Euthanasia activist, Sean Davison, arrested in London England concerning death of a 79-year-old woman

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Sean Davison, past President of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies and former leader of Dignity South Africa, was arrested in London England in connection with the death of a 79-year-old woman whom he accompanied to Switzerland to die at the Pegasos suicide clinic. 

This is not the first time that Davison has been charged with assisting a suicide. Davison was convicted in the death of his mother in New Zealand in 2010 and he lost his New Zealand medical license in 2020. Davison was also convicted in South Africa and served three years (house arrest) in the deaths of Anrich Burger (2013), Justin Varian (2015), and Richard Holland (2015). All of these men were people with disabilities.

Medical Brief reported on July 31 that:

According to Netwerk24, Davison had accompanied a 79-year-old English woman to the Pegasos Clinic in Switzerland on 29 June. The DignitySA co-founder was arrested on 15 July and part of his bail conditions is that he may not talk to the media.

DignitySA co-founder Willem Landman said Davidson wanted to warn families that they may face prosecution if accompanying loved ones to Switzerland.

Davison’s bail conditions include a prohibition of working with DignitySA or some 80 other groups lobbying for legalised euthanasia.

Meanwhile, the British police have indicated they are also investigating “additional charges” against Davison.

DignitySA is concerned that he will be charged due to the widely publicised death of South African Carol de Swardt, whom he accompanied to Pegasos on 31 January this year for her voluntary assisted suicide.

Davison recently resigned from Exit International – an organisation that advocates people’s right to euthanasia – and was soon to take up his new position as head of Pegasos, said Landman.

Davison's work with the Pegasos Swiss suicide clinic recently became known by the family of Alastair Hamilton (47). Hamilton died at the Pegasos suicide clinic.

An ITV news report followed Judith Hamilton (82) to Switzerland to find out what happened to her son Alastair.

Paul Brand reported for ITV.com on May 16, 2024 that the Pegasos assisted suicide clinic, which assists the suicides of hundreds of people every year, assisted the suicide of Alastair Hamilton who had an undiagnosed condition. 

Brand's ITV news reported that at first Pegasos did not respond to the Hamilton family but after ITV got involved they agreed to meet. Brand wrote:

Eventually, with the involvement of police and the British embassy, the clinic responded, confirming Alastair's death and returning his ashes to his family in the post.

We persuaded a representative from Pegasos to meet with Judith and Bradley in Switzerland to answer their questions.

At an anonymous office in central Basel, we were greeted by Sean Davison, who had spoken repeatedly to Alastair before he died.

 Previous articles about Switzerland's assisted suicide law:

• A mother's warning about her sons death by assisted suicide in Switzerland (Link). 
• My husbands death made me more opposed to assisted suicide (Link). 
• Swiss study: Legalizing assisted suicide does not lessen the number of common suicides (Link).

Euthanasia lobby leader has no regrets after serving three years for killing.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Sean Davidson who is a past President of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies and a leader of Dignity South Africa has just completed three years (house arrest) for his conviction in the deaths of Anrich Burger (in 2013), Justin Varian (in 2015), and Richard Holland (in 2015). He says he has no regrets.

Eyewitness news in South Africa reported Davidson as saying:

I didn't murder them I helped them end their own life.

Davidson is playing with words when he says that he only helped them end their own life. In 2013 Davidson injected a lethal dose of drugs into Anrich Burger, who was living with quadriplegia after a 2005 car accident. 

Lethal injection is not just helping to end a life, but it is actively ending a life.

Sean Davidson was also convicted in the death of his mother in 2010 and he lost his medical license in New Zealand in 2020.

Concerned with the growth of the radical assisted suicide groups.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The assisted suicide lobby have a more extreme groups that are lobbying for suicide on demand. There are groups that provide ordering information for suicide substances and the "last will pill", there are groups that promote the concept of the "completed life" for people who are not sick but who have given up on living, and there are groups that sell books and provide information for suicide on demand.

Politically, the more extreme element within the assisted suicide lobby enable the "mainstream" groups to appear moderate.

All of these groups are intertwined with the euthanasia and assisted suicide lobby and the more radical groups see themselves as the natural outcome or final outcome for euthanasia and assisted suicide laws.

Why should you be concerned?

I have a close friend who is living with suicidal ideation. I am concerned that one day he will stumble onto one of the radical suicide promoting websites. The difficulty with suicidal ideation is that it doesn't go away. People resist the idea of suicide but once the thought that dying is better than living is firmly implanted into a person's thoughts, it seems to constantly return and it sometimes leads to a tragic end.

Ximena Knol

For instance, Randy Knol, the father of Ximena, who died by suicide when she was only 19 wrote the following about the death of his daughter:

Ximena used the “Substance X” as promoted by a Dutch radical group that came in the news 6 months prior to her death. On a television news show FWC came out in a poorly acted report that it was a substance that was painless, fast and certain. They made the idea of death so easy, however the promise they made was a big lie, it’s one of the most inhumane ways of ending your life. With “substance X” death is in fact inhumane. Science cases report about an agonizing five-day struggle to die, where no antidote is available.

