A Swiss right-to-die and assisted suicide organization has announced they are no longer going to limit their services to people suffering from some kind of terminal illness.
The group, “Exit”, has announced that “suicide due to old age” is now going to be considered a valid reason for use of their assisted suicide techniques. The group says that older adults who are experiencing psychological or physical problems can now choose to end their life rather than deal with issues like arthritis.
The group also said they will be streamlining the process for elderly patients who do not want to experience the lengthy process for assisted suicide.
Assisted death is legal in Switzerland.
The Swiss Medical Association was quick to issue a condemnation of the group’s actions, saying that their decision could cause significant problems for elderly citizens whose families just don’t want to care for them in later years. Families could force family members to say they want to die when they really don’t wish to die.
Pastor Rick Warren released a video addressing his son’s suicide in one of the most direct manners since his death last year.
Warren told those viewing the video that the answer to everyone who has asked him how he and his wife made it through that difficult time in their lives was a simple promise: the promise of Easter.
Warren said that looking at the story of Easter through the lens of the three days is key for Christians working through the most difficult times of their lives. When we face tragedy, we’re facing the Friday when Jesus died and those following Him felt the loss of the one they truly loved. Once the shock passes, it’s like Saturday, where we look around wondering what to do and how to go on. Then Sunday arrives with a new hope because of the eternal life that arrives through the resurrection of Jesus.
He said that as Christians we will face those three days repeatedly over our lifetimes and that we need to focus on reaching the joy and victory that comes through our risen Lord Jesus.
Warren said the message he is delivering this Easter regarding his recovery from his son’s suicide and the importance of Christ’s resurrection is the most important of his entire ministry.
In Minnesota, if you want to coach someone through killing themselves, you’re now legally and Constitutionally protected to do it.
The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday reverses the convictions of a former nurse who had been convicted under the state’s law that bans assisting suicide. He had been convicted of encouraging and providing advice to a 32-year-old man and 18-year-old woman.
The sentence for William Melchert-Dinkel had been suspended pending his appeal. His lawyers had argued that he had free speech rights to share methods and encouragement to those planning suicides and that it was impossible to prove his words were the deciding factor in the victims ending their lives.
The prosecution noted that Melchert-Dinkel sought out depressed people online for the sake of encouraging them into suicide. He posed as a female nurse and then after showing compassion gave instructions on the best way to kill themselves.
Melchert-Dinkel admitted that he did it for the “thrill” and entered into fake suicide pacts with at least 5 people with whom he is sure ended their own lives with his encouragement.
A pregnant South Carolina woman attempted to kill herself and her three children by driving her minivan into the Atlantic Ocean.
Now police officials are saying that 31-year-old Ebony Wilkerson talked about demons before she drove away from the home according to her sister who called police. Daytona Beach stopped Wilkerson but she appeared lucid and didn’t qualify to be held under the state’s mental health act.
“The children were in the back seat, they were buckled in and were not in distress. Although the sergeant said she looked like she had some mental illness, she did not fit the criteria for going into custody under the Baker Act,” Police Chief Mike Chitwood told Fox News.
Two hours later, Wilkerson drove herself and her three children, ages 10, 9 and 3, into the ocean. Bystanders, police and lifeguards pulled the children from the van as it began to sink.
The children are in the custody of state welfare authorities.
The Hamas government in Gaza held a celebration for 13,000 teenagers that have been trained to be terrorist suicide bombers.
Students from grades 10-12 were put into a one-week camp separated by gender. They were all trained in the techniques of Hamas terrorists and how to execute a successful suicide attack on Israeli forces.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, Interior Minister Fathi Hammad and Education Minister Usama Mzeini all gave speeches praising the “new generation of Palestinian combatants.”
“Beware this generation,” Haniyeh said during a portion of the speech targeting Israel. “This is a generation which knows no fear. It is the generation of the missile, the tunnel and the suicide operations.”
The Hamas leaders made multiple references to a coming war with Israel.
A gunman opened fire at a New Jersey mall Monday night before hiding in a back room and killing himself.
Richard Shoop, 20, was found near 3:30 a.m. in a distant part of the Westfield Garden State Plaza mall.
Shoop had fired at least six shots without hitting anyone in the mall causing the entire building to go into lockdown for hours. Thousands of shoppers were trapped inside businesses while police searched store to store for the shooter who reportedly was wearing black body armor.
Police suspected this was a case of what they call “suicide by cop” where someone waves a gun around in an attempt to get police to kill them. The police cited the fact Shoop fired at random and at security cameras rather than people.
Shoop had a note on his claiming that “the end was near.”
The stepmother of a 14-year-old girl who was arrested on charges related to bullying another teen into suicide has been arrested on six counts related to abuse.
Vivian Vosburg, 30, is facing charges related to a video posted on Facebook showing her punching two teenage boys. The Polk County Florida Sheriff’s Office said Vosburg is charged with two counts of child abuse with bodily harm and four counts of child neglect with great harm.
Vosburg’s stepdaughter, 14-year-old Guadalupe Shaw, is charged along with a 12-year-old girl with felony aggravated stalking in the suicide death of 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick. The two girls reportedly harassed Sedwick in person and online because the girl had dated a boy that Shaw had once dated. Sedwick committed suicide by jumping from the top of a concrete silo on September 9th.
While the charges against Vosburg are not related to the bullying incident with Shaw, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd believes the environment created in Vosburg’s home contributed to the 14-year-old’s depraved mindset.
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Judd said at a press conference.
“Sadness, depression, fear of sterility, guilt,” drug abuse and suicide are just some of the effects suffered by women who have abortions in Mexico City, according to the country’s most eminent newspaper, El Universal. The newspaper ran an article openly acknowledging the psychological trauma associated with abortion on January 21. Continue reading →
A 15-year-old Canadian girl who posted a video plea on YouTube seeking help in her battle against cyber-bulling and stating she needed “somebody” killed herself Wednesday night in her home.
Amanda Todd had been fighting cyber-bulling since 7th grade. She was on an online video chat when someone flattered her into exposing herself. The person then captured the image and threatened to send it to her friends unless she “put on a show” for them. The person had her address, school and names of friends, family and school classmates. Continue reading →
A sharp increase in suicides in Greece is causing social stress leading up to the May 6th elections.
The rise in suicides was punctuated by a 77-year-old pharmacist who said he was reduced to fishing through garbage cans for sustenance and thus found suicide to be a “dignified end” to his life. Continue reading →
