Scientist Stephen Hawking Supports Assisted Suicide

Physicist Stephen Hawking, one of the world's most intelligent scientists, who suffers from motor neurone disease and has spent most of his life in a wheel chair has now come out in the open about his support for assisted suicide for those suffering terminal illnesses. He speaks through a machine.

Stressing the importance of safeguards, during an interview with the BBC, he questioned the need for allowing humans to suffer when we do not allow animals to undergo prolonged misery.

Hawking is a victim of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a form of motor neurone disease which attacks the nerves that controls voluntary movement.

When he was asked about the idea of assisted suicide, Hawking said: "I think those who have a terminal illness and are in great pain should have the right to choose to end their lives and those that help them should be free from prosecution. We don't let animals suffer, so why humans?"

Source: Medindia

Decade of Mercy Killings Commemorated in Netherlands and Belgium

Around 4,000 people receive assisted suicide help annually in the Netherlands and Belgium one decade after they became the first countries to legalize euthanasia.