Three weeks after Ximena died we warned against this substance through the media with a news article starting a wave of attention. We told our horrific story for the first time in a Late night talk show. I called the FWC radicals “end-of-life-terrorists”, which was apparently a good description because it made the headlines in many newspapers the next day.

...They are so radical, they had the plan that after a six month membership you could acquire the substance, no consulting no questions asked.

The Cooperatie Laatste Wil promotes "substance X" which is the suicide powder that caused Ximena's death.

Philip Nitschke has become a notorious and wealthy promoter of suicide through the sale of his books and devices. He has become famous with the creation of his "suicide pod" that is attractively designed to gain the attention of the media.

Nitshcke is known for his support for suicide on demand. He once told a reporter that even troubled teens should have access to the "peaceful pill". Nitschke believes that anyone should have access to an inexpensive suicide pill.

In America, a group called The Completed Life Initiative promotes suicide, assisted suicide and euthanasia. This group believes that people should be given the means to end their life when they decide that their life is complete. They provide information and advice to people who would not "qualify" for assisted suicide but who are seeking suicide. The Completed Life podcasts interview people who are planning to die by suicide. Even though the podcasts offer warnings for people who are suicidal, the instructions within the interview may lead a person with suicidal ideation to copy the suicide death.

What would happen if my friend who lives with suicidal ideation starts to listen to these podcasts?

More reasons to be concerned.

The assisted suicide lobby sells the legalization of assisted suicide by claiming that "safeguards" will prevent people who are not otherwise dying or living with mental illness, from dying by assisted suicide.

First, assisted suicide law "safeguards" are written in an imprecise manner to enable a wide interpretation of the law.

Second, in states that have legalized assisted suicide, the assisted suicide lobby are now working to eliminate the original "safeguards" in the law.

The final goal for the assisted suicide lobby is suicide on demand. For those who question my statement go to list of organizations that are members of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies website. You will notice that the extreme groups are recognized as members of the World Federation

We are concerned that the "mainstream" assisted suicide lobby groups are working to achieve cultural change while the more radical groups are working on the "final solution".

Euthanasia leader sentenced to three years (house arrest) in South Africa.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Sean Davison is a euthanasia activist who was previously convicted in the death of his mother in New Zealand in 2010.

Davison who was the President of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies and a leader of Dignity South Africa was convicted in the deaths of Anrich Burger (in 2013), Justin Varian (in 2015), and Richard Holland (in 2015).
 
Shamiela Fisher, reporting for Eyewitness news, stated that Davidson was sentenced to three years correctional supervision in the deaths. Fisher stated:

The Western Cape High Court also sentenced him to eight years behind bars which has been wholly suspended for five years on condition he is not convicted of murder, attempted murder or conspiracy to commit murder over this period.

The first charge relates to the death of Anrich Burger in 2013. Burger was a quadriplegic following a car accident in 2005. Davison administered a lethal dose of drugs to Burger.

The two other murder charges, which Davison has also pleaded guilty to, relate to the deaths of Justin Varian and Richard Holland.

He entered into a plea and sentencing agreement in the High Court on Wednesday in connection with cases in which he helped three Cape Town patients take their own lives.

Fisher reported that:

Professor Davison has been placed under house arrest for the full duration of his correctional supervision. He may, however, go to work, to a place of worship or visit a doctor.

I understand that this is a plea bargain deal but Davidson, the former President of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, has essentially received no sentence in the deaths of three people. 

Being sentenced to 8 years behind bars but then being allowed to serve it as three years house arrest, but then be able to go to work, church and the doctor, is not a sentence at all.

Davidson does show the world how euthanasia activists become killers. He is known to have killed his mother and now three others.

Years ago, when I attended the World Federation of Right to Die Societies conference, I met a group of people who spent their time discussing over lunch the deaths that they had participated in.

This is a death cult not a human rights lobby.

Carrie Ann Lucas Dedicated Her Amazing Skills To Save Lives

This article was published by Not Dead Yet on Feb 25, 2019.

Diane Coleman

By Diane Coleman
Not Dead Yet President & CEO

Across the country, people who knew and worked with Carrie Ann Lucas are mourning her untimely death at the young age of 47. Over the last year, we watched as insurers denied what she needed and doctors couldn’t take the time to listen to one of the sharpest minds in our movement explain how to integrate their treatments with her body’s needs. We’re grieving, and we’re angry.

We’re also honoring her amazing life. Carrie began serving on NDY’s national Board in January 2013. She made so many unique and abiding contributions to the disability movement that it would be impossible to capture them all. But here are some of the ways that Carrie worked to save lives through her incredible efforts on behalf of Not Dead Yet.

World Federation Protest
 

In September 2014, Carrie traveled from her home in Colorado to Chicago to participate in the NDY protest of the World Federation of Right To Die Societies’ biannual conference. She was a very skilled photographer who visually documented three days of protest activities which can be viewed via a link on our website page about the protest. One of these photos is the banner on our home page.

