Assisted Suicide Debate on Yahoo! News Photos

The Scottish Parliament building in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh. ...

(AFP) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:30:33 GMT

(AFP) - The Scottish Parliament building in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh. Pope Benedict XVI has told visiting Scottish bishops that euthanasia "strikes at the very heart" of Christianity, as Scotland's parliament considers a bill to allow assisted suicide.(AFP/Ed Jones)

Pope Benedict XVI presides the celebration of Vespers at the ...

(AFP) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:30:33 GMT

(AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI presides the celebration of Vespers at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls in Rome, in January. Pope Benedict XVI has told visiting Scottish bishops that euthanasia "strikes at the very heart" of Christianity, as Scotland's parliament considers a bill to allow assisted suicide.(AFP/Alberto Pizzoli)

British author Sir Terry Pratchett shows his knighthood award ...

(AFP/Pool/File) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:15:38 GMT

(AFP/Pool/File) - British author Sir Terry Pratchett shows his knighthood award outside Buckingham Palace in London in February 2009. Pratchett who has Alzheimer's has called for allowing seriously ill people to argue for assisted suicide before a panel -- and volunteered to act as a test case.(AFP/Pool/File/Ian Nicholson)

Author Sir Terry Pratchett shows his knighthood award outside ...

(AFP/Pool/File) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:53:44 GMT

(AFP/Pool/File) - Author Sir Terry Pratchett shows his knighthood award outside Buckingham Palace in London in February 2009. Pratchett, who is battling Alzheimer's disease, has called for the creation of assisted suicide "tribunals" that would allow terminally ill people to seek legal permission to end their lives.(AFP/Pool/File/Ian Nicholson)

In this file photo, demonstrators supporting physician assisted ...

(AP) — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:41:35 GMT

(AP) - In this file photo, demonstrators supporting physician assisted suicide speak in front of the Supreme Court, Oct. 5, 2005 in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Visitors stand under a sign dedicating this square in Rome to ...

(You Witness User Photo) — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 17:37:28 GMT

(You Witness User Photo) - Visitors stand under a sign dedicating this square in Rome to Piergiorgio Welby on June 28. Welby, who died late last year after he requested his doctor to remove him from life support, was the central figure in a national debate about euthanasia and the right to die. The square dedicated to Welby was the site of his funeral and stands in front of his local parish church. (Photo and caption submitted by Mihai Romanciuc)

A sign marks the square in Rome dedicated to Piergiorgio Welby ...

(You Witness User Photo) — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 17:34:11 GMT

(You Witness User Photo) - A sign marks the square in Rome dedicated to Piergiorgio Welby on June 28. Welby, whose funeral was held in this square last year after his life support system was turned off at his request, was the central figure in a national debate about euthanasia and right-to-die issues. (Photo and caption submitted by Mihai Romanciuc)

Emma Bonino, Minister for International Trade and European Affairs ...

(You Witness News) — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 17:08:44 GMT

(You Witness News) - Emma Bonino, Minister for International Trade and European Affairs begun, speaks with members of the Associazione Coscioni who demonstrate in support of the Welby cause. Italy's External Trade Minister Emma Bonino went on a 48-hour fast yesterday, 4th of december, in support of a severely ill Italian man who is fighting for the right to die. The case of 60-year-old Piergiorgio Welby, who suffers from muscular dystrophy, has reopened the euthanasia debate in a country where assisting a death remains a crime carrying a jail sentence. 'I intend to contribute personally to the non-violent campaign...with a two day fast on Monday and Tuesday,' Bonino said in a statement. In September, Welby had appealed for the right to die to Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano in a video shown on public Italian television from his bed with the help of a computer-generated digital voice. On December 1, his lawyers lodged an appeal with Rome's civil court for his artificial respirator to be turned off. Eight other people are into the eighth day of a hunger strike in support of his cause.(Photo and caption submitted by mihai_romanciuc)