Daily Archives: December 5, 2019

Sixty-three percent of Irish people would favor euthanasia in certain circumstances.Getty

A recent Amrach polling company poll of the Irish revealed that 63 percent of Irish people would favor euthanasia in certain circumstances.

That is about the same majority as favored abortion rights and same-sex marriage when both were approved, making it quite likely that assisted suicide will be the next great cultural, moral and political battle in Ireland.

Six countries and six states in America allow euthanasia or assisted suicide and New Zealand last month introduced an End of Life bill which will be the subject of a referendum there in 2020, at the same time as their parliamentary election.

In Ireland, the champion of the discussion on the issue is Vicky Phelan, the heroic woman who exposed the cervical cancer scandal, where inaccurate results were given to many women who believed they had the all-clear but who subsequently discovered they had cancer. Some of these women have since died of their illness.

Read more: Euthanasia for elderly and disabled next says bishop, if Ireland passes abortion vote

Vicky Phelan. Image: RollingNews.ie.

Phelan was one of them but has survived due to a new drug that is holding the disease at bay. No one knows for how long, however.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, she said, "I would be pro-euthanasia, definitely. I would hate to be in a position where I was in a lot of pain, or lingering, as can happen a lot, that people are waiting four or five days for somebody to die. It's terrible for the patient. It's terrible for the family having to sit and watch their loved one dying in pain. It's not a nice sight to see people when they are dying."

When the issue becomes center stage, as it inevitably will, the 2013 case where MS sufferer Marie Fleming failed in her Supreme Court bid to die will no doubt be discussed. The courts decision to deny Fleming the right to die in a matter of her own choosing will be seen as a landmark.

Marie Fleming. Image: RollingNews.ie.

There was tremendous sympathy for Fleming and her partner Tom Curran, who were in a terrible bind because of the pain she was in. She has since passed away.

In another case in 2015, a Dublin woman, Gail O'Rorke, was found not guilty of helping her friend Bernadette Forde die.

Forde died in 2011 after taking a daily dose of barbiturates ordered by ORorke from Mexico. She had been suffering from multiple sclerosis for a decade

Read more: Apology after Irish priests homily that likened homosexuals to zombies

Gail O'Rorke. Image: RollingNews.ie.

Current Irish law, as pointed out by journalist Ian Doherty, makes it a criminal offense to even travel with someone to a euthanasia clinic, the best known of which is the Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland.

Vickie Phelan says she may eventually face that kind of test and the awful dilemma of telling your family members knowing they risk arrest if coming back home from being present at the death.

The debate is a very old onea belief there is validity in suffering against a view that unnecessary pain is plain cruelty. Most Irish, according to the new poll, believe being alive and being in mortal pain is completely unnecessary if the person has made their opinion clear.

Anyone who has seen close relatives die with their bodies racked with pain knows there is no dignity whatever in prolonging life in such circumstances.

Hospices are a wonderful invention and have helped millions around the world die peacefully but at the end of the day, they reach only a fraction of the population.

There are huge caveats, especially regarding those disabled and seriously ill who may be pressured to agree to die. Likewise, people with deep depression, who have no technical physical ailment must be protected.

But the times they are a-changing. Twenty years ago, it seemed impossible that same-sex marriage and legalized abortion would be voted for overwhelmingly in Ireland but both happened.

Within a few years, however, Ireland could well be in the midst of a major debate on the right to die with dignity. It seems a debate well worth having not just in Ireland but everywhere.

Sixty-three percent of Irish people would favor euthanasia in certain circumstances.Getty

The rest is here:

The Right to Die is the next big Irish issue - IrishCentral

Updated December 04, 2019 09:58:40

Western Australia's bid to become the second Australian state to legalise voluntary euthanasia has hit its most crucial juncture, with MPs facing two all-night sittings this week in a bid to get to a final vote on the contentious legislation.

