The offer of assisted dying will imply 'some lives are not worth living', committee told

A professor told the committee: "In the Netherlands, many physicians have found performing euthanasia to be a ‘drastic and sometimes even traumatic event’.”

Assisted dying risks causing “unacceptable changes” to basic norms for society and healthcare, an Oireachtas Committee has heard.

The committee heard from a representative of the Danish National Council on Ethics, the majority of which advised against the legalisation of assisted dying in Denmark last year.

Copenhagen University professor of psychiatry, Merete Nordentoft, said the very existence of an offer of assisted dying will decisively change ideas about old age, the coming of death, and quality of life.

“If assisted dying becomes an option, there is too great a risk that it will become an expectation aimed at special groups in society. If we offer assisted dying, it says, directly or indirectly, that some lives are not worth living," she said.

University of Auckland Professor Roderick MacLeod, a specialist physician in hospice and palliative care since 1989, said he is “strongly opposed” to legalising assisted dying in any form.

He described assisted dying as “antithetical” to the purpose of medicine and claimed that it has the potential to pressure vulnerable people to end their lives and undermine palliative care.

Mr MacLeod said legislated safeguards cannot detect coercion from family members or others with “vested interests”. He said the effect on health professionals of legalising assisted dying is underestimated by many “and sadly, rarely discussed”.

“The effects can seriously adversely impact on individuals’ ability to continue to practice. In the Netherlands, many physicians have found performing euthanasia to be a ‘drastic and sometimes even traumatic event’,” he said.

On the other hand, Professor of End-of-Life Law and Regulation in the Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Ben White, warned that anecdotal claims or opinions are “not a safe basis on which to make laws”.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Mr White said the committee will continue to receive conflicting information, adding: “Only reliable, trustworthy, high-quality evidence will accurately show what is happening in practice.” He said it is possible to design a safe and effective voluntary assisted dying system that shows compassion for terminally-ill patients while also protecting vulnerable people.

He said coercion can also “go the other way” in terms of family members wanting their loved ones to “hold on”.

University of Lancaster professor of supportive and palliative care, Nancy Preston, who has a neutral stance on the issue, said doctors have admitted to prolonging the decision-making process until the patient is no longer fit enough to make the request.

She said some doctors have said they are “shunned” by peers for participating in assisted dying.

Ms Preston said a panel operating outside of the healthcare system which would make a judgement based on medical reports would address these issues and provide the safest route in the provision of assisted dying, should it be legalised.