DWDNSW - respect for the right to choose

It's a right to get pain relief: UN

DWDnsw — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:06:00 +0000

THE 130 guests at the Your Death Your Choice forum in Maroochydore yesterday were told the palliative care issue was about to get trickier from a legal standpoint.

Ethics expert Professor Colleen Cartwright said the euthanasia debate and "fear of being sued" made many who cared for the terminally ill reluctant to administer higher levels of pain relief, but that reluctance in turn was leaving them legally vulnerable for human rights violations - a catch-22 scenario.

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Having the 'Last Laugh"

DWDnsw — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:40:00 +0000

Comedian Alexei Sayle confronts attitudes towards terminal illness and society’s last taboo in the short film Last Laugh (7 mins), which has been produced as part of Dying Matters Awareness Week which began in the UK on Monday 14 May.

This article was posted on the Dying with Dignity NSW website. Click 'Read more » ..." to view the article.

I didn't want that

DWDnsw — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:56:00 +0000

Dying Matters' UK has produced a poignant and powerful new short film (6 mins) 'I Didn't Want That' highlights the importance of making your end of life wishes clear.

This article was posted on the Dying with Dignity NSW website. Click 'Read more » ..." to view the article.

Robert Cordover's end-of-life was torture

DWDnsw — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:52:00 +0000

ROBERT CORDOVER was a marine biologist who spoke seven languages, loved music and theatre and had lived all over the world. So when the time came for him to die he wanted to do it on his own terms.
Diagnosed with the progressive illness motor neurone disease in 2008, he first lost his capacity to speak followed by his ability to swallow properly.

Mr Cordover, who lived in rural Tasmania, took his own life in June 2009 surrounded by his wife Nica and his children. He was aged 68.

His son, Gideon Cordover, works part-time for Dying with Dignity NSW. Gideon is passionate about the right to assisted dying, because of his father’s situation “''He went earlier than he had to. While he could still balance a spoon on his hand and stoop, he could take the medication. It makes me so angry that he had to go early when every day was so precious with him.”

In this video his wife Nica narrates a letter he has written to Australian politicians, explaining how his demise was like Guantanamo Bay torture, and asking for legalisation of restricted aid-in-dying.

This article was posted on the Dying with Dignity NSW website. Click 'Read more » ..." to view the article.

AGM 2012 Roundup

DWDnsw — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:17:00 +0000

A very successful and well attended AGM was held on 24 March 2012 with Chrys Stevenson providing the keynote address. The meeting was also addressed by the incoming President (Richard Mills). Various papers from the AGM can be located by clicking the following links:

The Debate on Assisted Dying: Distortion, Misinformation and the Influence of the Religious Lobby – the address by Chrys Stevenson;
Incoming President's Address – by Richard Mills
The financial report

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Take control of your own death before it’s too late

DWDnsw — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 02:48:00 +0000

It’s the Saturday morning of the Queensland election and I’ve just boarded a Virgin flight to Sydney. As embarking passengers jostle to stow their luggage, I wonder who my travelling companions will be: young or old, tourists or business travellers, chatty or silent? I rather enjoy the ‘lucky dip’ of travelling on planes.

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This article was posted on the Dying with Dignity NSW website. Click 'Read more » ..." to view the article.