Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Ethicist lauds Ireland’s ruling against assisted suicide

Ethicist lauds Ireland’s ruling against assisted suicide

Last updated on: May 8, 2013 at 8:02 am by CNA Daily News

Ethicist lauds Ireland’s ruling against assisted suicide 2013-05-08T08:02:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Dublin, Ireland, May 8, 2013 / 02:02 am (CNA).- The finding of the Irish Supreme Court that citizens have no right to assisted suicide is being welcomed by an ethicist and healthcare professional as an affirmation of the value of human life.

“It's a clear tragedy when society endorses assisted suicide…I was happy to see the supreme court decision in Ireland,” Doctor Marie Hilliard, director of bioethics and public policy at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told CNA May 7.

On April 29, the supreme court of the Republic of Ireland ruled against Marie Fleming, who has multiple sclerosis and so is unable to commit suicide. Fleming wanted to ensure that she could end her life with the help of her partner, Tom Curran.

Fleming is in an advanced stage of multiple sclerosis, and is restricted to bed much of the time and has only some effective use of her arms. She reports also having difficulty speaking and swallowing, and frequent severe pain. She cannot control her electric wheelchair, has no bladder control, and requires assistance to eat and drink, and be washed and dressed.

Ireland decriminalized suicide in 1993, but assisting another person to kill themselves is still a criminal offence. Fleming argued that there is a “right to die” and that the prohibition against assisted suicide discriminates against the disabled.

Fleming “states that she now lives with little or no dignity,” and her condition has “left her feeling totally undignified,” according to the ruling.

In its finding, the court said that “there is no constitutional right to commit suicide or to arrange for the determination of one’s life at a time of one’s choosing,” and so Fleming “has no right which may be interfered with by any disability.”

In remarks to CNA, Hilliard reflected that a right to assisted suicide “would undermine the role of physicians as healers, expose the vulnerable to abuse, and would initiate a steady slide toward euthanasia.”

“We don't kill the sufferer to kill the suffering; that's not what health care is about. And it's a societal failure too, in terms of walking with our loved ones.”

She also called the promotion of assisted suicide a “palliative care failure.” Those with diseases such as multiple sclerosis can often fear abandonment, that they won't be cared for because they “won't have the same value in our society.”

“From a medical standpoint, a nursing standpoint, and a social standpoint, it's a communal palliative care failure…so certainly we're happy to see that the Irish supreme court saw this.”

Hilliard pointed out the similarities between the Fleming case and a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Washington v. Glucksberg.

In that decision, authored by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, a Nixon appointee, the court found that the U.S. Constitution does not protect the right to assistance in committing suicide.

The loneliness and fear which motivate calls for assisted suicide “means we don't have good palliative and hospice care,” according to Hilliard.

To promote assisted suicide “does the opposite of what people think, in terms of developing a caring approach to end of life care.” Rather, a “holistic perspective” needs to be adopted, which integrates families, palliative care nurses, physicians, patients, and pain control.

Hilliard emphasized the difference between subjects of terminal illness and terminal illnesses themselves. Palliative care deals with “how suffering is to be alleviated, not how to alleviate the sufferer,” she said.

The ethicist said it is important for Catholics to engage in hospice care, because “we can't just say we're against assisted suicide and then let folks continue to suffer.”

“We have to have an organized way of addressing what people think is an unresolvable problem in terms of suffering at the end of life. It's not.”

The good works of palliative care, she said, “are the real alternatives that are going to spare the patient, the physicians, and society from doing down that road towards eugenics.”

Europe

Previous Post

May 8, 2013

Controversy draws attention to military ban on 'proselytism'

Next Post

May 8, 2013 Vatican, US sign anti-money-laundering memo

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Isaiah Paul Jesus Elijah