Resisting Assisted Suicide in Colorado

Carrie took the lead in organizing a group of disability activists to fight assisted suicide bills and initiatives in Colorado. Not Dead Yet Colorado members testified beginning in February 2015, as shown in a press release: Disability Activists from Not Dead Yet and Other Colorado Organizations to Testify in Opposition to Colorado Assisted Suicide Bill. The bill died in committee, as reported by the Denver Post.

But that wasn’t the end of the issue. Several months later, NDY Colorado Issued a “Media Advisory Opposing Proposed CO Constitutional Amendment on Assisted Suicide.” The amendment didn’t go anywhere.

The bill came back in 2016, and Carrie testified before the Colorado Senate State Senate, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee on February 3rd that year:

“I am a person with multiple disabilities. I have a progressive neuromuscular disease that has caused me to lose muscle function throughout my entire body. I have weakness in every muscle in my body, including my facial and eye muscles. My organs are affected, I have low vision, and I am very hard of hearing. I have a gastrostomy tube, and I am dependent on a ventilator to breathe. Without my ventilator, I don’t have years to live. I don’t have 6 months, 6 weeks, or 6 days, I have hours. I have a terminal condition – very much like ALS, and I would be covered by this bill. I understand the sponsors have said this bill is not for the disabled, but respectfully the sponsors are incorrect. This bill directly affects me, my family and my community. 

“If I were to become depressed, either situational depression, or major depression, and this bill passes, I could go to my doctor and ask for a lethal prescription. Because I have a disability, and because physicians are terrible at evaluating quality of life of people with disabilities, I would likely be given that lethal prescription, rather than be referred for mental health treatment. And if my doctor did not give me the lethal prescription, I could simply doctor shop until I found one who would. A woman in my situation but without my disabilities would not get a lethal prescription, and would most likely encounter a vigorous effort to ensure she did not take her life. That is disability discrimination.”

She also put on her lawyer hat and further explained what’s wrong with the bill from that perspective. To read her full testimony, go here. Both Carrie and Anita Cameron, who lived in Colorado at that time, also had op-eds published which are excerpted with links in an NDY blog. Again, the bill did not make it through the committee.

So next, assisted suicide proponents went for a ballot measure, which Carrie, the Colorado NDY group and ADAPT protested by holding a funeral march: Disability Activists from Not Dead Yet and ADAPT Engage in Funeral March to Protest Assisted Suicide Ballot Measure. Unfortunately, the ballot measure passed.

Still, it is never too late to educate people about the dangers of making assisted suicide another “medical treatment” in our insensitive and profit conscious healthcare system. This past November, we blogged about how Carrie did just that on a Facebook program called “Imperfect Union”, which produced a Video of Carrie explaining some of the dangers of assisted suicide laws to a proponent.

Me Before You

When the ridiculous assisted suicide movie “Me Before You” came out, Carrie rolled up her sleeves and applied her graphics skills to pull together material from our sister organization, Not Dead Yet UK, and develop a banner and flyers that disability activists around the country used to hold protests of the movie. Many people sent photos from their protests to her, so she put them together in a video, accompanied by Johnny Crescendo’s brilliant song “Not Dead Yet.”

VIDEO: The Disability Community Responds to Me Before You movie

Jerika Bolen

O

Jerika Bolen

f all Carrie’s contributions to NDY’s work, the one I think about most often is her leadership in the effort to save the life of 14-year-old Jerika Bolen. Like Jerika, Carrie along with several of us in NDY experienced teenage years as a person with serious, progressive neuromuscular disabilities. Jerika said she wanted to die, but she was not treated like a suicidal nondisabled 14-year-old would be. We were horrified as her story unfolded. We received hate mail from nondisabled people in response to our efforts.

After Jerika’s death, Carrie did a very moving public radio interview explaining the disability discrimination that ultimately led to her death. John Kelly handled the creation of a captioned video of media photos of Jerika along with the interview to ensure that Carrie’s message would be heard and seen as widely as possible. Here’s a little of what she said:

“If we’re going to let children make these decisions, then we should be able to let children make ‪these decisions regardless of disability. ‪So we have to then be willing to say that the depressed fourteen year old who broke ‪up with her boyfriend who wants to die should get to die as well. ‪Otherwise this is disability discrimination, because some children get intensive suicide ‪prevention and other children don’t. ‪And it’s based only on disability, and that’s discrimination. 

‪”Either it’s okay for everybody or it’s not okay. ‪It’s either one or the other. ‪But we should not be saying it’s okay for a disabled teenager to die, because people who don’t ‪have disabilities have an imagination of what quality of life should be like for a disabled person, ‪and that is poor. ‪ 

“Because they can’t imagine in their own heads what it would be like to live with a disability, ‪when in fact those of us living with a disability, with the same disability ‪are telling you, no, it’s really not bad. ‪There’s something else going on here because we have that lived experience. ‪We know that. ‪We are the experts in this.”

