23 weeks 6 days

This is a moving NPR piece.
"When Kelley Benham and her husband Tom French finally got pregnant, after many attempts and a good deal of technological help, everything was perfect. Until it wasn't. Their story raises questions that, until recently, no parent had to face… and that are still nearly impossible to answer.

This hour, we spend the entire episode on the story of Kelley and Tom, whose daughter was born at 23 weeks and 6 days, roughly halfway to full term. Their story contains an entire universe of questions about the lines between life and death, reflex and will, and the confusing tug of war between two basic moral touchstones: doing no harm...and doing everything in our power to help. Kelley has written about her experience in a brilliant series of articles in the Tampa Bay Times. And when you're done listening to the episode, be sure to check out the video below--but be warned, it does contain spoilers."

See: 23 weeks 6 days.
Embedded Video.

Physician Assisted Suicide in Canada

PBS NEWSHOUR - 04/01/2015

Canada grapples with how to govern a patient’s right to die

This past March, Canada's Supreme Court ruled unanimously that all Canadians have a constitutional right to have doctors help them die. Special correspondent John Larson reports from British Columbia on how doctors, patients and politicians are grappling with how to set rules and eligibility in the next year. (8 minutes 34 seconds)

 This is an informative report that well worth watching.  Go Canada!!

Gerald A. Larue, Obit

Gerald A. Larue, an ordained minister, scholar and eventual agnostic who, as the first president of the Hemlock Society, was an early and leading advocate of giving the terminally ill the option to end their own lives, died on Sept. 17 in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 98.

His son, David, said the cause was a stroke.

“We had the chance to put him on a ventilator,” David Larue said, “but given that he’s the founding president of the Hemlock Society, I’d discussed that with him and knew that was not what he wanted to do.”

Full Obit, NY Times, September 27, 2014.