11 May 2005

News,

An Irishman with Multiple Sclerosis has been helped to commit suicide at the Swiss suicide clinic run by Dignitas. The 30-year-old from Cork is the second person from Ireland to commit suicide at the clinic. [Online.ie, 11 May] Brian Pretty, the euthanasia campaigner whose wife, Diane, lost a legal battle to allow her husband to help her commit suicide, has said that she refused an offer to travel to the Swiss clinic for assisted suicide because she wanted to be helped to commit suicide in England. Mr Pretty also admitted that he had not intended to take part in Diane's suicide but wanted to campaign for a change in the law before allowing a doctor to assist. Diane Pretty died at a Luton hospice three years ago. [Ananova, 11 May] An investigation by an Israeli government watchdog has uncovered evidence that researchers in 10 hospitals carried out thousands of experiments on children and incapacitated patients. Experiments involved piercing children's eardrums and testing experimental drugs on elderly patients with senile dementia. Dr Jacques Michel, the former director of Hadassah, called for the doctors involved to have their licences withdrawn and face prosecution. [The Guardian, 11 May] A professor of moral theology from the Irish Pontifical University of Maynooth has urged the Church pregnancy advisory service Cura to cease handing out literature that gives the contact details of pro-abortion agencies who supply information on British abortion facilities. Dr Vincent Twomey expressed surprise at a suggestion by the chairwoman of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, which produces the Positive Options leaflets, that Cura's state funding could be jeopardised if it refuses to hand out the information. Dr Twomey said that 600,000 euros would be a small price to save a baby's life. [Irish Examiner, 11 May] A survey commissioned by a group of doctors who oppose euthanasia, First Do No Harm, has reported that 77% of people believe that patients should be given food and fluids if they have requested it, regardless of the views of the doctor or relatives. Only a third of people questioned supported current guidelines allowing doctors to withdraw or withhold food and fluids from incapacitated patients. [The Daily Mail, 10 May]

To subscribe to SPUC's email information services, please visit www.spuc.org.uk/em-signup. The reliability of the news herein is dependent on that of the cited sources, which are paraphrased rather than quoted. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the society. © Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, 2018

11 May 2005

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