Originally published in RNZ, March 2021. By Guyon Espiner. Click here to read the article. What happens if a patient doesn’t die during a euthanasia attempt? That’s one of a number of ethical and legal questions being asked by palliative care experts who say we are woefully unprepared to introduce assisted dying. Senior nursing leaders are also concerned New Zealand won’t be ready when the law takes effect on 7 …Read More
Tag Archives: assisted suicide
Euthanasia – What happens when prognosis for a terminal illness is wrong?
“Glenn’s doctors gave him a prognosis of six months to live three times over a period of nearly nine years. Prognosis cannot only be a little off, it can be flat out wrong. Would euthanasia have been legal, Glenn could have ended his life with years still left ahead of him. He would have missed out on so much, as would his wife and young daughter.” When prognosis is wrong …Read More
Why I will be a conscientious objector to Victoria’s assisted dying law
Originally published in MercartorNet, August 2018 by Adrian Dabscheck During a recent period of enforced rest, I had time to reflect on my attitude to the recently enacted voluntary assisted dying legislation in Victoria and consider my response.1 I will detail my reaction to the Act and why I have chosen to become a so-called conscientious objector. In his essay Western Attitudes Toward Death,2 French historian Philippe Ariès illustrates the …Read More
Pulling the plug on conscience rights
Originally published in First Things, December 2009 by Wesley J. Smith Over the past fifty years, the purposes and practices of medicine have changed radically. Where medical ethics was once life-affirming, today’s treatments and medical procedures increasingly involve the legal taking of human life. The litany is familiar: More than one million pregnancies are extinguished each year in the United States, thousands late-term. Physician-assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, …Read More
Doctor who objects to physician-assisted suicide says role is in ‘service of the sanctity of life’
Originally published in CBC News, April 2017 by Andrea Janus A Scarborough palliative care physician says she would like Ontario to adopt a direct-access model for physician-assisted suicide, making it widely available to patients while bypassing doctors who object to the procedure. Dr. Natalia Novosedlik is one of a group of doctors seeking what’s called “conscience protection” in the province’s assisted dying law, meaning physicians who oppose euthanasia or physician-assisted …Read More
In reply to supporters of the End of Life Choice Bill
Originally published in New Zealand Doctor, February 2018 by Rosalie Evans I agree that all doctors should read the End of Life Choice Bill. However, unlike Dr Havill et al, I do not believe it is inevitable that this bill will become law, writes GP Rosalie Evans. Dr Havill et al “cherry-picked” a few submissions to the health select committee which promoted a change in the law, as evidence for their viewpoint Far more jurisdictions have rejected moves to legalise euthanasia …Read More
Nurses’ unique perspectives on end-of-life choices must be heard
Originally published in Nursing Review, February 2018 by Taumihau Teremoana The outcome of last year’s government inquiry into assisted dying left me both hopeful and disappointed that as a society we have not addressed alleviating suffering effectively. The inquiry’s decision not to recommend law changes allowing legalised assisted dying was welcomed by Palliative Care Nurses New Zealand and Hospice NZ. Though the concept of suffering is complex much can be said from …Read More