assisted suicide

Vermont is a step away from becoming the third state to legalize physician-assisted suicide.

An Assembly panel in New Jersey has approved a measure that would place the issue of assisted suicide on the state ballot.

A push for the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is under way in at least three Northeastern states, including Connecticut, where proponents say they see strong support for allowing doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients.

The elderly should be able to "hurry up and die" to help the government, a senior Japanese official said.

Two deaf twin brothers in Belgium were put to death by their doctor on Dec. 14, though the hospital that performed the euthanasia waited a month to announce the action.

Embracing suicide for the elderly would represent a radical departure from our founding values and a tragic step backward in the political progress for which so many have sacrificed their lives.

A New Jersey lawmaker proposed a bill last week that would let doctors legally prescribe lethal doses of medication to help patients end their lives.

The annual number of reported deaths by euthanasia in the Netherlands rose by 18 percent to 3,695 in 2011 -- a number that has doubled since 2006.

Our bad economy and the ever-growing expenses of an aging population will make assisted suicide an attractive option. If we do not once again come to value human life, we'll take the final step to embrace a culture of death.