Why say 'No' to Euthanasia?

What about personal choice?

The pro-euthanasia and assisted suicide lobby emphasise the importance of personal choice and autonomy. Shouldn’t patients have the right to end their lives? Dignity in Dying patron, Sir Patrick Stewart has argued “We have no control over how we arrive in the world but at the end of life we should have control over how we leave it.”[1]

Surely however the debate is not about the right to die; it is about the right to help patients kill themselves. Instead of giving freedom to patients, euthanasia and assisted suicide is about giving other people the legal power to end another person’s life.

Assisted suicide is not a private act. Nobody chooses assisted suicide in isolation. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are matters of public concern because they involve one person facilitating the death of another. Friends, relatives, healthcare staff and society are hugely affected by the wider ramifications of the process.

Journalist and author George Pitcher has said that any change in the law would have “profound adverse affects on the social fabric of our society, on our attitudes towards each other’s deaths and illnesses, on our attitudes towards those who are ill and have disabilities.”[2]

Increased autonomy would apply only if you met all the criteria to be eligible. If you had a disease where the prognosis is not straightforward, dementia or a chronic but not terminal disease, then you would not meet the criteria; attempts to extend the law further would be almost inevitable. Assisted suicide is not a private act and there is a real risk that a ‘right to die’ may soon become a ‘duty to die’.

What about compassion?

The pro-euthanasia and assisted suicide lobby will often present the view that helping someone else to end their life is the most loving and compassionate thing to do. But surely the most compassionate thing to do is to care for a person at the end of their life and to show them that their life has tremendous value regardless of age or abilities.

Palliative care is an area of healthcare that focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients. Britain is the only country in the world where palliative care is a recognised medical specialism.[3] Further, in a recent survey by The Economist Britain was ranked first in the world for quality end-of-life care. The survey took in 40 OECD and non-OECD countries, including the USA, the Netherlands, Germany and France.[4]

What about the most vulnerable?

Changing the law to allow euthanasia or assisted suicide will inevitably put pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives for fear of being a financial, emotional or care burden upon others. This would especially affect people who are disabled, elderly, sick or depressed. Some would face the added risk of coercion by others who might stand to gain from their deaths. Fear and anxiety would be promoted rather than Individual autonomy.

In its 1994 report The House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics concluded:

“It was virtually impossible to ensure that all acts of euthanasia were truly voluntary and that any liberalisation of the law in the United Kingdom could not be abused. We were also concerned that vulnerable people – the elderly, lonely, sick or distressed – would feel pressure, whether real or imagined, to request early death.”[5]

The law must protect the most vulnerable people in society. We must never let the depressed, the confused, those in terrible pain, the aged and the vulnerable feel that they should pursue the path of assisted suicide so as not to be a burden on others.

Dr Andrew Fergusson, of the Care Not Killing Alliance, has said “the simple truth is that the current law exists to protect those without a voice: the disabled, terminally ill and elderly, who might otherwise feel pressured into ending their lives”.[6]

What next?

Recent studies concerning the euthanasia and assisted suicide law in countries that have legalised such measures make for troubling reading.

A study conducted in 2012 shows that 32% of the assisted deaths in Belgium are carried out without request and 47% of assisted deaths go unreported in the Flanders region of Belgium. Another recent study found that nurses are regularly euthanasing their patients in Belgium even though the laws prohibits it. Since euthanasia was legalised in 2002 there has not been one attempt to prosecu8te for abuses of the euthanasia law. In addition to this the study shows there was a 25% increase in the number of assisted deaths in Belgium in 2012.[7]

In March the Belgian Government voted to widen the definition of the law to include children with disabilities. The legislation was supported in Parliament despite more than 160 Belgian paediatric doctors opposing the change.[8]

In Oregon (where assisted suicide was legalised in 1997) the law has led to patients ‘doctor shopping’ for willing practitioners, using doctors who have minimal knowledge of their past. In 2008, 50 per cent of patients requesting suicide were assisted to die by a doctor who had been their physician for eight weeks or less.[9]

Not all people who are terminally ill wish to end their life

Bit more here

https://www.care.org.uk/our-causes/sanctity-life/arguments-against-assisted-suic...