Upper House MPs have been warned to expect to sit from lunchtime today until well into Thursday as the McGowan Government makes a last-ditch bid to reach a vote on the voluntary assisted dying (VAD) bill before the Christmas recess.

There are plans for another all-night sitting on Friday, with a week of marathon sessions set to add significantly to the more than 150 hours State Parliament has spent on the bill so far.

The Government has been frustrated by the extremely slow pace of debate in Parliament so far, blaming Liberal MP and staunch opponent of the bill Nick Goiran for what they have labelled needless filibustering.

When the bill does get to a final vote it is expected to pass, having been overwhelmingly backed in the Lower House and then passing the first stage of debate in the Legislative Council 25-11.

That means eight Upper House MPs who previously voted for the legislation would have to change their mind for it to be blocked.

But the pace of debate during line-by-line consideration has become a serious concern for the Government, with it already having taken 60 hours to get through the first 60 clauses of the bill, with another 124 to go.

Premier Mark McGowan has pleaded with the Upper House to get to a final vote by the end of the week.

"This has been a long road and hopefully the light is at the end of the tunnel," he said.

"I urge the Upper House to deal with the issue this week and respect the wishes of the people of Western Australia."

The proposed WA voluntary euthanasia scheme would allow terminally ill West Australian adults who are likely to die within six months to legally access a lethal drug to end their life.

The bill has been significantly amended in the Upper House, something the Government had previously fought against, but Mr McGowan downplayed concerns about changes to the legislation.

"I didn't personally think they [the changes] were necessary but I think they are reasonable to get the bill through," he said.

If the Upper House passes the bill this week, the Lower House would need to be recalled next week to agree to any amendments.

It would then be around 18 months before patients would be able to access the scheme.

Topics:state-parliament,states-and-territories,health-policy,euthanasia,government-and-politics,perth-6000,wa

First posted December 04, 2019 08:47:37

The rest is here:

Final WA euthanasia push as voluntary assisted dying bill sparks two all-night parliament sessions - ABC News

That phrase tends to be associated with politicians paying tribute to other politicians (or, in Charles Haughey's case, paying tribute to himself), but there can be no doubt that Vicky Phelan has indeed done her State some service.

Her honourable refusal to take a cheque and sign a gagging order exposed the State CervicalCheck scandal, which led to scores of other cases being discovered and forced an apology from the Taoiseach in the Dil.

That, in itself, is more than any of us will ever achieve in our lifetime but following her comments in a newspaper interview on Sunday, she may well have performed yet another service for her country.

Discussing her life expectancy, and how her hopes for another five years may be in vain, she opened up about her views on euthanasia. As the reluctant campaigner put it: "I would be pro-euthanasia, definitely. I would hate to be in a position where I was in a lot of pain, or lingering, as can happen a lot, that people are waiting four or five days for somebody to die. It's terrible for the patient. It's terrible for the family having to sit and watch their loved one dying in pain. It's not a nice sight to see people when they are dying."

Irish society has come a long way in the last decade. The will of the people was overwhelming in their vote supporting both gay marriage and repealing the Eighth Amendment, yet when it comes to the one issue which will affect us all - the manner of our death - the topic of euthanasia remains one of the last great taboos in polite society.

For many Irish people, the issue of euthanasia was really brought home in 2013 when MS sufferer Marie Fleming took an unsuccessful Supreme Court action to allow her to die in a manner of her own choosing, without worrying if her partner, Tom Curran, would face subsequent prosecution for assisting her.

Similarly, Dublin woman Gail O'Rorke was prosecuted for, although ultimately found not guilty, of helping a friend die.

As the law stands, not only is it illegal to assist someone dying in this jurisdiction, even travelling with someone to somewhere such as the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland is also a criminal offence.

That is the dilemma which Ms Phelan will eventually face, and it's one which is confronted by many Irish citizens on a daily basis.

When she said that "if you tell family members and you bring them with you, are they going to be prosecuted when they come back to Ireland for assisting you?", she was acknowledging that the State has a history of impeding and prosecuting those who help a loved one travel to end their suffering.

