Minister Halligan to bring Euthanasia bill to Oireachtas ‘within weeks’

31st May 2018

Junior Minister John Halligan will put euthanasia firmly on the political agenda by submitting a bill to the Dáil in the next few weeks that would legalise assisted-suicide. This is only days after the vote to repeal the pro-life amendment from the Irish Constitution.

According to the Irish Independent, the proposed laws would require a person to be terminally ill, have a “clear and settled intention to end his or her own life” and be over 18. ‘Safeguards’ would require a person to make a declaration in the presence of a witness who is not a beneficiary of the ill person’s estate. It would have to be countersigned by the medical practitioner from whom the person has requested assistance to end their life. A 14-day ‘pause period’ would be legally enforced between the time a person signs the declaration and doctors actually prescribing the necessary medicines.

Mr Halligan suggested that, if necessary, he would support the idea of a Citizens’ Assembly looking into assisted suicide as had occurred with abortion. People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny also said the issue is “contentious” enough to justify a Citizens’ Assembly. In logic reminiscent of the abortion debate, he said, “There is compassion. This happens in Ireland. Some people go to Switzerland and some have taken medicine they bought on the internet.”
In countries like Belgium and the Netherlands the grounds for assisted suicide have quickly expanded.
The Iona Institute
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