Gosh the boring monotonous gecko troll is still around.

This heavy stuff will knock the old gecko troll off of his perch.


What is Euthanasia?

When attempting to define euthanasia, it is helpful to be aware of a variety of terms and definitions, as listed below:

Euthanasia Definition What is euthanasia?

Euthanasia is where someone intentionally kills a person whose life is felt not to be worth living. Euthanasia does not include stopping or starting a medically useless treatment, relieving pain when the intention is to kill the pain but not the patient, or refusal of medical treatment by a competent patient. Euthanasia is illegal in the UK under the common law offence of murder.

Voluntary euthanasia is when a competent patient consents and Non-voluntary euthanasia is when the patient lacks the competence to make an end-of-life decision.

Assisted Suicide is where someone helps another person to end their own life. It is illegal in the UK under the Suicide Act 1961 section 2, which states that a person: “who aids, abets, counsels or procures the suicide of another, or an attempt by another to commit suicide, shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years.”[1]

The 2010 Guidelines In February 2010 the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, laid down prosecution guidelines on assisted suicide for the UK. The guidance sets out 16 factors to be considered in favour of a prosecution and six factors against. A prosecution is more likely to be required if, amongst other things, the victim was under 18 years of age or the suspect pressured the victim to commit suicide. A prosecution is less likely to be required if, amongst other things, the suspect was wholly motivated by compassion or the victim had reached a voluntary and informed decision to commit suicide

[2] Richard Hawkes, chief executive of UK disability charity Scope, said “Many disabled people are frightened by the consequences of these new guidelines and with good reason. There is a real danger these changes will result in disabled people being pressured to end their lives.”[3] In response Mr Starmer commented: “We’ve ensured that protection of the law applies absolutely to everyone whatever their state of health.” He added “in each of these cases there will always be a very careful investigation and a very careful evaluation of the evidence.”[4] In March 2012 MPs discussed whether to put the guidelines into law. The House disagreed with such a move on the basis that it would create certain legal grounds for assisted suicide. The majority of the House expressed clear opposition to any change in the law regarding assisted suicide. Conservative MP Fiona Bruce concluded: “We are absolutely delighted that the house has sent such a clear message ... that assisted suicide is not the route we wish to take as a society.”[5]

juliar wrote on Oct 20^th, 2017 at 4:06pm:


" ... terminally ill people over the age of 18, in severe pain and with only a year to live will be able to access lethal drugs."

juliar wrote on Oct 20^th, 2017 at 4:14pm:


White flag accepted.

Next time, stick to the facts, and don't change the subject.

Nobody is suggesting that this law will be applied to babies.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

Read it again:

" ... terminally ill people over the age of 18, in severe pain and with only a year to live will be able to access lethal drugs."

Now put on your name badge, and get to work.

Anybody who has seen a close relative in immense pain from cancer, with tears running down their face, will welcome this ability to die with dignity.

As I see it, most people with a terminal illness just want to settle things with close relatives, before they actually die.

Once that is achieved, they do take an extra dose of morphine or whatever and go to sleep, quietly, while all the favourite relatives are there!

I haven't been there to see this but have been told, several times, that this happens.

Neferti wrote on Oct 20^th, 2017 at 4:47pm:


Correct.

It comes to a point of commonsense to help the patient 'on his way' with a few extra mg of morphine.

Of more interest to me is the science of Palliative Care which is mostly bullshit for its lack of effectiveness in reducing pain.

I was in hospital for 3 days recently after a tooth extraction that became very painful due to 'Dry Socket'. They pumped me with morphine and other 'pain-killers' to no effect whatsoever.

PZ547 wrote on Oct 21^st, 2017 at 8:52am:



hear hear sir PZ547.