More about the struggle to save Jerika’s life is available in the NDY blog here.

Carrie’s work earned her center seat in the annual award given by New Mobility magazine which named those who fought to save Jerika as its People of the Year – The Resisters. In a drawing, the magazine depicted Carrie as the superhero she was.

Euthanasia activist charged with a third murder.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Sean Davison who has been a euthanasia activist since he was arrested and convicted in the death of his mother, in New Zealand in 2010, he has now been charged in the 2015 death of Justin Varian. 

In September 2018 Davison was arrested in the 2103 death of Anrich Burger. 

According to IOL news:

The latest charge was added after Davison allegedly “assisted” Varian, who had motor neuron disease, to end his life on July 25, 2015.

According to the charge sheet, he "administered a lethal amount of drugs to the quadriplegic deceased" at or near the Radisson Hotel in Granger Bay on November 2, 2015.

Davison reportedly filmed Varian requesting help to be killed.

Davison was a leader of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies and he is a leader of Dignity South Africa.

When Davison was charged with murder in the death of Anrich Burger IOL news reported that Davison was being investigated in more deaths.

Euthanasia Society President charged with murder of disabled man - More Information.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Last week Sean Davison, a member of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies board, was arrested for participating in the murder of Anrich Burger, in 2014. Anich became a quadriplegic in a car accident.

Euthanasia activist charged in murder of disabled man in South Africa.

In September 2014 I wrote an article urging police to investigate Davison. I wrote:

Sean Davison, who was previously convicted in New Zealand for assisting his mother’s death, has admitted to assisting the suicide of a South African quadriplegic man. Davison is now saying that he will never assist in euthanasia again. 

Davison should be investigated for his part in the death of Anrich Burger who became a quadriplegic in a 2005 car accident. 

Davison told the South African media that: “Anrich Burger was a very close friend. I wouldn't want to ever go through that again. It was very stressful”

Adele Redmond and Mandy Te, reporting for Stuff media in New Zealand, provided more information on the Davison case. According to the article:

He (Davison) has often spoken publicly about Burger's death in 2014, acknowledging he was with his friend in his Waterfront hotel room as he died – but said that was not a crime. "Dr Burger committed suicide," Davison said. "He wrote his own prescription; he collected it, he arranged for the hotel. I was at the end with him, but he clearly expressed his wish to die." 

But South African authorities believe the 57-year-old killed Burger – and others as well. Opposing bail, Prosecutor Megan Blows told the Cape Town Magistrate's Court during Davison's bail hearing that "new information has come to light [that] the accused might have committed similar offences". 

Because of evidence collected during a "search and seizure" operation at Davison's R3.5 million Cape Town mansion, Blows requested a postponement so new allegations and items could be investigated.

We also learn from the Stuff article that Davison was planning to move to Australia and only returned to South Africa to resign his job.

Davison is a long-time euthanasia activist. More information will be released on November 16, when he returns to court.

Euthanasia Society President Charged with Murder of Disabled Man

This media release was published by Euthanasia-Free New Zealand on September 20, 2018

Media Release

Sean Davison, a New Zealand citizen who was convicted of assisted suicide in Dunedin, appeared in a South African court on Wednesday on a murder charge.

The charge is in relation to the death of Anrich Burger, 53, who became a quadriplegic after a motor vehicle accident in 2005. He was not terminally ill.

In 2014 the accused told News24 how he helped Mr Burger, a close friend of his, end his life with lethal drugs in November the previous year. 

• Euthanasia activist charged with murder of disabled man in South Africa.

Mr Burger’s fiancé was not present nor informed of the plan, since she did not support assisted suicide or euthanasia.

After pleading not guilty, Mr Davison was released on R20,000 (about NZ $2,050) bail. He is scheduled to appear in Court again on 16 November.

The State alleges that the murder was premeditated and that new information suggests that the accused may have committed other similar offences.

In 2011 Mr Davison was sentenced to five months’ house arrest in Dunedin after pleading guilty to counselling and procuring his mother’s suicide.

Mr Davison, 57, is the president of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, the international organisation of which the New Zealand End of Life Choice Society (formerly the Voluntary Euthanasia Society), is a member.

“Not all quadriplegics want to die, but those who do want to, should have the option,” said Mr Davidson after his speech at the Federation’s Conference in 2014.

On its website the Federation supports euthanasia and assisted suicide for “all competent adults with incurable illnesses” – not only those with terminal illnesses and six months to live.

“Mr Davison’s words and actions demonstrate that ‘assisted dying’ advocates don’t really want a narrow law limited to terminal illness, but one that would eventually allow virtually any competent adult with an incurable condition to be eligible, including people with disabilities,” says Renée Joubert, Executive Officer of Euthanasia-Free NZ.

The End of Life Choice Bill, which is currently before the New Zealand Parliament’s Justice Committee, proposes legal assisted suicide and euthanasia for people with terminal illnesses or other “grievous and irremediable medical conditions.”

