Death and dying
In this undated photo provided by Charlotte Crawford is Henry Royce Crawford, who died of COVID-19 in Texas while waiting to receive a vaccine against the coronavirus that causes the illness. More than 247,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. since vaccines first became available in mid-December 2020. While it's unknown how many of them wanted to be immunized, families have wrenching stories of loved ones being infected after months of staying safe and then dying before they could get a dose. (Charlotte Crawford via AP)
The final insult: Some dying of COVID while awaiting vaccine

By Jay Reeves Apr. 03, 2021 08:44 AM EDT

Nevada lawmakers unveil 91 bills but still extend deadline

By Sam Metz And Scott Sonner Mar. 22, 2021 07:01 PM EDT
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada lawmakers on Monday introduced a flurry of proposals covering topics ranging from energy to immigration in a rush toward the...

Program to explore how different cultures deal with grief

Mar. 19, 2021 09:56 AM EDT
DETROIT (AP) — Michigan State University’s Science Gallery Detroit and the MSU Broad Art Museum will host an international, virtual conference on grief and how...

COVID-19 raised in latest physician-assisted suicide debate

By Susan Haigh Feb. 26, 2021 03:56 PM EST
Some proponents of the latest effort in Connecticut to allow physicians to prescribe medication to terminally ill patients seeking to end their lives said...

Bill expanding long-term care visitation moves to House

Feb. 11, 2021 03:28 PM EST
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana lawmakers moved forward Thursday with a proposal to change visitation restrictions at the state’s health and residential care sites...

Mortuary owner Brian Simmons reflects on the experience of loosing his daughter Rhonda Ketchum, who died before Christmas of COVID-19, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Springfield, Mo. Simmons has been making more trips to homes to pick up bodies to be cremated and embalmed since the pandemic hit. For many families, home is a better setting than the terrifying scenario of saying farewell to loved ones behind glass or during video calls amid the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
VIRUS TODAY: In COVID-19 era, Americans choose dying at home

By The Associated Press Feb. 07, 2021 04:14 PM EST

Mortuary owner Brian Simmons reflects on the experience of loosing his daughter Rhonda Ketchum, who died before Christmas of COVID-19, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Springfield, Mo. Simmons has been making more trips to homes to pick up bodies to be cremated and embalmed since the pandemic hit. For many families, home is a better setting than the terrifying scenario of saying farewell to loved ones behind glass or during video calls amid the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
In pandemic, more people choose to die at home

By Heather Hollingsworth Feb. 07, 2021 08:56 AM EST

FILE- In this Nov. 19, 2020, file photo, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds appears during a news conference in Johnston, Iowa. A new disclosure report shows an owner of a large pork production company that disproportionately benefited from an Iowa coronavirus aid program recently donated $25,000 to Reynolds' campaign last month. Mary Ann Christensen, board member of Christensen Farms and part of the family that owns the company, made the donation Dec. 29, according to the filing made public Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
Pork exec gives $25K to Iowa governor; company got virus aid

By Ryan J. Foley Jan. 20, 2021 02:27 PM EST

Chaplain Kristin Michealsen holds the hand of a deceased COVID-19 patient while talking on the phone with the patient's family member at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. "I have never seen this much of death and suffering," said Michealsen, who has been a chaplain for 13 years. "I often tell families that I'm holding their loved one's hand when they can't and that I am with them when they are dying when they can't be." (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Exhausted hospital chaplains bring solace to lonely, dying

By John Rogers Jan. 19, 2021 12:02 AM EST

A trail path is covered in leaves Oct. 11, 2020, in St. Francis, Wis. In the era of coronavirus, AP journalist Carrie Antlfinger kept thinking about death. So she decided to explore its meaning and how she and those around her perceive it. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)
ESSAY: Contemplating death in a year when it feels closer

By Carrie Antlfinger Nov. 01, 2020 05:00 AM EST

FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2020, file photo, a cyclist rides past a sign in support of making marijuana legal in Christchurch, New Zealand. New Zealanders have voted on Friday, Oct. 30, 2020 in favor of legalizing euthanasia in a binding referendum. But in preliminary results they were rejecting a measure to legalize marijuana. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)
New Zealand votes to legalize euthanasia but not marijuana

By Nick Perry Oct. 29, 2020 10:49 PM EDT

A cyclist rides past a sign in support of making marijuana legal in Christchurch, New Zealand, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. New Zealanders are poised to decide on two crucial social issues during an election on Saturday, Oct. 17, whether to legalize recreational marijuana and whether to legalize euthanasia. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
New Zealand to vote on legalizing marijuana and euthanasia

By Nick Perry Oct. 15, 2020 11:44 PM EDT

FILE - In this July 30, 2020, file photo, New Zealand opposition National Party leader Judith Collins arrives at a salmon factory in Christchurch, New Zealand. New Zealand has suffered a steep economic downturn due to the virus and is borrowing billions of dollars to try and stem job losses and rebuild. National is promising to increase infrastructure spending. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)
New Zealand election: Ardern vs. conservative challenger

By Nick Perry Oct. 15, 2020 01:21 AM EDT

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2020, file photo, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is embraced as she arrives at the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. Opinion polls indicate Ardern is on track to win a second term as prime minister in an election on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A popular Ardern poised to win 2nd term in New Zealand vote

By Nick Perry Oct. 15, 2020 12:35 AM EDT

This 2018 photo provided by Fiona Prine shows Prine and her husband, John, in Los Angeles. Both battled COVID-19, but John lost his life to the disease. (Courtesy of Fiona Prine via AP)
As a pandemic presses on, waves of grief follow its path

By Lindsey Tanner Oct. 12, 2020 10:08 AM EDT

Hancock County coroner Adrick Ingram, 44, of Sparta, poses for a portrait on a deck next to a lake, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020, in Sparta, Ga. The number of COVID-19 deaths in Hancock County is the highest per-capita rate of any U.S. county. ''It has affected our community in a way that I consider tragic," Ingram says. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
As a pandemic presses on, waves of grief follow its path

By Lindsey Tanner Oct. 12, 2020 10:07 AM EDT

Katherine Guzman, left, talks to her sister Jazzmyn as their brother Zavion plays in the background, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Newark, N.J. Four-year-old Zavion and 2-year-old Jazzmyn have been taken in by the oldest of Lunisol Guzman's other three children, Katherine and Jennifer, after she died from symptoms of coronavirus. Lunisol Guzman had adopted them when she was in her 40s. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
'I miss mommy': Families shattered by COVID forge new paths

By Matt Sedensky, Kelli Kennedy And David Crary Sep. 21, 2020 10:54 AM EDT

Maine's annual organic farming bash will move online in '20

Sep. 04, 2020 12:03 PM EDT
UNITY, Maine (AP) — Maine's annual celebration of organic farming and rural living will still take place this year, but it will be an online event. ...

In this image taken in July 2020 and issued by Kensington Palace, Britain's Prince William meets with a member of the four organisations that will benefit from the Royal Foundation COVID-19 response fund, on the Sandringham Estate, Sandringham, England. The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has granted nearly GBP 1.8 million in supporting the frontline community and the nation's mental health, through a bespoke fund which was set up as part of the organisation's response to COVID-19. (Kensington Palace via AP)
Prince William, Kate donate for pandemic mental health work

Jul. 23, 2020 06:04 PM EDT

Pandemic taking a toll on mental health of hospital workers

By Stacey Plaisance And Michael Warren Jul. 23, 2020 09:09 AM EDT
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Sonia Malhotra is intimately familiar with death. As a doctor who treats seriously ill patients, she's comforted countless people and their...