World Federation Annual Global Report (2003): The annual global report of the president of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies. The report is about the developments worldwide in the field of the right to die in 2003.
A third of nurses believe they should be lawfully allowed to help patients to commit suicide, a survey has found.
summary This page brings you news from around the globe, of interest to the right-to-die movement.
First announcement of the 21st International Conference on Death and Bereavement, to be held March 23-25, 2004 in Eilat, Israel.
France’s health minister Bernard Kouchner has said he performed mercy killings in Vietnam and Lebanon during a controversial career as a doctor and aid worker, but said ending someone’s life was a “delicate matter”.
The biennal meeting of the European Right to Die societies has been concluded by issueing a declaration.
A right to die case in Florida that has passed through the hands of 19 separate judges drew the state’s governor, Jeb Bush, into its ambit last week, when he met the family of the woman at its centre and filed a brief with the court.
At the convention of the European division of Right to Die Societies in Luxemburg, Michael Irwin officially opened the new website of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies.
Left to right, standing: Libby Drake (Australia, secretary), Jacob Kohnstamm (Netherlands), Annelies Plaisant (Florida, USA, treasurer), Dr. Michio Arakawa (Japan), Jacqueline Herremans (Belgium), Dr. Michael Irwin (UK, president), and Dr. Richard MacDonald (USA). Seated: Juana Betancor (Spain, vice- president), Derek Humphry (USA, newsletter editor), Dr. Libby Wilson (UK).
Dr. Juan Mendoza-Vega (Colombia)
The World Conference in Brussels provided the opportunity to listen to numerous presentations from experts in the field. None of us, however, could hear every presentation. I would do a disservice to our presenters, therefore, if I attempted to summarize the work of each presenter in just a few words.
Before going to Brussels, my Berlitz guidebook told me that the people of this city “resolved long ago to have a good time, come what may, and their stoic enjoyment of life is very contagious “. And, with over a hundred different Belgian beers available, it was certainly a great place and occasion, last September, to celebrate the fact that Belgium had legalized (by a final vote of 86 to 51) physician-assisted dying in May 2002.
The Belgian law on euthanasia came into force on 23 September 2002. To avoid misunderstandings or misinterpretations (I have read everything and its contrary about this law since the last months), it seems important to stress its main elements:
