The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Charter School Board, a case addressing whether a religious charter school can receive public funding. The case centers around a proposed online Catholic charter school in Oklahoma that was denied authorization by the state’s Charter School Board. The board…
With rising acceptance of euthanasia and assisted suicide comes the expanding number of Canadian citizens deemed eligible for such procedures. This article delves into the disturbing implications this has, from the vulnerabilty of patients with physical and mental illnesses to financial hardships as a reason for such end-of-life choices. The moral, ethical, and legal implications are explored, as well as a moral approach to maintaining safeguards for those vulnerable minorties. Canadians must step up to the challenge of understanding and critically examining the increasing availabilty of euthanasia in order to ensure those most in need are preserved and respected.
In Canada, it is easier for the disabled who do not suffer terminal illness to get approval for assisted suicide than approval for affordable housing. The government has calculated the cost of providing healthcare versus providing assisted suicide.
In a 147-page ruling issued today, New York Federal Judge Paul Engelmayer found that the Trump administration’s “conscience act” exceeded the president’s authority but did not violate the Establishment Clause. Given its procedural defects, the rule was invalidated in its entirety.
On June 9, 2016, California’s “End of Life Option Act,” signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown last October, will go into effect. Under the law, patients who are at least 18 years old who have been diagnosed by a treating and a consulting physician with a terminal disease expected to result in death within 6 months may request aid-in-dying drugs. Verbal requests must be made 15 days apart and one must be signed, dated, and witnessed by two adults. A mental health assessment is not required unless the physician feels that there may be a mental disorder.
California’s proposed assisted-suicide bill does not require psychiatric evaluations which would rule-out depression, fear or anxiety as a primary motive for requesting assisted suicide, and does not provide adequate checks and balances to ensure that the disabled and elderly are protected. It could also lead to an increase in non-therapeutic suicides as it becomes socially acceptable. It costs only $35-50 for life-ending “medication” as opposed to hundreds of thousands of dollars for terminal healthcare, thus the cost-saving incentive is significant.