“Disabled people would be included under both clauses of David Seymour’s Bill,” says Ms Joubert. “Terminal illness involves disability. So do many other longstanding physical and mental conditions.”

ENDS

Kevin Dunn examines Fatal Flaws of assisted suicide laws

The following article was published by the HamiltonNews.com on July 4, 2018.

Kevin Dunn (Hague)

Kevin Dunn wants each and every one of us to be the reason for someone’s tomorrow.

The producer/director and his crew have logged over 50,000 kilometres in the past two years exploring the impact euthanasia and assisted suicide laws have on families and society.

The result is the film Fatal Flaws: Legalizing Assisted Death, produced by Dunn Media in association with the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and co-produced by Alex Schadenberg,

• Fatal Flaws film will change the way you view assisted death.

Filming started last January with a visit to Holland for Euthanasia Week. During the five-day annual event organized by the Dutch Right-to-Die Society activities take place to raise awareness of “dying with dignity,” according to the World Federation of Right to Die Societies website.

Events in 2017 included a symposium for people under 40 to discuss euthanasia among youth, and a debate on “weary of life” to facilitate a dialogue among elderly people.

Dunn said wherever people stand on the issue of euthanasia and assisted suicide, it’s impossible to ignore the cultural shift in attitude.

“What was once considered murder under the law is now being accepted as medical treatment in many countries,” he said.

Fatal Flaws focuses on what Dunn calls the “under-represented viewpoint.” It features testimonies from those whose lives have been dramatically affected by a culture that sees killing as a form of caring.

Fatal Flaws debuted in Ottawa in May to an appreciative audience that included the filmmaker himself.

Dunn said he felt “a great load of responsibility” while watching his completed project appear on the screen.

“I took these very, very personal stories in four countries, and the people trusted me to tell their stories and to present them on camera in a way that does them justice and allows for meaningful discussion about the consequences of these laws over the long term.”

Take for example, said Dunn, the Netherlands, where legislation has expanded so much that the country is considering a law that would allow healthy people who feel their life is complete to die with the help of a physician.

“It’s a really crazy slippery slope, the incremental extensions of these laws all over the world,” Dunn said.

For the Ancaster resident, Fatal Flaws underscores the need for better palliative care, not only in Canada but around the world. He said pain was not cited as the number one cause for someone considering euthanasia or assisted suicide, rather, it was loneliness, depression and the fear of being a burden.

“We need to visit people and let them know they don’t have to go there,” said Dunn. “As friends and advocates, we have to be there for somebody’s tomorrow ... we need to be the reason for someone’s tomorrow.”

For more information, visit http://www.fatalflawsfilm.com/.

Euthanasia lobby confirms elder abuse risk – but doesn’t seem to care

This article was published by Mercatornet on September 5, 2017

Paul Russell

By Paul Russell - The director of HOPE Australia

The Netherlands legalised both euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2002. The data shows an overwhelming preference for euthanasia. In 2015, there were 6672 euthanasia deaths and only 150 assisted suicide deaths; the total comprising at least 4.5% of all deaths.

In recent years the discussion about ‘life ending actions’ has turned to assisted suicide for ‘completed life’; where a person over a certain age may declare that they wish to end their lives even though they may have no serious medical issues.

Debate has raged back and forth on this new development for some years. An expert committee recommended that changes to the law not proceed, but there remains support from within government and some of the minor parties.

Reports in 2016 suggested that the government had drafted legislation. Health Minister, Edith Schippers, has said that "because the wish for a self-chosen end of life primarily occurs in the elderly, the new system will be limited to them”. The lower age limit is rather arbitrary with debate ranging from 60 to 70 years of age.

Legislation is expected to be introduced in late 2017. It is expected to take the form of a new law rather than an amendment. This seems to be because the existing provisions require medical opinion and support whereas this new form of assisted suicide may have more in common with the mail or online order system made notorious by the Australian activist Dr Philip Nitschke and his organisation, Exit International.

But this is not the first time that such a move has been put forward. As with all of these debates, there’s a long lead-in time while the discussion of the agenda looks to forge a beachhead of public opinion.

In 1991, Dutch Supreme Court Judge, Huib Drion, argued for “The self-chosen end for old people,” over the age of 75. He suggested a two-stage process where a person would self-administer a substance that would have no immediate effect that could be followed up later by the second stage substance that would react with the first and bring about death by suicide. The idea became known as “the Drion Pill” though no such pill was ever developed.

The publication of his paper in a newspaper, NRC Handelsblad, in 1991, sparked a significant controversy with letters of support for many weeks and Drion receiving a great deal of public attention.

The World Federation of Right to Die Societies (WFRTDS) also picked up on the idea as did its Dutch counterpart the Dutch Right to Die society (NVVE) and the former Dutch health minister Els Borst who was instrumental in the introduction of the 2002 euthanasia law.

