The Iona Institute » Doctors come out against assisted suicide bill

A group of consultant doctors have said they are “gravely concerned” ^[1] about the proposals to empower doctors to euthanise terminally ill patients.

In a letter to a number of papers ^[2], 17 members of the Irish Palliative Medicine Consultants’ Association (IPMCA) have called on TDs to oppose the ‘Dying With Dignity Bill’ which will be voted on in the Dáil on Wednesday, saying no change in the law is required. The Bill defines terminal illness as ‘likely to die’ and the person does not have to be within a set period of death to avail of assisted suicide. The Government wants to set up a ‘special committee’ to examine the matter but has raised no principled objection to the proposal.

The vote on Wednesday will decided whether it goes before the Justice Committee for examination.

The threats of the proposed bill to healthcare in Ireland, to the true meaning of the doctor-patient relationship, and to the future of what we know compassionate and supportive specialist palliative care to be are many, they say.

“We worry about the impact on people who already struggle to have their voices heard in our society – older adults, the disabled, those with mental illness and others.

“We fear that the most vulnerable are those who may be made to feel a burden to their families and come under pressure to end their lives prematurely,” the doctors argue.

“Our experiences tell us that many in our society don’t really know what dying is like, or how rare it is that severe pain cannot be controlled.

“Most people do not know that the easing of physical, psychological or spiritual distress and addressing people’s fears, hopes, sadness and loss can transform the experiences of living, dying and bereavement for individual patients and their families.