Palliative care doctors in Ireland and the UK were before the Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying last week and very firmly and eloquently explained why they are against euthanasia. It is extremely noteworthy that the group of doctors who are the most dedicated by reason of their branch of medicine to those nearing the end...
Assisted suicide should be available on demand to any adult who wants it, the Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying has heard. This is the direct equivalent, applied to assisted suicide and euthanasia, of demands from the abortion lobby that a termination of pregnancy be available to women for any reason. The call came from Philip...
A pro-euthanasia activist has helped an Irish man struggling with mental health problems to access assisted suicide in Switzerland without the knowledge of the man’s family, the Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying has been told. The activist belongs to Exit International, the ultra-radical ‘right to die’ organisation, the committee heard. On Tuesday, Emer Maguire told...
Patients with dementia should be offered euthanasia or assisted suicide, the Oireachtas Committee on ‘assisted dying’ has been told. The Committee heard from representatives from End of Life Ireland that “assisted dying” should be introduced not only for those nearing death but also for those with neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia, who could be years...
Doctors were before the Oireachtas Committee on ‘assisted dying’ last week, representing a group in favour, a group fully against, and a group mainly against. It’s important to note that while this gives the impression that doctors are more or less evenly divided on the matter, easily the biggest representative body in attendance, namely the...
Doctors and disability rights campaigners have presented the grim reality of the Canadian “Medical Assistance In Dying”(MAID) regime to the Oireachtas committee that is considering the introduction of such legislation in Ireland. In Canada, euthanasia was introduced for the terminally ill only, which is the main proposal currently on offer here, but the ground expanded...
The Oireachtas committee on ‘assisted dying’ has met three times in the last two weeks. As usual, the hearings offered useful insights into the thinking of both sides of the divide. What follows are some highlights from the meetings. Session One The first session held on Tuesday 3rd October was dedicated to ethics. Dr Thomas...
The Oireachtas Committee on ‘assisted dying’ continues to hear expert testimony on the matter. Last week it heard from a Dutch academic who was once a supporter but has now turned into a critic. He spoke of how insurance companies in his country are already funding the procedure for one provider, which is a chilling...
End of Life Ireland (EOLI), a group campaigning for the legalisation of euthanasia, held a public meeting in Dublin last week to present their views. It was a revealing insight into their objectives and how to get there. The main speaker was Greg Mewett, a palliative care doctor from Australia who believes that patients have...
What Pope John Paul II called ‘the culture of death’ is steadily working its way through our societies and healthcare systems. Yet another example comes from Canada, now the world’s leading exponent of so-called ‘assisted dying’. It involves a Catholic hospital in the city of Vancouver, in British Columbia, which refused to permit a patient...
