Canada’s Liberal Party, meeting at a policy convention in Montreal, Quebec, has overwhelmingly adopted a policy resolution favouring the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide. However, the policy is not binding on the party leader, Justin Trudeau, so it is not certain that it will be included in his official platform in the next Canadian federal election. The policy resolution calls for a change in the law after public consultation. [National Post]
Category: Procedures & Services
Complicity after the fact
Moral blindness becomes a virtue and necessity
US scientists were “accomplices after the fact” in Japanese doctors’ war crimes
All of contemporary bioethics springs from the Nuremberg Doctors Trial in 1947. Seven Nazi doctors and officials were hanged and nine received severe prison sentences for performing experiments on an estimated 25,000 prisoners in concentration camps without their consent. Only about 1,200 died but many were maimed and psychologically scarred.
So what did the US do to the hundreds of Japanese medical personnel who experimented on Chinese civilians and prisoners of war of many nationalities, including Chinese, Koreans, Russians, Australians, and Americans? They killed an estimated 3,000 people in the infamous Unit 731 in Harbin, in northeastern China before and during World War II – plus tens of thousands of civilians when they field-tested germ warfare. Many of the doctors were academics from Japan’s leading medical schools.
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Quebec euthanasia bill stalled
The government of Quebec was unable to convince the opposition Liberal Party to complete debate on Bill 52, legislation to legalize euthanasia, in order to bring it to a vote before the Quebec National Assembly adjourned for two weeks. The government has tabled a budget, which takes precedence over other bills. It is believed that the government will call an election when the Assembly returns, which means that the euthanasia bill will not pass. It could be resurrected by a government formed after the election. [CBC News]
Swedish nurse takes a stand on conscience rights
If soldiers can object to using weapons, why can’t health professionals refuse to assist at abortions?
In 2011, the European Council adopted a resolution that protects healthcare workers’ right to freedom of conscience regarding abortion and euthanasia. Sweden has signed this agreement. But reality paints a different picture. Out of the 47 member states in the European Council, Finland and Sweden are the only two which do not uphold freedom of conscience in practice.
Ellinor Grimmark, 37, is the first midwife in Sweden to report a hospital to the Discrimination Ombudsman (DO) concerning abortion. She claims to have been discriminated against on the basis of her religious beliefs and moral convictions. Newly-graduated, she was fired from her position last summer because she refused to assist abortions. Even though there is a shortage of midwives at the moment, and even though she is willing to take on double shifts, she has been denied a job ever since. One employer had first agreed to hire her in spite of the “complication”, but withdrew the offer when her story began to spread in media.
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Belgium extends euthanasia to children
By a vote of 86-44, the Belgian House of Representatives has approved a bill to extend euthanasia to children. The bill had previously passed the Belgian Senate. The law will apply to children who have a terminal and incurable illness, are near death, and suffering “constant and unbearable physical” pain. Parents and health care professionals must agree, and a paediatric psychiatrist or psychologist must certify that the child has the capacity to discern that being killed is the ‘best choice.’ [The Guardian]