Euthanasia: Pro and Con

Our guest today is Jeremy Ervine. Jeremy is an Australian film producer whose latest project is Fade to Black, a documentary featuring former Shell / Coles Express CEO, Peter Short, a fellow Australian who died of oesophageal cancer in 2014. The purpose of Jeremy’s documentary was to open up a conversation about dying and allow people to see the arguments for and against and make up their own mind about whether they supported the assisted dying legislation. Jeremy shot over a hundred hours of footage and interviewed dozens of people for his documentary. Please donate any amount you can to help Jeremy complete his documentary, which is currently in post-production, by contacting Jeremy through the film’s Facebook Page www.facebook.com/fadetoblackdoco. You can also find a link to his Facebook page, his Indiegogo fundraising page, and a link to Peter Short’s blog, on our website euthanasiaproandcon.com

Our guest on this episode is Dr. David Swanton, director of the organisation Ethical Rights. To quote from their website, “Ethical Rights has been established to challenge people to think more rationally about important ethical, human rights, scientific and related issues’. Dr Swanton has a doctorate in theoretical chemistry, he is a euthanasia advocate, ethicist, atheist, humanist, scientist, writer and outspoken opponent of discrimination. He is also a chapter coordinator for Dr Philip Nitschke’s voluntary euthanasia organisation Exit International. The website for Dr. Swanton’s Ethical Rights organisation is www.ethicalrights.com You can find the link to Dr. Swanton's interview on www.euthanasiaproandcon.com

Our guest today is Brian Green Adams. Brian is a labour lawyer and atheist community activist in Toronto Canada. Brian has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre and a Bachelor of Laws. He hosts the counter-apologetics podcast A Salmon of Doubt and he is co-founded the Atheist Community of Toronto.

Our guest on this episode is Dr. Philip Nitschke is the Founder of Exit International. In 1996, Philip became the first doctor in the world to administer a legal, lethal voluntary injection under the short-lived Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 (NT). Four of Philip’s terminally ill patients used this law to end their suffering before the law was overturned in March 1997 by the Australian Parliament. That same year, Philip formed the Voluntary Euthanasia Research foundation (now called Exit International). Ongoing pressure from the Australian Medical Board led him to hand in his medical registration in 2015, and he now works full time developing end of life options for the sick and elderly and publishing details through his on-line Peaceful Pill Handbook. Philip's autobiography entitled Damned If I Do was published by Melbourne University Press in 2013. The website for Exit International is www.exitinternational.net

Our interview today is with Pastor Ted Leck Ted Leck. Ted is pastor at the Church in the City, an urban-based church located in Toronto. Ted has been married for 24 years and has 3 daughters. Ted, who grew up in Sudbury, Ontario, has been a pastor for 23 years. He grew up in Sudbury, On.

Our guest on Episode 8 is Ian Wood. Rev. Trevor Bensch, together with fellow Christian Ian Wood, decided to establish a group to allow Christians to voice their support, and Christians Supporting Choice for Voluntary Euthanasia was born in February 2009. Christians Supporting Choice for Voluntary Euthanasia is based in Australia. Their website is: www.christiansforve.org.au/

Episode 7: Senator Betty E. Unger by Euthanasia: Pro and Con

Our guest today is Ruth von Fuchs, President of the Right to Die Society of Canada. Quoting from their website… We inform/advise regulators (e.g. elected or appointed officials) and policy-makers (e.g. medical associations and governing bodies). We participate in think tanks devoted to improving the availability of humane and reliable self-deliverance methods. We present a complete range of options to people who are faced with intolerable suffering from an irremediable condition, always working to help them find the option which is best for them, whether or not that turns out to be bringing their life to an end. Their website is www.righttodie.ca Even when she was a teenager, Ruth suspected that dying was often more horrible than it needed to be. She doubted that the standard approach to this problem, namely to avoid thinking about it, was the most effective tactic. There being no Canadian right-to-die organizations in those days, she joined an American group called the Euthanasia Educational Council. For her B.A. Ruth majored in philosophy and psychology and later earned an M.A. in philosophy. 1991, Ruth and her husband joined the newly formed Right To Die Society of Canada and were active members from then on.

Welcome to Euthanasia: Pro and Con where I will present both sides of the issue. My guests will include politicians, interest groups, ethicists, medical professionals, religion experts, and terminally-ill patients.