Evangelical Couple Keeps Terminally Ill Daughter Alive Against Her Wishes

An evangelical pastor and his wife in Queens are keeping their terminally-ill daughter, a former Manhattan banker, hooked up to a ventilator against her will because they believe that her stated wish to die naturally constitutes suicide in the eyes of God. And that's a mortal sin that will send her to hell.

Lee’s court-appointed lawyer complained her devout parents — who believe she’ll go to hell if she pulls the plug — are putting her under “incredible pressure.” “She has made herself abundantly clear,” the lawyer, David A. Smith, said of his client, who can’t move from the neck down and is being kept alive by machines. “They stand there all day, and tell her that this is Satan’s work. [snip] His daughter was training for the New York City Marathon last year when she fell ill and was diagnosed with brain cancer. Last month, she had a seizure and was rushed to North Shore, where she has begged doctors to remove life support, they testified. The parents went to court Sept. 24 and asked that the father be appointed guardian. After an emergency hearing, a Long Island judge ruled the tubes could be removed. The family rushed to the Appellate Division in Brooklyn and obtained a temporary order keeping life support in place until the judges make a full ruling.

The pastor says, "When someone sets a time and date to die, that is considered as a suicide and sin." The court's decision may come today.

Australia Bans Pro-Euthanasia Ad

Australia's advertising regulation agency has banned the below ad advocating for the legalization of assisted suicide or "voluntary euthanasia."

(Tipped by JMG reader Lynda)

BBC Announcer Ray Gosling Arrested

BBC announcer Ray Gosling has been arrested for murder for the mercy killing of his AIDS-stricken partner.

TV presenter Ray Gosling has been arrested on suspicion of murder by Nottinghamshire Police after he admitted killing his lover. The 70-year-old's confession that he had smothered the unnamed man who was dying of Aids was broadcast on the BBC's Inside Out programme on Monday. The Nottingham filmmaker said he had made a pact with his lover to act if his suffering increased. Police are questioning the presenter over his claims. A police spokesman said: "A 70-year-old Nottingham man was arrested earlier on suspicion of murder following comments made on the BBC's Inside Out programme on Monday evening." Mr Gosling has previously said he would not name his lover or say when the incident took place. In the BBC East Midlands programme, broadcast on Monday, he told how he smothered the man with a pillow while he was in hospital after doctors told him that there was nothing further that could be done for him.

Assisted suicide is illegal in the UK, but the criminal code provides guidelines for judging when cases should be prosecuted.

BBC Announcer's On-Air Confession: I Smothered My AIDS-Stricken Partner

BBC viewers were startled this week when longtime television host Ray Gosling revealed in a pre-recorded segment that he had smothered his partner with a pillow as the man lay wracked with end-stage AIDS. Gosling was narrating a program about euthanasia. He didn't say who the man was or when the incident occurred.

The BBC had not alerted the police in advance to the confession, which it is understood was recorded last November. The police spokesman said: "We were not aware of Mr Gosling's comments until the BBC Inside Out programme was shown. "We are now liaising with the BBC and will investigate the matter." Mr Gosling wept as he made his confession while walking through a graveyard. “I killed someone once... He was a young chap, he’d been my lover and he got Aids," he told the viewers, in a feature on end-of-life decisions.

“In a hospital one hot afternoon, the doctor said, ’There’s nothing we can do’, and he was in terrible, terrible pain. “I said to the doctor, ’Leave me just for a bit’ and he went away. I picked up the pillow and smothered him until he was dead. The doctor came back and I said, ’He’s gone’. Nothing more was ever said.” Mr Gosling did not reveal the name of the lover but said that it was a secret that he had kept for "quite a long time". He claimed that he and the young man had made a pact that he would help him to die if he was in intolerable pain and could not recover. “He was in terrible pain, I was there and I saw it. It breaks you into pieces... When you love someone, it is difficult to see them suffer."

Assisted suicide is illegal in the UK and is subject to a lengthy prison term. Gosling says that his partner's doctor had hinted to him what should be done.

Here's is Gosling's heartwrenching confession.

The below interview was done after Gosling's program aired.

RELATED: I have known several men who have had to take this terrible action, although not in the manner described above. In all cases, it was pre-agreed upon with their partners. In all cases, it was the loving, merciful, and right thing to do.

The Right To Die

To great controversy, yesterday British television aired a film titled Right To Die?, which showed a terminally-ill man committing suicide on camera. The film raises the usual questions about euthanasia and assisted-suicide, although the man did the job on his own, albeit with an audience in the room.

The scene is difficult to watch, even for viewers inured to the subject of dying by a steady diet of violent Hollywood and television fare. Craig Ewert, a former computer scientist from Chicago, is shown lying in bed with his wife at his side while he takes barbiturates. He asks for a glass of apple juice to mask the bad taste and help him swallow. Then he uses his teeth to turn off his ventilator — and dies on camera.

Britain's obsession with reality television reached new heights — or depths — Wednesday night with the broadcast of the assisted suicide of the 59-year-old terminally ill American at a Swiss clinic. Showing the final moment of death had long been a final taboo, even for no-holds-barred British TV, where sex and violence are common, and the broadcast unleashed debate on an issue that strongly divides public opinion. Photographs of Ewert's final moments dominated Britain's newspaper front pages Wednesday — "SUICIDE TV" screamed one tabloid — and prompted a debate in Parliament, where Prime Minister Gordon Brown was quizzed about the propriety of the decision to air the program.

Could such a sensible program ever air in America? Terri Schiavo, anyone? Many gay men my age have had a role in helping lovers, roommates, and friends end their suffering. It isn't easy, but to my mind it's perhaps the single greatest kindness you can show somebody you love.

Scottish Lesbian Cleared Of Assisted Suicide

In Scotland, a lesbian was found not guilty of assisted suicide after a judge ruled that her partner would have committed suicide on her own anyway.

A woman prison officer who watched her lesbian lover commit suicide was spared jail Monday after a judge ruled it was ‘an act of love.’ Patricia Mulpeter, 48, comforted her dying friend as she suffocated after wrapping sticky tape over her nose and mouth in October last year.

The two agreed she would only intervene if her 58-year-old lover Kaija Savolainen touched her hand but she remained still until she died. The couple had borrowed £10,000 from the bank and spent their £3,000 savings on traveling around the West Country together.

They had both tried to commit suicide before and failed and Kaija left a note begging Mulpeter to help her die. Kaija committed suicide on the back seat of their hired Vauxhall Astra and as soon as she died Mulpeter drove to Tavistock police station to give herself up.

Judge Mr Justice Owen imposed a 28 week sentence suspended for a year at Plymouth Crown Court after telling Mulpeter she deserved ‘compassion and not punishment.' Mulpeter, who was born in Glasgow but worked as a prison officer in London, admitted aiding and abetting suicide by giving moral support. She was originally arrested for murder but the charge was thrown out after the prosecution withdrew the case.

In his ruling the judge said: 'The encouragement you gave amounted to moral support and it was encouragement bordering on compassion. You had been together for many years and cared deeply for each other. Yours was an enduring and loving relationship and I accept you acted out of love."