Last Rights Issue #14 - January 1995

Dying for Leadership is a 29,000-word series of investigative reports by
award-winning medical reporter Anne Mullens.

Ms. Mullens spent an entire year researching her topic-across Canada, in
the United States, and the Netherlands.

This marks the first time that the full manuscript has been published. 
(Note: Some Parts of the series have multiple articles within one section)


Part One:  Dying for Leadership
The issue of euthanasia can no longer be ignored.

Then, it was birth control, now it's euthanasia.
Historical parallels abound in the current
right-to-die debate.

Why the 1990s are becoming the 'decade of death'
An aging `baby boom' is one of many factors.

Part Two:  The Dutch Way of Death
Much of what the Senate Committee has been told
about euthanasia in the Netherlands is untrue.

The myth of "Do Not Kill Me" cards:
Despite inflammatory reports, people in Dutch
nursing homes are not afraid for their lives.

Euthanasia rare in Dutch AIDS unit
AIDS patients discover a deeper meaning to life.

A place where Euthanasia is talked about,
but not offered.
Support grows in the Netherlands for 
better ways to manage pain.

How one man came to pick his day to die;
The story of Jan Smit.

The Nazi Spectre:  The long dark shadow.
Assisted suicide legal in Germany but never
with a physician.

Part Three: Doctors and Euthanasia
There's no middle ground in the North American
medical profession but there is shifting.

Scott Mataya:  A question of mercy killing.
How a nurse crossed the line between 
withdrawing treatment and ending life.

Part Four:  Is palliative care a better alternative?
Advocates say good palliative care makes 
requests for euthanasia rare.

Part Five: How to write a "Living Will"
Slowly, Canadian provinces are going 
the route of legal recognition.

Part Six: A landmark vote on assisted suicide.
Oregon: the first state to try to make it legal.

Part Seven: Changing the law in Canada
Giving people a choice of how to die.

Part Eight: Sue Rodriguez
The last word.

* This series is reproduced with permission
  from the Atkinson Foundation.


Beyond Final Exit - Part Nine
Starvation and assisted suicide
by Chris Docker.

Oregon Votes Yes
but the courts say maybe
by Cheryl K. Smith.

DeathNET
Our newest online service
by John Hofsess.

Verbatim
Quotations from the Far Right.

Review by ARTHUR W. FRANK
Rethinking Life and Death by Peter Singer.



  SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

BORN FREE-BUT WE DIE IN CHAINS:
A presentation to the Senate Special Committee
on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

by JOHN HOFSESS