right to die

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Woman's Controversial Death Wish Is Finally Granted

Netherlands' Zoraya ter Beek, 29, gets the OK for an assisted death due to mental health struggles

(Newser) - For nearly four years, Zoraya ter Beek has been patiently biding her time, going through the laborious process in the Netherlands to get the green light for an assisted suicide due to what she describes as overwhelming mental suffering. Last week, ter Beek finally saw her request granted, clearing the...

She Doesn't Have a Terminal Illness. She'll Die on Sunday

Martha Sepulveda to die by euthanasia in Colombia, which in July loosened its right-to-die rules

(Newser) - In late 2018, Martha Sepulveda was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the progressive neurological condition also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. On Sunday, the 51-year-old Colombian mother and devout Catholic will die by legally permitted euthanasia—the first in her nation to be allowed to do so despite not...

To Carry Out Euthanasia, Her Coffee Was Secretly Drugged

Doctor cleared of wrongdoing in death of 74-year-old

(Newser) - A Dutch doctor was acquitted Wednesday in a landmark trial that prosecutors and physicians hope will help clarify how the country's 2002 euthanasia law can be applied to people with severe dementia. The doctor, who wasn't named in court, was cleared of any wrongdoing in carrying out euthanasia...

His Parents Say He Was Killed. His Wife Says He Was 'Freed'

Vincent Lambert dies 9 days after feeding tube removed in France

(Newser) - A Frenchman at the center of a landmark right-to-die case has taken his last breath. Vincent Lambert, a quadriplegic with severe brain damage following a 2008 motorcycle accident, died Thursday, some nine days after his feeding tubes were removed at Reims' Sebastopol Hospital, per the BBC . He was 42. His...

France's Top Court Ends Tug-of-War in Landmark Right-to-Die Case

Clears way for doctors to end life support for Vincent Lambert

(Newser) - France's highest court has given doctors permission to restart procedures to stop feeding and hydrating a man who has been in a vegetative state following a car accident 11 years ago. The Court of Cassation quashed a previous decision by a Paris court to resume life support so the...

Teen Rape Survivor Who Requested Euthanasia Ends Her Life

17-year-old Noa Pothoven suffered PTSD and depression

(Newser) - "After years of struggling and fighting, it's over." So reads a Dutch teen's "sad last post" Saturday on her Instagram account , noting she'd stopped eating and drinking and would soon be free from "[unbearable] suffering." The Washington Post reports on the right-to-die...

Doctors Began to Let Him Die. Then, the 'Stunning Twist'
Doctors Began to Let Him Die.
Then, the 'Stunning Twist'
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Doctors Began to Let Him Die. Then, the 'Stunning Twist'

Paris court orders Vincent Lambert's life support to resume

(Newser) - On Monday doctors cut the nutrition and hydration that has been keeping Vincent Lambert alive, in what appeared to be the final chapter in an 11-year medical saga . It wasn't: His life support was resumed 12 hours later, reports Reuters , following a Monday night court order from the Paris...

His Wife Wanted to Pull Life Support; His Parents Didn't

'Halting of treatments' has begun for quadriplegic in divisive right-to-die case out of France

(Newser) - It's been an agonizing battle between Vincent Lambert's wife and his parents, and it appears his wife is getting the final say. The BBC reports the 42-year-old Frenchman, a quadriplegic who's been in a vegetative state since a motorcycle accident 11 years ago, is being taken off...

Scientist, 104, 'Resentful' He Has to End His Life Abroad

David Goodall is traveling from Australia to Switzerland for an assisted suicide

(Newser) - Australia's oldest scientist recently celebrated his 104th birthday, but it wasn't a joyous occasion. "I greatly regret having reached that age," David Goodall told ABC Australia in early April. "I'm not happy. I want to die." And that's exactly what Goodall, an...

Californians Now Have the Right to Die. 111 Used It

A look at the first 6 months of the End of Life Option Act

(Newser) - In the first six months that terminally ill Californians had the right to die, 191 lethal prescriptions were written—with as many as 80 of them going unused. The Los Angeles Times and AP share the stats on what has happened between June 9, 2016, when the End of Life...

