Israel: Condemned to life

Description:

This report from Haaretz reporter Nurit Wurgaft explains the background to the upcoming introduction of a private member's bill in the Knesset which would permit active assistance in dying. It recounts the founding of Lilach (The Israeli Society to Live and Die with Dignity) and the high-profile struggles of several patients to be taken off life-support.

Wurgaft writes that because Israel's existing Dying Patient Act needed the support of religious parties in the Knesset, the law "does not provide an answer for most of those who need it: people suffering from neurodegenerative diseases whose progression cannot be predicted; people in a vegetative state; and cancer patients who do not need ventilators, and who have no way to end their suffering."

Prof. Avinoam Reches, a neurologist at Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem, and chairperson of the Israel Medical Association's ethics committee, is helping to draft the new bill. Avinoam says: "I know there will be resistance, but we must not give up…. I am not afraid to die. I am afraid of a slow death filled with suffering. If I reach a state in which I think that life is not worth living, I will want to end it in a way that seems acceptable to me, and I hope I will be able to get help."

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

[Note: there are stories in the Overflow: 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:

Wurgaft, Nurit. "Condemned to life". Haaretz. Accessed: Fri., November 06, 2009. <www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1126275.html>. Haaretz Daily Newspaper, 21 Schocken St., Tel Aviv 61001, Israel.

Tags:

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

  • Lilach: The Israeli Society to Live and Die with Dignity

  • assisted suicide

  • passive euthanasia

  • legislation

  • Israel

Overflow:

Stories that EuthaNEWSia did not get to:

  • Final Exit Network Alive and Kicking [The Riverfront Times, St. Louis, MO]
    http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2009/11/final_exit_network_alive_and_kicking.php

    The reporter quotes president Jerry Dincin as saying the case against the so-called "Georgia Four" seems to have ground to a dead halt. Dincin wrote: "We believe the District Attorney in Georgia thought he would shut us down with the arrests, but now, realizing he has a very weak case and fearful of not succeeding, he is delaying proceeding with his case in the hopes that the Arizona case will succeed, and we will ultimately be defeated. Our lawyers think very differently."

  • Change law on euthanasia: Quebec MDs [The Montreal Gazette, Canwest]
    http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Change+euthanasia+Quebec/2181296/story.html

    "Paul Brunet, head of the Conseil pour la protection des malades, said the college failed in its position paper to deal with the real questions surrounding euthanasia. "The real issue is how many people are left alone by the health-care system, by society and by relatives. They are stuck and they lack quality care. They want to die. "Of course, anyone who has an irreversible illness, is suffering and has no way out should have the option" of euthanasia, Brunet said."

  • Canada: Disabled advocates want MPs to turn down assisted suicide bill [Calgary Herald, Canwest]
    http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Disabled+advocates+want+turn+down+assisted+suicide+bill/2173941/story.html

    In the wake of quadriplegic Conservative MP Steven Fletcher's public statement outlining his decision to abstain from voting on a bill to legalize assisted suicide, disabled advocates in Canada say they want all MPs to vote against the bill. The consensus among many who champion disabled people's rights is that no one — including the government — should have the power to decide when someone's life should end. "We've asked all MPs —  and Steven included — to take a stronger view and vote no," said Laurie Beachell, national co-ordinator for the Council of Canadians with Disabilities. "We do believe it would put people with disabilities at risk."

  • The great Canadian euthanasia debate [The Globe and Mail]
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/the-great-canadian-euthanasia-debate/article1353068/

    Arthur Schafer, director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba, writes: "When it comes to end-of-life care, Canadians should be able to choose from among a full range of options, including first-rate palliative care and physician-assisted suicide. With proper safeguards in place to ensure openness and accountability, there's no reason to deny people the help they want and need."

  • Panel to study euthanasia [The Sudbury Star]
    http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2157062

    Schuklenk said in an interview from Germany last week: "The primary objective of this panel is to look at just what are the clinical facts on the ground in countries that have been down this road." "You want to know exactly what experiences countries that have decriminalized this have had and that it what we have set out to do."

  • Canada: How does Parliament legislate living and dying? [The Connection, Collingwood, Ontario]
    http://www.collingwoodconnection.com/collingwoodconnection/article/148872

    Editorial says: 'However, many Canadians believe it is ridiculous that medical professionals face criminal charges if they assist a person - who is facing imminent death or a life of such extraordinary pain that they prefer death - to peacefully end their life. We see the value in legalizing this aspect of euthanasia. The biggest question we continue to have is this: once a form of euthanasia is legalized, where does it end?'

