Daughter Faces Charges for Assisting Suicide of her 93-year-old Father

Barbara Mancini, a 57-year-old Philadelphian woman is accused of assisting in the death of her severely sick father Joe Yourshaw, aged 93, by giving him a bottle of morphine.

The woman works as a nurse, she gave an almost full bottle of morphine to her father earlier this year in February while he was at his Pottsville home with the aim of helping him end his life. Her father took his last breath in a hospital and passed away four days after consuming the morphine.

Jacqueline Russell, a Schuylkill County Judge said that she would ask for further details through an order before she proceeds with the case. People arrested for assisted suicide can be jailed for 10 years.

"..many older people who are suffering say they want to die. "Whether they mean it is another thing," Russell said on Thursday, Oct. 10,  according to an Associated Press report.

On the other hand, Mancini is being backed by a non-profit organization called Compassion & Choices that supports end-of-life dignity. The organization believes in supporting people who help others willing to end their life to get rid of pain.

On Thursday, some members of this group were present with signs saying "stop wasting tax money" and "dismiss this joke" outside the court , supporting Mancini. Her husband Joe too supports her in this matter and requested Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane to dismiss this case.

"It is unjust, inhumane, painful in every sense of the word," Joe said. He claims the charges against his wife to be a "terrible injustice".

The 93-year-old, terminally ill Yourshaw was willing to die, he asked for the bottle of morphine, which Mancini gave him.

"He was in unrelenting pain. No one disputes that," defense attorney Frederick Fanelli told the judge.

"He was legally prescribed the medicine, and he was permitted to self-administer," Fanelli added.

But according to Senior Deputy Attorney General Anthony Forray, Mancini offered the morphine bottle to her father even after knowing he wanted to end his life. The judge questioned her whether there was any proof which pointed towards her father's demand for morphine was for soothing the pains and not for ending his life.

There has not been any other strong evidence regarding Mancini's actions, the court just has the statements she made and she can't be put on trial on that basis, claim sources.

"We don't know, because Mr. Yourshaw passed away days later," the defense lawyer Fanelli told the judge.

Law permits the consumption of painkillers in any amounts by patients who are in immense pain even if it leads to death. Many people have been signing petitions in order to drop this case, as per Compassion & Choices.