Whether we like it or not, euthanasia is going to be the next cultural battleground in this country. We have an ageing population and modern medicine can now keep people alive for far longer than ever before.

But being kept alive isn't the same as living and there is something almost monstrously cruel about forcing someone whose body has become their greatest enemy to endure a final few months or even years of undignified agony and fear.

Contrary to traditional teachings, there is no dignity in suffering, and anyone who has ever watched a loved one slowly shrivel as their body is ravaged by disease and racked with pain will be forgiven for feeling scorn towards those who say there is.

That is not to underplay the incredible work done in Irish hospices - the often forgotten arm of the health service. Staff in these establishments do genuinely humbling work for a pittance. As someone who has spent time in three different hospices with loved ones over the last few years, it was impossible not to be struck by the professionalism and, most importantly, the kindness of the staff.

They are truly inspirational people who are owed a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.

John Halligan has been fighting a lonely battle in his efforts to get appropriate legislation framed on the issue.

His Private Members Bill fell with the last Dil in 2016, but he remains hopeful that it will be heard in the next Dil. It will be interesting to see how much progress he makes on the issue because politicians tend to run a mile from such a thorny topic - a luxury denied to those who are in pain today.

Currently, euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal in six countries and six states in America. Last month, politicians in New Zealand voted to adopt the End Of Life Choice Bill, which will now go to a referendum in 2020, to be held at the same time as their general election. The tide is turning.

There are two main arguments against euthanasia: one is religious and the other practical. The religious argument is easy to dismiss if you are not actually religious; after all, everyone must choose their own path and nobody is suggesting that loosening the euthanasia laws will make it mandatory.

But many of the most vociferous anti-euthanasia campaigners are disabled people worried that they will come under pressure to die. That may not be the case, but it would be wrong for pro-euthanasia advocates to simply dismiss their fears.

It is also true that there have been numerous cases in recent years which have stretched the concept to near-breaking point. The choice of deaf Belgian twins, Eddie and Marc Verbessem (45), to be euthanised when they started to go blind raised many uncomfortable questions, particularly as their family pleaded with them to change their minds.

Numerous prisoners serving life sentences with no possibility of parole in Belgium, and indeed Australia, have petitioned the courts to be euthanised on the grounds that serving the rest of their days behind bars is a form of 'unendurable torture'.

None of those cases has been successful so far but we should all be worried about ushering in the death penalty by any other name.

Similarly, the Dutch model, which takes severe depression into account, is another area of concern for even the most ardent right-to-die supporters.

But nobody should expect such a profound issue to be easy and, not for the first time in this country, it seems the people are ahead of the politicians.

The most recent Amarach poll saw 63pc of the population in favour of euthanasia - remarkably close to the 64.5pc who voted for abortion.

This issue is, in many ways, the last great civil rights battle in this country - it's one which a growing number of citizens will face.

It's also an issue which won't go away and our demographic pattern will ensure that the longer it's kicked down the road, the bigger a problem it will become.

We didn't listen to Marie Fleming and her impassioned pleas for some dignity.

Maybe we'll listen to Vicky Phelan.

Irish Independent

Read more from the original source:

Ian O'Doherty: 'Euthanasia will be next big cultural battleground - and it's time we faced that uncomfortable reality' - Independent.ie

Western secular culture is a kind of hothouse growth, Christopher Dawson wrotean artificial culture that shelters us from the direct impact of reality. Neither birth nor death in secular societies occasions confrontation with ultimate realities. Rather, each brings us into closer dependence on the state and its bureaucracy so that every human need can be met by filling in the appropriate form. Evelyn Waughs Love Among the Ruins: A Romance of the Near Future dramatizes this sheltering. In this novella, junior sub-official Miles Plastic does clerical work for the Department of Euthanasia in a dystopian state. Plastic, whose surname epitomizes artificiality and malleability, ensures that those in line for a happy death do not press ahead of their turn, and adjusts the television set for their amusement. Although a faint whiff of cyanide sometimes gave a hint of the mysteries beyond, Plastic is content to empty the waste basket and brew tea for the patients.

