In the month of November, we remember and pray for our beloved dead and contemplate the lives of the saints who have gone before us. This month is therefore a good time to ponder the meaning of death from a Catholic perspective,
Nations that legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide develop higher rates of "self-initiated" suicides than those that do not, according to a new research document by a Catholic bioethics institute.
The Oxford-based Anscombe Bioethics Centre, which serves the Catholic Church in Great Britain and
The Parliament of New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, has passed a law allowing people to choose assisted dying under certain circumstances. It was the last of the country's six states to enact such legislation.
The Voluntary Assisted Dying regime will be
The National Right to Life Committee March 30 denounced Oregon's decision to drop residency requirements that were part of its physician-assisted suicide law.
The Philadelphia-based Catholic Medical Association also condemned the move, which came in response to a lawsuit seeking to remove the
The British Parliament threw out an attempt to legalize assisted suicide in England and Wales.
Amendment 170 to the Health and Social Care Bill would have forced the British government to introduce assisted suicide legislation in the near future. But members of the
Catholic bishops of England and Wales are planning a novena to St. John Paul in the nine days before the second reading of an assisted suicide bill in the House of Lords, because the legislation will be considered Oct. 22, the saint's
Canada's Catholic bishops said the possible pressures the country's new assisted suicide law will place on Canadians with mental illness or disabilities are "all too real, perilous and potentially destructive."
In a statement April 8, the Canadian Conference Catholic Bishops denounced the expansion
Canada's Catholic bishops said it is "not too late to reconsider" and stop the expansion of legally assisted suicide in Canada.
They called on all Catholics and Canadians opposed to expanding the country's medical assistance in dying system to speak out against the
With the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia in many countries, and questions concerning what is morally permissible regarding end-of-life care, the Vatican's doctrinal office released a 25-page letter offering "a moral and practical clarification" on the care of vulnerable patients.
"The church
The acquittal of two "right-to-die" activists who aided in the suicide of a person suffering from multiple sclerosis may force the Italian government to legalize assisted suicide in the country.
A court in the Tuscan province of Massa-Carrara ruled July 27 to acquit