Joan,
Thanks for alerting me to the Sydney Morning Herald article "Life and Death
Matters" on Peter Singer on 8th May 1999,
scroll down http://www.smh.com.au/news/9905/08/index.html
I have circulated it to some of the Disability Discussion Lists.
Frank HB
Hume Joan wrote:
> Dear Frank,
>
> Many thanks for sending me this item on euthanasia in Canada and the emails
> on Peter Singer's appointment to Princeton. There was a major article on
> Singer in the Sydney Morning Herald's last Saturday paper which I think
> calls for a response. I'd like to fax it to you. Could you give me a fax
> number? As you are no doubt aware I've been an outspoken critic of Singer's
> ideas for about 14 years when I first began to read his works. My
> criticisms have only generated antagonism as Singer is regarded as a
> saintly, almost sacrosanct figure and has been given virtually unimpeded
> media access without anyone in the disability field being accorded the right
> of reply.
>
> Apart from myself in the disability movement in Australia, I think only
> Christopher Newell has also been a vociferous critic of Singer's ideas. I
> personally have never been able to whip up any "rage" amongst other
> disability activists either because they agree with his views or else
> they've never read them and are unaware of their potential danger.
> Regards
> Joan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Frank Hall-Bentick [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, May 07, 1999 5:46 PM
> To: OZAdvocacy; UK Disability-Research; Joan Hume
> Subject: Re: Euthanasia debate returns to Canada with court
> case
>
> Kelly Ford wrote:
>
> > >Euthanasia debate returns to Canada with court case
> > >
> > >
> > >By Randall Palmer
> > >
> > >OTTAWA (Reuters) - The issue of euthanasia returns to the fore
> this week
> > >when the Supreme Court of Canada decides whether to hear an
> appeal from a
> > >Western Canadian farmer convicted of murdering his disabled
> daughter.
> > >
> > >Robert Latimer has been in and out of the courts, including the
> Supreme
> > >Court, five times since he piped carbon monoxide into the cab of
> his pickup
> > >truck in 1993 to kill his 12-year-old daughter Tracy, who
> suffered from
> > >cerebral palsy.
> > >
> > >And each time the case comes up, the same wrenching questions are
> asked:
> > >Should a parent be allowed to kill a child who is suffering? Does
> a
> > >person's disabilities make it more permissible to end his life?
> > >
> > >"We're concerned that justice and equality of the law be accorded
> Tracy,"
> > >said Mel Graham, a visually impaired spokesman for the Council of
> Canadians
> > >with Disabilities.
> > >
> > >"In other words, that people with disabilities who are murder
> victims have
> > >the same right for protection that all other people do, that
> there is not a
> > >distinction or blurring of a distinction."
> > >
> > >But euthanasia advocates contend this was mercy-killing, and that
> Tracy's
> > >leg was soon to have been amputated -- she would have been
> "mutilated," as
> > >her mother described it.
> > >
> > >The latest stage in the court drama has left Latimer sentenced to
> life in
> > >prison, with the possibility of parole after 10 years. Latimer,
> who said he
> > >at first had considered shooting his daughter in the head, is
> free on bail
> > >at home pending his application to appeal to the Supreme Court.
> > >
> > >The high court will decide on that application Thursday, without
> giving its
> > >reasons. If it says no, then the conviction stands and Latimer
> will go to
> > >jail.
> > >
> > >If it says yes, it will only mean that it thinks the issues
> involved are
> > >worth hearing but not necessarily that it will overturn his
> conviction or
> > >lessen his sentence.
> > >
> > >The first round of trials was thrown out because police had asked
> jurors
> > >about their attitude towards euthanasia.
> > >
> > >He was convicted in a re-trial in 1997 but the judge held that it
> would be
> > >"cruel and unusual punishment" to lock him up for 10 years
> without parole
> > >-- that he was exempted by the constitution -- and the judge
> reduced that
> > >to one year.
> > >
> > >An appeals court, noting Latimer could have placed her in a group
> home,
> > >unanimously reversed that decision in November 1998 and imposed a
> life
> > >sentence.
> > >
> > >Latimer has engaged one of Canada's top criminal lawyers,
> Toronto-based
> > >Edward Greenspan, to join his local counsel Mark Brayford, and
> one of the
> > >issues they are pressing for is that a constitutional exemption
> be allowed.
> > >
> > >And they have revisited the question of whether Latimer felt he
> must kill
> > >Tracy. They argued in a written belief that he "believed that
> there were no
> > >options available to deal with Tracy's unbearable pain other than
> death."
> > >
> > >REUTERS
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