In 2003, the WFRTDS adopted a name change to their policy support for Drion’s idea, calling it, instead, “The Last Will Pill” and noting that the resonance of the use of Drion’s name limited the association of the idea to the elderly. WFRTDS sees its application more broadly than that.

Both Drion and the WFRTDS are clear in the distinction between the practice of euthanasia in Holland and this new proposal.

The rhetoric is eerily similar to Nitschke and Exit: current euthanasia and assisted suicide laws are medical models that only partially give voice to autonomy. As NVVE chief executive officer Rob Jonquière, pointed out: 

“People want the right to choose to end their life independent of doctors or illness.”

This independence from any medical model has implications. As observed already, there are similarities in the proposals to the modus operandi of Exit and Philip Nitschke.

Another Dutch right-to-die club, The Co-operative Last Will, are also pushing this barrow. They seem willing to sail close to the edges of the law in advocacy and information in a similar way to Exit. They are promoting “a new drug” but refuse to identify it.

“The stuff is legally available and deadly in pure form. It has already been used by people who wanted to commit self-exploitation. There have also been several murders committed by the means.”

This is dangerous talk. As we have seen with the Nitschke methods, people who are not otherwise ill and people who suffered depressive illnesses have been caught up in the hype with devastating personal and family consequences. The reference to murders is chilling: clearly people have been tricked into consuming the drug.

Again, like Nitschke (who once said: “There will be some casualties…”), The Co-operative Last Will organisation is frank about the possible collateral damage:

“The Cooperative Last Will and its members (3,500 people) point out the existence and functioning of the new drug. The club realizes that it involves the risks. An extreme consequence could be that children give the means to their old and wealthy parents because they want to claim their inheritance.

"That kind of criticism is to be expected. But the sale of rope is also not forbidden, and so people rob themselves of life, "says a spokeswoman.” (Emphasis added)

A glib retort and hardly apposite. Robbing oneself of life is suicide – elder abuse to death is murder. But who would ever know.

But collateral damage it will be. Far from stopping Dutch “right-to-die” types in their tracks, such an acknowledgement seems more about deflecting criticism than it is about protecting Dutch citizens from abuse.

One wonders if the Zeitgeist had not been infected this past 20 years and more with the Dutch strain of the euthanasia virus if there might have been more pause for thought. Given that Drion’s infamous idea predates Dutch euthanasia by a full decade; perhaps not!

Paul Russell is director of HOPE: preventing euthanasia & assisted suicide, which is based in Australia.

Irwin promotes assisted suicide by promoting his suicide.

No assisted suicide.
No assisted elder abuse.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Michael Irwin (86), an assisted suicide lobby activist and retired physician in the UK decided to end his life in order to promote the legalization of assisted suicide in the UK. 

As sad as it is that Irwin is promoting assisted suicide through his own death, the reality is that the attitude and language that Irwin uses concerning his own life mirrors the attitude of the assisted suicide lobby towards the lives of others.

Irwin refers to himself as "existing beyond my sell-by date" and that he doesn't want his friends or family to remember him as "an increasingly decrepit person."

By using this terminology Irwin is degrading people who are elderly (beyond their sell-by date) or living with disabilities (increasingly decrepit).

Liz Carr

Liz Carr, a disability rights activist and actress in the UK, last year stated in an interview why she opposes assisted suicide and why she produced a musical on the topic. Carr states:

“Until we value ill, older and disabled people as equals; until there are no more hate crimes; until their deaths or murders are no longer portrayed or perceived as mercy killing, and until there’s real equality and validity for those groups of people, then maybe we can have that conversation.”

Carr later states in the interview:

“The problem with disability is social oppression, not disability. The solution to that is not to kill a person; it’s not to give them easy access to end their life. It’s to look at the reasons why that person wants to end their life. And are we doing everything we can? 

Irwin, who is a past-president of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies and has promoted old-age suicide since 2009, was "struck-off" the list of physicians in 2005 for breaking the code of ethics.

Irwin's personal campaign to legalize assisted suicide devalues the lives of people with disabilities and older people. Irwin is promoting his own death in a manner that devalues the lives of other people creating a new pressure to die.

Do suicides increase where euthanasia is legal?

This article was published by Mercatornet on May 22.

The euthanasia debate is on the front-burner in Australia, especially in the states of Victoria and Tasmania. In one of the latest salvos, ethicist Professor Margaret Somerville claimed that suicide rates rise in jurisdictions where euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal. This prompted a blast from Neil Francis, a former President of the World Federation of Right To Die Societies and a leading campaigner for euthanasia in Australia. This is Professor Somerville’s response.

B

Margaret Somerville

y Margaret Somerville

Neil Francis is correct in criticizing me for a loose statement that "the general suicide rate has increased in every jurisdiction that has legalized assisted suicide." 

Although I believe that my statement will prove to be correct, at this point in time I should have left out the word "every." 

One problem in obtaining the required evidence, is that it’s difficult if not impossible to know how often physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia (PAS-E) is being used in countries where those interventions are legal to commit what we should view as “ordinary suicide”–if one can ever regard suicide as “ordinary”, but for want of a better term. 