Because the services offered by the Department of Euthanasia are essential, Plastic has no feast on Santa Claus Day (December 25). After work he walks to the hospital to visit his lover Clara, who is with child, and finds the hall porter . . . engrossed in the television, which was performing an old obscure folk play which past generations had performed on Santa Claus Day, and was now revived and revised as a matter of historical interest. The porters interest, Plastic supposes, is professional, for the show dealt with maternity services before the days of Welfare. The porter cannot look away from the strange spectacle of an ox and an ass, an old man with a lantern, and a young mother. People here are always complaining, the porter says. They ought to realize what things were like before Progress.

The Nativity, the great fact of christology (Christ descended and passed through utter poverty in order to redeem) ghosts through the television screen. However, these hothouse inhabitants are haunted not by the mystery of Christs humility, but by Mary and Josephs woeful lack of medical conveniences. In the world of the novella, the Story of Christ has been shrunken and sanitized into a museum-like documentary. As Dawson wrote, a completely secularized culture is a world of make believe in which the figures of the cinema and the cartoon-strip appear more real than the figures of the Gospel.

Plastic moves through the hospitals bowels until he finds his beloved in a ward marked Experimental Surgery. There, he inquires after our childbut Clara tells him: that had to go (italics mine). She then says that Santa Claus Day marks the nativity of her new face; her former one, ruined with facial hair, has been replaced by a wonderful new substance, a sort of synthetic rubber that takes grease-paint perfectly. Claras plasticity is more real to her than the child (the that) which has been eliminated by a simple, state-proffered operation. Like a mother who has just given birth, she sits up in bed, joyful and proud, but Plastic cannot countenance the tight, slippery mask, which he experiences as quite inhuman. Instead, he stares at the bedside TV, where further characters had appeared in the obscure folk play: Food Production Workers apparently declare a sudden strike, for they leave their sheep in a frenzy at the bidding of some kind of shop-steward in fantastic dress, accompanied by an old, forgotten ditty: O tidings of comfort and joy.

Through Waughs artfulness, the Nativity has been made strange in Love Among the Ruins. The Russian formalist Viktor Shklovsky contended that the purpose of art is to lead us to a knowledge of a thing through the organ of sight instead of recognition. By enstranging objects and complicating form, the device of art makes perception long and laborious. Although the twenty-first-century West does not yet evince the extreme secularity of the dystopian society in Love Among the Ruins, Waugh helps us perceive how our own world, too, is unreal, and how in our day, too, the God who is Love has been relegated to the category of historical and cultural preservation. Waugh pairs Claras plastic joy with the tidings of comfort that break from the machine beside her. This juxtaposition brings Plastic to retch unobtrusively before he exits the surgery ward, baffled.

Waughs novella incubates us in a world that has abandoned God. Though the TV light extracts grace from the Christmas Story, Plastic and the porter watch with rare attention. They are arrested by the foreignness of Gods Incarnation, though they cannot put the fragmented pieces of the Story together. T. S. Eliot captures the disruptiveness of Christs coming in his poem Journey of the Magi. The narrator, one of the three kings, wonders whether he was led all that way for / Birth or Death?

Although he daily helps hasten the happy terminations of unwanted lives, Miles Plastic has been kept conveniently away from the mysteries beyond the door. His first real encounter with death comes through the surgical slaughter of his child. And it makes him miserable. Holy Mother State has anesthetized his consciousness against the pains of reality, but the death of our child on Christs birthday makes him long for another death. By the end of the novella, he has forged a desert in his imagination which he might call peace, a poor surrogate for the Prince of Peace. It's a desert that leaves him, like the Magi, ill at ease.

