Media Glorification of Suicide Causes British Woman to Kill Herself

London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A woman in England with multiple sclerosis killed herself after watching a BBC program glorifying suicide tourism in Switzerland. That is the practice where residents of England and other European nations head to the mountain nation to kill themselves at the controversial clinic run by the pro-euthanasia group Dignitas. Angela Harrison, 44, took an overdose of drugs after watching the drama, "A Short Stay in Switzerland," that appeared on the popular British television network in January. Harrison was rushed to a hospital in her hometown of Cambridgeshire, but was pronounced dead just two days later. American bioethicist Wesley J. Smith decried the news and said it shows the problems of the mainstream media pushing the virtues of death as a solution to advancing age or medical problems. "We have discussed the suicide proselytizing in the media and popular culture here many times," Smith explained. "But this story hits the nail." During a court hearing last week, investigators showed how Angela had battled depression for several years as a result of her deteriorating condition and that she had spoken with her children frequently about the possibility of taking her life if her MS became too much to bear. Pro-life advocates have repeatedly said more must be done to treat patients' depression and pain instead of merely offering deadly drugs to take one's life. Harrison's brother told the hearing that she had been planning a cruise in the days leading up to her death but decided to kill herself after watching the BBC program. "Promoting assisted suicide--and its romanticizing in the press and entertainment media--has deadly consequences. Will that lesson be learned? No. The argument will just be made--as it has often before--that she shouldn't have had to do it alone," Smith concluded.

Kathy Ireland Gets Kudos for Speaking Out on her Pro-Life Stance on Abortion

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Last week, supermodel and author Kathy Ireland won kudos from the pro-life community for speaking out in a new interview about her pro-life views on abortion. Here is what she had to tell Fox News: "My entire life I was pro-choice — who was I to tell another woman what she could or couldn't do with her body? But when I was 18, I became a Christian and I dove into the medical books, I dove into science. What I read was astounding and I learned that at the moment of conception a new life comes into being. The complete genetic blueprint is there, the DNA is determined, the blood type is determined, the sex is determined, the unique set of fingerprints that nobody has had or ever will have is already there. I called Planned Parenthood and begged them to give me their best argument and all they could come up with that it is really just a clump of cells and if you get it early enough it doesn't even look like a baby. Well, we're all clumps of cells and the unborn does not look like a baby the same way the baby does not look like a teenager, a teenager does not look like a senior citizen. That unborn baby looks exactly the way human beings are supposed to look at that stage of development. It doesn't suddenly become a human being at a certain point in time. I've also asked leading scientists across our country to please show me some shred of evidence that the unborn is not a human being. I didn't want to be pro-life, but this is not a woman’s rights issue but a human rights issue. If I see someone abusing a child I am going to stand up against that, and that’s how I feel about abortion. Women are not given all the facts, they're told it is a harmless procedure and now it has turned into such a political football."