News,

No Less Human, a group within SPUC, has sent a submission to the Isle of Man's House of Keys' select committee on euthanasia. The document, authored by Alison Davis, argues that it is fundamentally wrong to kill, whether or not the person requests death and warns that safeguards in any euthanasia law do not protect the vulnerable as has been seen in the Netherlands. The submission questions the idea of euthanasia as a dignified death, commenting: "With proper palliative care, including all necessary hospice support, the choice is between deliberate killing and a peaceful, truly dignified death made as pain-free as possible by experts in pain control." [Independent Catholic News, 10 September]


Euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke is bringing his carbon monoxide death machine to Tasmania, Australia, courtesy of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Tasmania. Dr Nitschke will be demonstrating use of the machine at a number of public meetings and closed workshops. [The Mercury, 9 September]


At a meeting with US bishops, a group of Catholic lay people has expressed concerns about the number of pro-abortion Catholic politicians and public figures who are undermining Church teaching and causing confusion among Catholics. Deal Hudson, publisher of Crisis magazine and one of the organisers of the meeting, stated: "We wanted to say that it was important that 'pro-choice' Catholics who are public figures should not be appointed to positions of responsibility in the church." [LifeNews.com, 10 September]


A baby died at a Watford hospital after being born prematurely and left in a hospital toilet for between five and ten minutes. Mrs Karen Glynn warned staff about her symptoms before giving birth but was not considered to be in labour. The baby was eventually resuscitated and placed in an incubator but died two hours later. At the inquest, a verdict of death by natural causes was reached because evidence suggested that the baby would not have lived even with adequate medical care. In a statement, Mr and Mrs Glynn expressed concern that 13 months after the baby's death, the regional NHS trust has done nothing to prevent a similar event occurring in the future. [BBC, 9 September]

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