What a load of bollocks. Nothing more than Catholic lobbyists pushing their agenda. Which they are entitled to do, but don’t present it as facts in a ‘news’paper.
Better do it with a power cord in a dark closet right?
Medecine has a wonderful offering of drugs that will painlessly kill someone on their own term and with dignity instead of leaving your loved one cleaning your brain off the wall.
If a person wants out of this life for whatever reason, they should be able to do so in a controlled environment.
Medically assisted death is safe and is a good option for someone who is of sound mind but in a terminal condition that wishes to end their suffering.
No one serious is suggesting that anyone can just up and decide on Thursday morning that they want to off themselves down at the doctor’s office, it takes time and psychological testing to confirm the person is mentally competent to make the decision before it is allowed to go forward.
My grandmother was mentally competent until her last few days but suffered as her kidneys shut down and strung her along for weeks, she likely would have made this decision if it had been legal at the time. Instead it was an extended stay in ICU with hospice always planned but she would get better and worse on a daily basis and not be stable enough to get moved.
Just read up on the Dutch cases and it appears only some details of some cases were released (900 partial released of 30,000 cases between 2012-2021). Of those 8 said their mental illness was the only factor leading to the request for euthanasia.
This leaves somewhere between worst case (8/900) 0.8% and best case (8/30,000) 0.03% of cases you mention here, where autism or other intellectual disability specifically led to a person being euthanased.
My intention is NOT to take the importance away from 8 lives potentially unnecessarily lost, but only to put the problem into relative terms. If I was in a dire position and suffering, I would want this option available to me.
Someone with bipolar disorder who is under medication could be considered of sound mind at the time. They might have the clarity of mind to know that without medication, that they are unstable (a way of suffering) and on medication they are unhappy and suffering. That seems like it would qualify as lifelong suffering so why should that person stay alive if they don’t want to have a life of suffering?
Add comment