The Telegraph reported Dec 16th that a public
panel set up at the request of French President François Hollande has urged him
to legalise assisted suicide in specific cases. According to a member of the panel
the possibility of committing medically assisted suicide is a legitimate right
of a patient close to death or suffering from a terminal pathology.
Other Countries
Euthanasia has been legal in Belgium since 2002 but has been
since its enactment prohibited for patients below 18 years of age. This age limit is now under threat as
the Belgian Senate recently voted by 50 votes to 17 to extend euthanasia to
children with disabilities. The vote in the Senate followed from a Senate
committee vote to allow minors to seek euthanasia under certain conditions
and
to extend the right to request euthanasia to adults with dementia. No age limit
would be set, but the children who are euthanized would have “to possess the
capacity of discernment.”
There is still a possibility of halting the process in the
House of Representatives, though pro-life campaigners fear it will become law.
There is also concern that the number of euthanasia deaths
in Belgium is increasing rapidly, with an increase of 25% in 2012. Recent
studies indicate that up to 47% of all assisted deaths are not being reported,
32% of all assisted deaths are being done without request and nurses are
killing their patients, even though the law restricts euthanasia to doctors
Research conducted by the Canadian Medical Association
Journal (CMAJ) in 2010 found that 32% of euthanasia deaths in the Flanders
region of Belgium occurred without an explicit request.
The Netherlands also legislated for euthanasia in 2002. The
legislation there allows patients experiencing unbearable suffering to request
euthanasia, and doctors who carry it out to be free from the threat of
prosecution, provided they have followed strict procedures.
According to this law patients must face a future of
unbearable, interminable suffering and the request to die must be voluntary and
well considered.
Doctor and patient must be convinced there is no other
solution
A second medical opinion must be obtained and life must be
ended in a medically appropriate way. The patient facing incapacitation may
leave a written agreement to their death.
Switzerland has an unusual position on assisted suicide: it
is legally condoned and can be performed by non-physicians. Euthanasia however
is illegal, but there is an ongoing debate about decriminalization.
