The country expects a vote over a bill in New South Wales, the only remaining state without legal euthanasia, in early 2022.

Spain in March also legalizedeuthanasia but leaped down the slippery slope, allowing the procedure even for people who arent about to die but who are suffering from a serious, chronic illness. In Canada, where euthanasia has been legal for terminally ill people since 2016, a new bill passed that removes the requirement for a patients death to be reasonably foreseeable. People with disabilities in the country worry this change in the law will make it easier for culture to throw them away when they become inconvenient.

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Year in Review: Combating throwaway culture | WORLD - WORLD News Group