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Euthanasia (Ireland)

Publication

  • August 2023

Campaigners for so-called ‘assisted dying’ want to enable terminally ill adults to get help to end their lives.

Gino Kenny TD, whose Bill prompted the Oireachtas to consider changing the law, wants to allow doctors to administer lethal drugs.

Supporters of the move claim that safeguards will be built in. But the truth is no such safeguards exist. The claims are just a tactic to crack the law open. Once the big change is made to legalise euthanasia, the ‘safeguards’ will be ditched. This is exactly what has happened in other countries.

Ending another’s life is wrong. Euthanasia and assisted suicide deny the value of human life made in the image of God. They pressure vulnerable people into ending their lives prematurely for fear of becoming a burden. The choice to die very quickly becomes a duty to die.

This is the very opposite of the ‘compassion’ the activists say they want. True compassion for those who are terminally ill means valuing their lives, giving them hope and supporting high quality palliative care for all who need it.

References

References

  1. 1 See, for example, Submission by Independent Living Movement Ireland to Dignity with Dying Bill, January 2021, see https://ilmi.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ILMI-Submission-on-the-Dying-With-Dignity-Bill.pdf as at 26 July 2023
  2. 2 Marie Fleming v Ireland [2013], IEHC 2
  3. 3 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2022 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, March 2023, page 14
  4. 4 Regionale Toetsingscommissies Euthanasie: Jaarverslag 2022, April 2023, page 10; Regional Euthanasia Review Committees: Annual Report 2012, July 2013, page 6; ‘Euthanasia, assisted suicide and non-resuscitation on request’, Government of the Netherlands, see https://www.government.nl/topics/euthanasia/euthanasia-assisted-suicide-and-non-resuscitation-on-request as at 27 July 2023
  5. 5 The Sunday Times online, 19 July 2020, see https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dutch-mp-backs-euthanasia-for-over-75s-who-are-tired-of-life-z8bdp6685 as at 4 August 2021
  6. 6 Jones, D A, Gastmans, C and MacKellar, C (Eds), Euthanasia and assisted suicide: lessons from Belgium, Cambridge University Press, 2017, page 102
  7. 7 ‘Eligibility for medical assistance in dying for persons suffering solely from mental illness extended to March 17, 2024’, Government of Canada, 9 March 2023, see https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2023/03/eligibility-for-medical-assistance-in-dying-for-persons-suffering-solely-from-mental-illness-extended-to-march-17-2024.html as at 26 July 2023
  8. 8 ‘New medical assistance in dying legislation becomes law’, Government of Canada, 17 March 2021, see https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2021/03/new-medical-assistance-in-dying-legislation-becomes-law.html as at 26 July 2023; ‘Legislative Background: Bill C-7: Government of Canada’s Legislative Response to the Superior Court of Québec Truchon Decision’, Government of Canada, 1 September 2023, see https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/pl/ad-am/c7/p1.html#intro as at 27 July 2023
  9. 9 Regionale Toetsingscommissies Euthanasie: Jaarverslag 2022, April 2023, page 9; Regional Euthanasia Review Committees: Annual Report 2002, page 11
  10. 10 Third Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2021, Health Canada, July 2022, page 18
  11. 11 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2022 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, March 2023, page 11; Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act – 2012, Oregon Public Health Division
  12. 12 Persbericht van de Federale Controle en Evaluatiecommissie Euthanasie, Commission Fédérale de Contrôle et d’Evaluation de l’Euthanasie, February 2023; Sixième rapport aux Chambres législatives (2012-13), Commission Fédérale de Contrôle et d’Evaluation de l’Euthanasie, January 2015, page 7
  13. 13 Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID): Discussion Paper, Submission to the Oireachtas Justice Committee in consideration of the Dying with Dignity Bill by Irish Doctors Supporting MAiD, January 2021, page 1
  14. 14 Ibid, page 4
  15. 15 Submission to Justice Committee: Dying with Dignity Bill 2020, End of Life Ireland, 2020, pages 3 and 10
  16. 16 Legalizing Euthanasia: What We Can Learn from the Netherlands, Sallux, July 2021, pages 10-11
  17. 17 Third Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2021, Health Canada, July 2022, pages 5 and 19
  18. 18 AP News, 11 August 2022, see https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-toronto-7c631558a457188d2bd2b5cfd360a867 as at 19 June 2023
  19. 19 Toronto Star, 18 November 2022, see https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/we-re-all-implicated-in-michael-fraser-s-decision-to-die/article_a1b6e5c4-354b-58b3-9ec8-0dd8d3f53325.html as at 28 July 2023
  20. 20 Ottawa City News, 14 October 2022, see https://ottawa.citynews.ca/local-news/ontario-man-applying-for-medically-assisted-death-as-alternative-to-being-homeless-5953116/ as at 26 July 2023
  21. 21 BBC News online 14 January 2023, see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64004329 as at 16 June 2023
  22. 22 ‘Mature minors’, Dying with Dignity Canada, see https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/advocacy/parliamentary-review/mature-minors as at 20 June 2023
  23. 23 Weibe, K and Mullin, A, ‘Choosing death in unjust conditions: hope, autonomy and harm reduction’, Journal of Medical Ethics, 26 April 2023 (published online ahead of print), pages 1-6
  24. 24 Research Co, 5 May 2023, see https://researchco.ca/2023/05/05/maid-canada-2023/ as at 27 July 2023
  25. 25 The Walrus online, 30 May 2023, see https://thewalrus.ca/assisted-dying/ as at 19 June 2023
  26. 26 Position Paper on Assisted Dying Irish Association for Palliative Care, May 2023
  27. 27 Ibid, pages 2 and 9
  28. 28 Irish Times online, 10 November 2020, see https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/physician-assisted-dying-complex-issue-that-requires-open-and-honest-debate-1.4397648 as at 27 January 2021
  29. 29 IHF Submission to Justice Committee from Irish Hospice Foundation on the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020, Irish Hospice Foundation, January 2021
  30. 30 Submission to the Committee on Justice on the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020, Age Action, January 2021
  31. 31 Submission to the Oireachtas Committee on Justice re: Dying with Dignity Bill 2020, Hope Ireland, February 2021

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