“Suicide by police”–a suicidal person engages in conduct with the intention that the police will respond by shooting them - is a recognized phenomenon. Now we can consider “suicide by physician”. 

Two features of legalized PAS-E make “suicide by physician” seem likely: The percentage of deaths occurring from PAS-E, for instance, in The Netherlands and Belgium, is rising by approximately 10 per cent each year and is now around 4 percent of all deaths. And the conditions for access to PAS-E are expanding in both jurisdictions. If one is not terminally or physically ill, neither of which is a legal requirement in either country, is euthanasia “ordinary suicide”? And what about if a person wants PAS-E because they are just “tired of life” or feel they have a completed life as the Netherlands is now contemplating allowing or, as an elderly couple proposed on ABC’s Q&A, simply want to avoid going into a nursing home, should these be classified as “ordinary suicide” cases? 

Cases in which using PAS-E as a substitute means of suicide seems very likely have made headlines around the world. They include the deaf Belgian twins who were going blind; the young gender-dysphoric woman with the botched sex-change operation; the anorexic woman in her 20s; the depressed 34 year old Eva, whose death by euthanasia is focused on in real time in the documentary film, “End Credits”, made by Dutch pro-euthanasia advocates; the convicted rapist and murderer in the Belgium prison. 

Dutch Professor Dr. Theo Boer, a former member of one of Holland’s five Euthanasia Regional Review Committees (2005-2014) has undertaken a study which will be published shortly which, in his words, shows 

Theo Boer

the assumption that euthanasia will lead to lower suicide rates finds no support in the numbers. The percentage of euthanasia deaths of the total mortality rate tripled from 1.3% in 2002 to 4.08% in 2016. During that same period, the suicide numbers did not go down: From being 1,567 in 2002, they went up to 1,871 in 2015, a rise of 19.4%. The suicide rates reached a relative low of 1,353 in 2007, compared to which the 2015 numbers constitute a rise of 38.3%. This is even more significant given the fact that from 2007 on euthanasia started becoming available to people with chronic diseases–psychiatric diseases, dementia, and others. In terms of the percentage of the overall mortality of suicide deaths, the numbers went up from 1.01% in 2007 to 1.27% in 2015.  

…For the sake of comparison, I have looked at the suicide rates of some countries which are close to the Netherlands in terms of ethnicity, age, religion, and language but which, with the exception of Belgium, lack the option of euthanasia. If the suicide numbers in the Netherlands have gone up, one would expect, at least a similar increase in the suicide numbers would occur in countries without the option of euthanasia. However,…the Netherlands of all countries show the biggest increase in the suicide numbers.” 

Mr. Francis dismisses researchers David Jones' and David Paton’s report on suicide data in Oregon on which I relied to show a rise in the state’s suicide rates on the basis that it was “published in a minor journal”, the Southern Medical Journal. This claim is specious, even if it were a “minor journal”. For the record, it is a peer-reviewed medical journal indexed and abstracted in Index Medicus, Current Contents, Science Citation Index, and EMBASE which has published over 45,000 articles. I leave it to others to decide its status. 

Moreover, if Mr. Francis’ claim as to its status were correct and if Jones’ and Paton’s article were, as Mr. Francis describes it, “a wobbly econometric modelling study”, it stands to reason that the journal would be more accessible in terms of publishing rebuttals or questions about the article. To date, to my knowledge, no one has done so, not there, not anywhere. 

Mr. Francis’, at best, woolly statements about what Jones’ and Paton’s study found need clarifying. They write: 

[W]e found that legalizing PAS was associated with a 6.3% (95% confidence interval 2.70%–9.9%) increase in total suicides (including assisted suicides). This effect was larger in the individuals older than 65 years (14.5%, CI 6.4%–22.7%). Introduction of PAS was neither associated with a reduction in nonassisted suicide rates nor with an increase in the mean age of nonassisted suicide. (Emphasis added)  

Conclusions: Legalizing PAS has been associated with an increased rate of total suicides relative to other states and no decrease in nonassisted suicides. 

As Jones and Patton recall, pundits claimed at the time of the public debate in Oregon about legalizing physician-assisted suicide that having access to assisted suicide would reduce “nonassisted” or “ordinary suicide”, which it clearly did not. This is something Australian legislators should note. 

I will just mention California, which has very recently legalized physician-assisted suicide. There was concern that people who were involuntarily hospitalized because they were mentally ill and “dangerous to themselves (they were suicidal) or others” could not have access to physician-assisted suicide. This has now been “remedied” and a special process established to allow them to apply to have physician assistance in killing themselves. 

Euthanasia activist demands euthanasia without restrictions.

Alex Schadenberg
International Chair - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Euthanasia activist, Philip Nitschke, has established a political action group to pressure governments to legalize euthanasia without restrictions.

