British doctor: The evidence has changed my mind on assisted dying

Description:

The former chair of the Committee on Ethical Issues in Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians explains why his committee twice failed to support legislation on assisted dying. Now he explains why the evidence has shown they were wrong to do so:

  • assisted dying would still be necessary if there were universal palliative care. Some patients symptoms cannot be controlled.

  • the availability of assisted dying does not detract from the provision of more palliative care. In other jurisdictions, legalization has been accompanied by increased investment in palliative care.

  • assisted dying does not break down trust between doctor and patient: levels of trust in the Netherlands top the European list.

  • the most disempowered are not pressured into assisted dying. Oregon shows that assisted dying is taken up by the well-off and the well-educated.

  • there is no slippery slope. In the Netherlands, non-voluntary euthanasia has declined since legalization.

    "To accede to someone's request for assisted dying under the circumstances envisaged in the Joffe Bill is not to devalue human life, or devalue the life of a particular human being, or to collude in their devaluing their own life. It is to accept their valuation of a few remaining days or weeks of life that they do not wish to endure."

[For a different view from Dr. Manuel Borod, director of the division of palliative care of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, see below.]

[Note: Some other recent stories related to this topic are in the Links: section below.]

Links:

To read the full article click on one of these links, both of which go to the same destination. A short link is provided for the convenience of readers. Also, readers may search and browse past advisories on the web (see bottom.)

Source:

Tallis, Raymond. "Why I changed my mind on assisted dying". Times Online. October 27, 2009. <www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6891178.ece>. Copyright 2009 Times Newspapers Ltd. News International Limited, 1 Virginia St, London E98 1XY.

Tags:

Tags (or keywords) briefly indicate some major topics of the report.

  • slippery slope

  • voluntary euthanasia

  • palliative care

  • Britain

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid200910273636.
Mailed: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 14:24:59 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Etcetera:

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>. 

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