Protection of Conscience Project News
Service, not Servitude
Saskatoon Star Phoenix
A group of health care workers in Saskatoon have started a fundraiser for a dedicated in-patient facility to provide Medical Assistance in Death (MAiD).
Similar to hospice care, The Cider House would provide a homelike space for patients to access the procedure, staffed by either a doctor or nurse practitioner and a team of end-of-life doulas. . . [Full text]
New York Times
When Ben Wald, 75, was dying of cancer in 2012, he wanted to use Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act to receive a prescription for a lethal medication that would end his life. His hospice nurse, Linda, was part of the discussion and provided both information and support, said his wife, Pam Wald, of Kings Valley, Ore.
His colon cancer had spread to his lungs, and his weight dropped from 180 to 118 pounds. He struggled to speak or eat.
When he was ready to end his life, the couple wanted Linda with them, but the hospice organization she worked for did not allow it, Mrs. Wald said. The organization allowed other hospice workers, such as social workers and massage therapists, to be present, but not the doctors or nurses it employed. . . [Full text]
Times NL
Janene Pieters
The number of euthanasia requests submitted to the End of Life Clinic in The Hague this year increased by 15 percent compared to last year. According to the clinic, officially called the Euthanasia Expertise Center from Wednesday, the increase is due to the judiciary’s harsher attitude towards euthanasia, the Volkskrant reports.
The clinic was established in 2012 as a safety net for patients whose own doctor will not listen to their request for euthanasia. A few years ago the number of euthanasia requests to the clinic seemed to stabilize at around 210 a month. . . . [Full text]
BioEdge
The Labor-majority Parliament of the Australian state of Victoria passed assisted dying legislation in December 2017. This came into effect in June and the first patient has already died. Applications from a dozen or so Victorians have already been approved. Two other Labor states are also debating euthanasia – and it appears that their legislation will be even more permissive than Victoria’s.
According to critics of euthanasia interviewed by The Australian, this is “death creep”, the slippery slope in action.
“There is serious concern about this slippage,” the chair of the Australian Medical Association’s ethics and medico legal committee, Chris Moye, says. “A lot of this (change) was happening even before the Victorian law, which is only two months old, has actually been tested. At this point, we haven’t seen how assisted dying works in Victoria and yet the slippage is happening across these various jurisdictions. I think there are two reasons: people were always going to be looking at it (the Victorian law) and the tendency always is to relax legislation.”
Critics focus on details of a proposed bill in the parliament of Western Australia. In Victoria, doctors are not allowed to raise the topic of assisted dying. But in WA, doctors would be permitted to suggest the possibility of euthanasia and no specialist has to be involved.
Conscientious objection is more difficult as well. In Victoria, objecting doctors are not obliged to refer the person on; in WA they would be.
In Queensland, a parliamentary committee is studying draft legislation. This is even more permissive than Victoria’s or WA’s. There is no time requirement – only that the patient have an incurable terminal illness which is causing intolerable and enduring suffering.
However, Professor Ben White, who helped write Queensland draft bill, dismisses fears of a “slippery slope”. “When people talk about a slippery slope in terms of the law, they are talking about law X in a particular state or country that is enacted and over time gets changed,” he says. “We live in a federation … and there are differences in laws from one state to another, reflecting a range of factors, including geography. What might be appropriate for a state like Victoria might … require different solutions in Western Australia or Queensland.”
This article is published by Michael Cook and BioEdge under a Creative Commons licence. You may republish it or translate it free of charge with attribution for non-commercial purposes following these guidelines. If you teach at a university we ask that your department make a donation. Commercial media must contact us for permission and fees. Some articles on this site are published under different terms.
News Hub
David Seymour, whose proposed assisted dying law is going through Parliament, has hit back at a National MP asking for institutions like hospices to have the right to conscientiously object.
Seymour, leader of the ACT Party, responded by saying his End of Life Choice Bill “doesn’t require any organisation to do anything other than the Ministry of Health”.
“You can’t really be exempted from something you’re not required to do in the first place, but that seems to be what they’re asking for,” he told Newshub. . . [Full text]