Euthanasia is not healthcare

Last night - Thursday 9th November - we held an excellent event at the Freedom Centre in Jersey with guest speakers Alex Schadenberg, Kevin Yuill, Dr Carol Davis and Dr Rachel Ruddy.

Alex has been the Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) since July 1999 and the Chair for EPC International since November 2007. He has authored numerous articles that have been published in newspapers world-wide, co-produced films and documentaries on the subject and organised the first conference on euthanasia at the European Parliament in November 2022. He shared numerous shocking stories and statistics from Canada and the way that numbers of euthanasia deaths have been increasing by 30% yoy.

Kevin (also Canadian but lives in Durham) is a Professor of American History and is the founder of ‘Humanists against Assisted Suicide’. He was the second speaker to the podium and articulated why he believes that Assisted Dying should not be medical treatment for anyone. Kevin spoke from a moral, or rather lack of it, standpoint.

Dr Carol Davis is a specialist palliative care consultant based in Southampton who has over 13 years of links to care in Jersey through her work with Jersey Hospice. She spoke about the need for more investment in palliative care.

The final speaker was Dr Rachel Ruddy who is the clinical lead for psychiatry in Jersey. She spoke with passion on a more local level and expressed her real concerns as to how a change in law could impact patients with mental illness.

The event was hosted jointly by The Jersey Dying Well Group and Our Duty of Care, Jersey.

The presentations were all filmed and can be accessed via this link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG1wH90XtU0 . - Please note that the introduction starts after 12 minutes 33 seconds.