The Irish Parliament’s lower house has voted to “take note” of recommendations that terminally ill adults should be allowed to get help to kill themselves.
Dáil Éireann voted 76 to 53 to acknowledge the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying’s final report. The Committee claimed assisted suicide should be introduced for adult Irish citizens deemed to be suffering ‘intolerably’ from a terminal illness and with less than six months to live – or twelve months for neurodegenerative conditions.
With the General Election expected later this year, it is likely to fall to the next Government to decide whether or not to bring forward legislation to remove end-of-life protections.
‘Terrifying’
During the debate, several TDs across the political spectrum warned that legalising assisted suicide “would represent the crossing of an ethical and legislative Rubicon that is almost too terrifying to even contemplate”.
Independent TD Carol Nolan asked: “Why are we determined to replicate the moral and ethical horrors that legislation of this kind ushers in everywhere that it has been supported? Where is our sense of the sacredness of human life gone?”
“Why are we determined to simply dismiss the pleas of palliative care professionals and set ourselves up as gods on the issue of life and death? This report must be rejected outright. It is an affront to every ethical and medical protection that exists for the vulnerable and for the sick.”
Dangers
Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív warned that “once the door is opened, there will be no such thing as limiting access. We have seen that in all jurisdictions where assisted dying has been introduced it has grown and grown. Often what happens in a situation such as this is the proponents propose something very limited at the beginning and it then gets widened.”
He stated: “There is a danger of moral pressure being put on people over time as this would expand.”
Deputy Bernard Durkan of Fine Gael emphasised: “It is the principle one must worry about, the principle of helping someone to die when what we need to emphasise is helping someone to live”.
Aontú TD Peadar Tóibín added that assisted suicide “very much confuses the message around suicide in general. It is impossible to say that suicide is never the right choice and to also say that suicide is sometimes the right choice”.
Palliative care
Speaking in a separate debate in Seanad Éireann, Senator Rónán Mullen called for the Government to focus on funding palliative care.
He said: “Very few people want to die. They do not want to be pulled off the track before the finishing line but good-quality palliative care support can help bring people to the finish, and that is the struggle of life.”
The Senator added: “Promoters of assisted dying sometimes talk of intolerable suffering, yet the palliative care people tell us that pain can be managed, and managed well. We are fortunate to live in a period of history where so much can be done to address the fear of suffering and loneliness.”
‘Every life is worth living’
Earlier this year, Committee members who voted against its recommendations, including Committee Chair Michael Healy-Rae TD and Senator Mullen, released a separate report warning against changing the law.
The Minority Recommendations and Explanatory Report stated: “The case has not been established, whereas the case against any change is overwhelming. There are no lives not worth living. We recommend that the existing ban on assisted dying be maintained without exceptions.”
Instead, the dissenting members said funding should be directed towards ensuring “high-quality palliative care” is available across the country, as well as mental health services for the elderly and those receiving a terminal diagnosis.
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