Serial Killer Takes Final Secret With Him to the Grave

Hours before death, victim's brother begged for location of still missing body

(Newser) - One of Britain’s most notorious killers died Monday, taking a secret that’s haunted the family of one of his victims with him to the grave. The Telegraph reports that Ian Brady, 79, died in a hospital of causes not yet released to the public. Along with Myra Hindley,...

UK's 'Most Evil' Serial Killer Is Fighting for Right to Die
UK's 'Most Evil' Serial Killer
Is Fighting for Right to Die
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UK's 'Most Evil' Serial Killer Is Fighting for Right to Die

Moors murderer Ian Brady, 79, wants to be moved from hospital to prison

(Newser) - In the mid-'60s, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley sexually tortured and murdered five children ages 10 to 16 in what came to be known as the Moors Murders in England. Hindley died behind bars at age 60 in 2002, and now the 79-year-old Brady wants to do the same....

Wife Wins Right to Let Her Husband Die

But experts say there's still a chance he could recover from brain injury

(Newser) - Lindsey Briggs says her husband, a UK police officer and veteran, no longer recognizes or responds to her, and on Tuesday she won the right to let him die, the Guardian reports. According to the Telegraph , 43-year-old Paul Briggs was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle to work...

Colorado Votes for Right to Die
Colorado Votes for Right to Die
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Colorado Votes for Right to Die

It's now 6th state to legalize assisted suicide

(Newser) - Proposition 106 has passed in Colorado, making the state the nation's sixth to legalize assisted suicide, reports 9NEWS . Adults who are terminally ill, with less than six months to live, and found to be mentally competent, can request life-ending medication—a high dose of secobarbital used in sleeping pills—...

Brittany Maynard's Mom, Husband Clash Over Her Story

Deborah Ziegler writes a book, while widower is working on movie

(Newser) - When 29-year-old Brittany Maynard took her own life in a physician-assisted suicide in 2014, it brought an end to her own role in a national debate about the right of terminally ill patients to choose the terms of their own death. Now, Maynard's mother is continuing her daughter's...

Teen Ends Treatment, Dies After 'Last Dance' Prom

Condition left 14-year-old in constant pain

(Newser) - After a special "Last Dance" prom and a final summer with her mom, 14-year-old Jerika Bolen now has the other thing she wished for: an end to her constant and unbearable pain. The Wisconsin teen, whose decision to end treatment for Type 2 spinal muscular atrophy and stop using...

Teen's Plan to Die Runs Into Opposition

Disability groups are asking child services to intervene in Jerika Bolen's plan

(Newser) - Jerika Bolen made it very clear earlier this year that she was going to attend her prom , spend a final summer with her mom, and then end her life . But instead of a "magical" ending for the Wisconsin 14-year-old, who has an incredibly painful incurable illness, she and her...

Teen to Celebrate 'Last Dance' Before Ending Her Life

Jerika Bolen is going to prom before putting an end to the pain from her incurable illness

(Newser) - Jerika Bolen wakes up every morning with another day ahead of her hooked up to a ventilator and wracked by terrible pain, caused by an incurable illness that usually kills its sufferers when they're in their teens. But the purple-haired 14-year-old from Appleton, Wis., has decided to wrest control...

Cops: Right-to-Die Advocate Killed His Wife First

Both were found dead at a Florida nursing home

(Newser) - An 81-year-old man who had long fought for people's right to die a dignified, peaceful death died violently along with his wife early Tuesday, police say. Frank Kavanaugh, a member of the Final Exit Network's national advisory board, was found dead from gunshot wounds along with his 88-year-old...

Right-to-Die Group: We Have Cheaper Way to Die

End of Life Washington offers own drug concoction

(Newser) - Right-to-die advocates in Washington state have created a cheaper alternative mixture of medications to help terminally ill patients legally end their lives after a drug company abruptly hiked the price of a drug commonly used for the purpose, the AP reports. Doctors with the End of Life Washington advocacy group...

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