  • Tasmania: Bartlett government failing north and north west in palliative care [Tasmanian Greens]
    http://mps.tas.greens.org.au/News/view_MR.php?ActionID=4169

    Cassy O'Connor, MP, issued a press release on palliative care: "'During Committee Hearings on the Dying with Dignity Bill, members heard the constant, recurring refrain that there are not enough palliative care beds or services in the State's North and North West, and that the terminally ill and their families are suffering more as a result.' 'The Friends of Northern Hospice and Palliative Care Foundation have described the situation as 'urgent' and highlighted the situation at Campbell Town Hospital, where a palliative care bed that is desperately needed remains unavailable.' 'The Foundation is calling for funding, and for current palliative care demand data to be made publicly available, as well as calling on the government to commit to implementing the recommendations of the 2004 Review of Palliative Care in Tasmania.'"

  • Britain: Daughter of couple who committed suicide calls for assisted dying debate [Times Online]
    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6903372.ece

    "Chrissy Milner, daughter of Dennis Milner, 83, and Flora Milner, 81, said that her parents had been happy but felt that their quality of life had deteriorated. 'We have always been a very open and very close family and were aware of their views on assisted dying,' she said. 'I don't mean to take anything away from what has happened but I would like to see an open debate, both locally and at a national level, on the whole issue. [It] has been something that my parents were keen to promote.'"

    "Ms Milner said that her parents' openness had 'enabled us to say all the things we wanted to say to each other'."

  • Britain: Suicide letter couple 'in fear' [BBC News]
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/berkshire/8342249.stm

    'ProLife Alliance blamed what they said were unfounded fears about old age. Chair Dominica Roberts told BBC News pro-euthanasia groups "frightened people unnecessarily about how the end of their lives will be".'

  • Fewer Chileans, But Still a Majority, Favour Euthanasia [Angus Reid Global Monitor]
    http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/34425/fewer_chileans_but_still_a_majority_favour_euthanasia

    "Opposition to euthanasia has grown in Chile but supporters of this course of action are still the majority, according to a poll by Ipsos. 57 per cent of respondents agree with "assisted death" in cases of terminal or incurable diseases, down 7.5 points since June. Conversely, 40.4 per cent of respondents disagree with euthanasia, up 8.1 points since June."

  • Northern Ireland: Friend faces trial for murder bid [BBC News]
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8340474.stm

    "A man is to stand trial accused of trying to suffocate his life-long friend as he lay in hospital after suffering a stroke. A judge at Belfast Magistrates Court ruled there was a case to answer against Thomas Hawkes, 59, of Rosslea Way, Newtownabbey."

  • Again no cases of baby euthanasia in the Netherlands [Dutchnews.nl]
    http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2009/11/again_no_cases_of_baby_euthana.php

    "One reason for the lack of reports may be the introduction of an ultrasound test for all women at 20 weeks of pregnancy, which allows problems such as spina bifida to be identified earlier. But the commission's chairman Joep Hubben told the paper he thinks doctors are afraid of prosecution."

  • When the end is nigh, it's best to avoid hospital [The Age, AU]
    http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/when-the-end-is-nigh-its-best-to-avoid-hospital-20091030-hppj.html

    Ken Hillman, a professor of intensive care at the University of NSW, writes: "The health system is geared to actively treating patients, not to recognising the dying. Medical specialists are often uncomfortable with patients who are dying. They can usually think of something more to be offered. Finally, as patients become even more ill, they are often admitted to intensive care. Up to 70 per cent of people now die in acute hospitals surrounded by well-meaning strangers inflicting all that medicine has to offer, often resulting in a painful, distressing and degrading end to life."

  • Anaheim man gets 15 years to life for "mercy killing" [Orange County Register]
    http://www.ocregister.com/articles/baker-wife-years-2630120-love-told

    "An Anaheim man was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison today for the second-degree murder of his wife of 30 years in what a prosecutor called "a misdirected act of love." Defendant Jeffrey Craig Baker, 55, shot his wife Ann, 57, as she slept in March 2008. He said he wanted to put an "end to her suffering" after years of pain from arthritis, a heart condition and severe back problems. Jeffrey Baker pleaded guilty this morning."

  • Advance Directives: Moving Beyond the Hysteria [The Women's International Perspective]
    http://thewip.net/contributors/2009/11/advance_directives_not_death_p.html

    A hospital's clinical ethicist explains the practical realities of helping families to make end-of-life decisions.

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid200911065421.
Mailed: Friday, November 6, 2009 14:30:46 -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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