Chancellor McCoy and the Way of Wisdom
D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.
What does Tennessee have to do with Switzerland (featured in the fake ad pictured below)? Less than it could have, given yesterday’s decision to uphold the State of Tennessee’s ban on assisted suicide. The decision by Chancellor Carol L. McCoy has the rather counter-intuitive effect of the State winning without someone losing their head. Read on below for the details . . .
Fake ad image from Salvo, used with permission.
“If you can keep your head when all about you, Are losing theirs and blaming it on you . . ...read more
Shifting Gears on Physician-Assisted Suicide?
D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.
How “neutral” can one be regarding assisted suicide? How about a medical organization? This past week, The Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture sent a letter of concern to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization:
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2015 12:52:22 -0500
Subject: Physician-assisted suicide
Dear Board Members and Staff of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization:
It has come to my attention that you, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), are now considering changing your position statement from “opposing” physician-assisted suicide (P-AS) to taking a “neutral” ...read more
Severing Our Roots
The Little Fool by Karen Swenholt. Image by Ian Riley Photography.
D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.
A couple of years ago, I was encouraged to meet a figurative artist (sculptress, in this case). So I drove many hours to meet Karen Swenholt, and the drive was worth it. One of her pieces is pictured above. It is a metaphor that resonates with many of us: the man feels rooted, bound to the earth, or his circumstances, etc., and yearns to be free. So he takes an instrument into his hand — a knife — to free himself from his hateful condition, not ...read more
Physician-Assisted Suicide: NOT Exactly What Its Proponents Advertise It To Be
This Australian stamp was issued in celebration of the General Assembly of World Medical Associations almost 50 years ago. At that time, the hypodermic syringe was a symbol of cure. Now, the picture of gloved hands administering an injection can represent something much more menacing.
D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.
The topic of physician-assisted suicide (P-AS) is a persistent one, especially when people are in pain or are worried about impending death. We need to think deeply and well about this issue. To help, the Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture is addressing P-AS from a different perspective for the second time in as many ...read more
Things Are Not As They Seem
John A. Holt, TN-CBC Intern
Videos of Brittany Maynard, who ended her life on November 1, 2014, by physician-assisted suicide (PAS), have brought the discussion of PAS to national and even international levels. A less publicized case is that of Robert McLester.
Carol McLester did not know why her husband asked for the gun. Bed-ridden since his stroke thirteen months earlier, a retired Navy officer of the outdoorsy type would seem to be trustworthy with a pistol. Carol willingly delivered the gun, then walked into the kitchen to finish washing the dishes. A few minutes passed before a resounding BANG split the ...read more
Documentary — When Assisted Death is Legal: Episode II
BBC World Service: first broadcast 20 February 2013
Liz Carr visits The Netherlands, and the American states of Washington and Oregon in the second episode of the two-part radio documentary on euthanasia and assisted suicide.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p014q86x
Documentary — When Assisted Death Is Legal: Episode I
BBC World Service: first broadcast 19 February 2013
Liz Carr visits Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Belgium in this first episode of the two-part radio documentary on euthanasia and assisted suicide.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p014dkr1
