In a webinar, Henri de Soos, lawyer describes 2 methods employed to legalize euthanasia. The first one consists of multiplying the legislative proposals to stimulate a national debate and ultimately obtain a majority vote. The second method consists of obtaining a judgment from the constitutional court to oblige the government and the parliament to decriminalize euthanasia or MAD. It was implemented for the first time in Canada, then between 2019 and 2020 in Italy, Germany and Austria. In these 3 countries the judges have interpreted their constitution in a new sense and declared that henceforth, assisted suicide could not be prohibited. The parliaments concerned are thus obliged to create a mechanism to make this possible in the months to come.
LIFEAlerts
Nearly 8 in 10 Koreans support legalizing euthanasia, doctor-assisted suicide (South Korea)
A survey conducted by Professor Yoon Young-ho at Seoul National University Hospital showed that 76.3 % of Koreans favored euthanasia or doctor-assisted suicide. Reasons for approval included meaninglessness of life extension (30.8 %), patient’s right to have a death with dignity (26 %), alleviation of pain (20.6 %), family suffering (14.8 %), alleviating social burdens (4.6 %), and that it does not violate any human rights (3.1 %). In contrast, 23.7 percent opposed their legalization. The opponents cited respect for life (44.3 %), infringement on the right to self-determination (15.6 %), the risk of abusing the system (13.1 %), violating human rights (12.2 %), the possibility of doctors’ misdiagnosis (9.7 %), and recoverability (5.1 %).
Dutch Council of State refuses to endorse “death wish” suicide bill (Netherlands)
The Dutch Council of State has rejected a draft “death wish” assisted suicide bill that seeks to extend existing legislation to over-75s who are “tired of life”. The Council of State, the highest-ranking advisory body in the Netherlands, previously released a report on the bill, explaining that the “government has a duty to protect its citizens against involuntary, hasty or ill-informed decisions about ending their lives and to prevent abuse”. “In 2020, 53% of people killed by assisted suicide in the US state of Oregon said that they feared “being a burden on family, friends/caregivers” if they continued to live. In Scotland, too, 36% of over-50s recently reported they were seen as a “burden” by others, as reported by SPUC.
Voluntary Assisted Dying in Australia (Australia)
On 19 May 2022 the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2022 (NSW) was passed by the New South Wales Parliament. Voluntary assisted dying (VAD) is a major legal, ethical and social policy issue. In Australia, VAD laws have been passed in all States. Victoria’s and Western Australia’s VAD laws have commenced operation. VAD will commence in Tasmania on 23 October 2022, South Australia in early 2023, and Queensland on 1 January 2023. The date for commencement of New South Wales’ laws is to be confirmed, but will likely be in late 2023/early 2024.This webpage discusses the laws on VAD both in Australia and internationally, and their intersection with palliative care and medical treatment decision-making.
Ban porn to save families (USA)
Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance told a Catholic magazine that pornography should be banned because it’s stopping Americans from getting married and starting families. According to Vance the combination of porn and abortion have basically created a lonely, isolated generation that isn’t getting married, they’re not having families, and they’re actually not even totally sure how to interact with each other. Vance further stated that American values are declining due to the consumption of pornography. He contributed the recent school shootings to the absence of strong family values and not the lack of gun control. We made a political choice that the freedom to consume pornography was more important than the public goods, like marriage and family and happiness, he continued. “We must make new and better choices in the future.
End-of-life care in South Africa: Important legal development (South Africa)
In 2015, a terminally ill Robin Stransham-applicant asked for the “right to die with dignity”. Judge Fabricius of the North Gauteng High Court found that he had a constitutionally protected right to do so. The applicant passed away a few hours before the judgement. Supreme Court concluded that assisted suicide is not unlawful in all circumstances. Nevertheless, the judgment of Prof. Sean Davison in 2019 shows that euthanasia is still unlawful in South Africa. In fact, he received a suspended sentence of 8 years with house arrest and community service for having assisted 3 patients in dying. Very recently, a new case involves a palliative care specialist and one of her patients, both with terminal conditions.
The ethics of euthanasia in dementia (2012–2020) (Netherlands)
151 Dutch case reports on euthanasia in dementia (2012–2020) were analyzed. In 2011, the first advanced-dementia-case has been authorized. The reported numbers amounted from 5 in 2005 to 170 in 2020. Ethically relevant is the prevalence of psychological and spiritual suffering (99.1% and 84.7). The study questions the factors of euthanasia requests: How voluntary is a request? Can an incapacitated patient make well-considered requests? What constitutes “unbearable suffering”? How (well) can a patient with cognitive limitations be informed? To conclude, the importance of narrowing the gap between perceived and real nursing home quality, making information about end of life options and involving patients’ own physician in a euthanasia request are highlighted.
Assisted suicide: the Federation of Swiss Doctors revises its guidelines (Switzerland)
On May 19, 2022, the Federation of Swiss Doctors (FMH) reviewed its directives concerning the support of people at the end of life and has revised its guidelines to follow those applied by the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (ASSM) since 2018. The new text explicitly states what was implicit until now: assisted suicide of healthy people is not defensible from a medico-ethical point of view. Unbearable suffering must be proven. Doctors must also now be more involved by conducting at least two interviews with people wishing to resort to assisted suicide. Suicide assistance organizations deplore much more complicated access to assistance and fear that assisted suicide will become much more difficult.
From reviewing cases of euthanasia to warning Uruguay parliament (Uruguay)
Theo Boer was invited by the NGO Prudencia Uruguay to give a lecture in Parliament as the euthanasia project is being studied in the Chamber of Deputies. He worked almost ten years reviewing cases of euthanasia practiced in the Netherlands. In total, about 4,000 cases passed through his hands in that decade. While he agrees that assisted suicide should be practiced in some cases of terminally ill patients, the Dutch experience led him to change his mind and advises looking at the figures and what happened in his country so as not to repeat that experience. His position turned against the lev because the euthanasia numbers have quadrupled and the laxity with which the criterion of intolerable suffering is used.
Copycat suicides after reports on celebrity suicides (South Korea)
Since 2003 Korea has experienced the highest suicide rate among OECD countries. One of the societal risk factors that triggers suicide is the contagious nature of suicide. The number of public suicides soars after media reports on celebrity suicides (increased by 16.4% within just one day after the reports) while celebrity deaths by accidents or diseases have no effect on the public suicide. Further analysis reveals that female and younger subgroups are more likely to be affected by celebrity suicides. Moreover, the public reacts more strongly to suicide incidents of celebrities of the same gender and even imitates the methods of suicide used by celebrities. It highlights the significance of responsible media coverage of suicide stories to prevent copycat suicide.