Nitschke does not support the "medical model" of euthanasia legislation and has decided to take direct action to legalize euthanasia. According to the Guardian report:

Exit Action said it would take “a militant pro-euthanasia position” to coordinate direct action strategies and force legislative change. 

“Exit Action is critical of the ‘medical model’ that sees voluntary euthanasia as a privilege given to the very sick by the medical profession,” the organisation said. 

“The standard approach for years has been to get the very sick to tell their stories of suffering to the public and politicians, in the hope that politicians might take pity and change the law.”

Nitschke is pushing for the final strategy of the euthanasia lobby. The mainstream euthanasia lobby agrees with Nitschke, but they are committed to incremental strategies.

Several years ago I attended the World Federation of Right to Die Societies conference in Toronto. One of the debates, during the conference, was whether activists, like Nitschke, are hindering the euthanasia lobby from achieving their incremental goals. One of the goals, as expressed by the Netherlands euthanasia lobby was the acceptance of the "last will pill." 

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) produced the Euthanasia Deception documentary to make known stories of people with direct personal experience with euthanasia. Order the Euthanasia Deception documentary today.

Sadly, it didn't surprise me when the Dutch government recently announced that they will expand the euthanasia law to include people who are not sick or dying, but have lived a "completed life."

Nitschke is simply pushing for the final strategy. 

Assisted Suicide is not a private matter.

This article was published on the HOPE Australia website on July 16.

By Paul Russell, the founder and director of HOPE Australia.

Paul Russell

New Zealand born South African based euthanasia advocate Sean Davison is in the press again, once more seemingly stepping across the line into assisting in suicide.

In 2011, Davison was convicted in a New Zealand Court of assisting the suicide of his own mother in 2006, a matter that came to light in the review of a draft of Davison’s book, Before we say goodbye. Davison admitted in 2010 to crushing 18 morphine tablets and mixing it into a glass of water before handing it to his mother, who had cancer. He was committed to home detention for five months before returning to South Africa and founding a ‘right-to-die’ movement.

In September 2014, Davison admitted at the world ‘right-to-die’ conference in Chicago that he had assisted in the suicide death of a quadriplegic medical doctor in 2013.

Australia’s other ‘Dr Death,’ Rodney Syme, gave a talk at that event entitled: Challenging the Legal System – and getting away with it. Perhaps, Davison heeded Syme’s advice as, on that occasion, no charges were ever brought against him.

Only a few days before Davison made this revelation to his international cohort, on his Dignity SA [Dignity South Africa] twitter feed, Davison tweeted: 

“Dignity SA is committed to good palliative care. Assisted Dying (sic) is a last resort for a small % for whom palliative care is not enough.”

The doctor in question [Dr. Anrich Burge] was not terminally ill. So much for standards.

This week, according to South Africa’s IOL news online, an anonymous caller tipped off the Cape Times that Davison was about to assist in another suicide, this time of a person in hospice care, apparently in his own home.

When contacted by the Cape Times, Davison would neither confirm nor deny. However, he seemed to have effectively admitted that something was afoot by telling the press:

“Where did you get that information from? I cannot confirm or deny that. I can’t comment about (the patient). This is a private matter which should not be publicised in the media. 

“One should respect people’s right to die in a dignified manner. (The patient) has been suffering for a long time.”

Contacted again on Tuesday, Davison insisted on speaking only to the Cape Times editor, but his demand was declined and the news editor contacted him.

Asked if he would be involved in an assisted suicide on Tuesday, Davison said:

“I can’t comment on that. Who says there is a story here. He (the patient) doesn’t want this in the media. 

“This is a private matter. It is up to the patient if he wants this in the media. If you run this story, you are crossing the line.”

Davison may or may not have a point about privacy here; that ultimately would be a matter for the South African Press association. But, if true, it is Davison that has crossed the line, and a clear, bright line at that which prohibits assisting in suicide.

Department of Justice and Correctional Services spokesperson advocate Mthunzi Mhaga told the media that, 

‘if Davison was indeed assisting another person with suicide, he could be charged with murder’.

The unnamed source told the Cape Times that, 

“Davison would be using gas to end the patient’s life at 4pm on July 14 at a residence in Fresnaye.”

That little flag about the use of gas tells me that Davison knows that, so long as there is no evidence of him being at this person’s home at the time of death and no paper or email trail, he is not likely to see a charge raised against him.

Moreover, absent the call from the anonymous person, if the paraphernalia used to induce a hypoxic death is removed and if the gas of choice is nitrogen, there’s nothing to see. Absent an autopsy death would be assumed to have been from natural causes relating to the underlying condition. Even with an autopsy, there’s no ‘smoking gun’.

At this stage the welfare of the person in question is not known. But even if he does commit suicide and even if Davison assists, there remains another ‘if’ that Davison, it appears, may be relying on to avoid the dock. It’s called evidence, or, more precisely, the possible lack there of.

While having every sympathy for the person concerned, I hope that the anonymous caller will have averted this suicide.

Contrary to Davison’s assertion, this is a matter that should be discussed and should be reported in the interests of public safety.