We inhabit a hothouse in many ways akin to that of Miles Plastic. Who among us can exit the hothouse and enter the enduring chill where the soul encounters the bitter agony and sublimity of Christ's birth? Who among us can craft a crche that will soil our artificiality with the ultimate reality? Who can arrest us until our unease passes into peace, until we dare call the Makers cave-set maternity wardlike his death on Fridaygood?

Joshua Hrenis Assistant Director of the Honors College atBelmontAbbey College and author ofThis Our Exile: Short Stories.

Photo by Eusebius@Commons via Creative Commons. Image cropped.

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Peace In a Plastic World | Joshua Hren - First Things

Posted December 01, 2019 09:07:19

In decades past, South Australia built a reputation as a leader on social reform.

It was the first state to give women the right to vote and stand for parliament, and under the leadership of Don Dunstan, was the first to decriminalise homosexual acts.

Some of the most public campaigns in recent times are for law change on a trio of thorny issues: the decriminalisation of sex work, abortion law reform, and voluntary euthanasia.

In an interesting turn of events, campaigners were hoping the election of a moderate Liberal State Government last year would help their cause, after years of failed attempts under the former Labor government.

On sex work, advocates got further than ever this year, at least until last fortnight when it was defeated in Parliament.

The Lower House which had never considered the issue before rejected the bill at the first opportunity.

Premier Steven Marshall had thrown his support behind the bill, saying it was an issue some other states had dealt with "decades and decades ago".

Deputy Premier and Attorney-General Vickie Chapman described the result of the vote as "disappointing".

"I feel for those sex workers in our community who will still be treated as second-class citizens, and will still be able to be prosecuted for their work," she said.

"With the failing of this bill, sex workers are now still left in a position where their safety is at risk."

But there were conservative Liberals who had a different view.

Liberal MLC Dennis Hood strongly opposed the bill.

"The left always seems to go for the most radical form of legislation that they possibly can," Mr Hood said.

"[It] was just beyond what I think most reasonable members would consider desirable for their electorates."

A group of socially progressive MPs across parties have been working together to advance all three social issues, and the sex work reform result threw up questions about whether abortion and euthanasia were also on shaky ground.

Next month, the state's Attorney-General Vickie Chapman will present a proposal for the full decriminalisation of abortion, and a parliamentary committee is currently looking at the issue of voluntary euthanasia.

Both issues are set to come before Parliament as a conscience vote, where MPs will not be bound to their party's position.

Advocates had expected the sex work vote to be close.

Several sources have told the ABC that at least one MP indicated support and then voted the other way.

SA Greens MLC Tammy Franks first introduced this year's bill to Parliament, and said Lower House MPs had a "much shallower level of understanding of the debate", because they had not been through the same extended parliamentary committee process as the Upper House.

She said other barriers were objections raised by councils and SA Police, the latter called for protections to prevent organised crime moving into the sex industry.

"We saw what is being called an unprecedented entry into the public sphere by the Police Commissioner Grant Stevens," Ms Franks said.

The staunchest opponents of the sex work bill could well oppose changes to abortion and euthanasia laws.

However, one member of Labor's left faction told the ABC it was unlikely that all MPs would split along the same lines.

They said they thought abortion law reform would have an easier path through Parliament, but feared euthanasia would be less likely to succeed than they had initially thought.

The vast majority of Labor's right faction, including Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas, voted against the sex work bill.

But it is unclear whether those MPs will view abortion and euthanasia bills as less extreme than the proposed model to decriminalise sex work.

Dennis Hood said it would come down to the specifics of any legislation.

"There is some reform in the legalisation of prostitution that even a fairly solid conservative like myself would look at and consider," he said.

"I don't think these things are set in stone except for the hard left, they'll always I think support social change."

Tammy Franks said the parliamentary battle over sex work was always going to be the hardest to win, and some MPs told her they didn't want to expend political capital on that issue.

"There were people who said 'Oh, look, I can't vote for sex work because I'm voting for abortion'," she said.

"Quite a few people are in that camp."

Topics:government-and-politics,politics-and-government,local-government,euthanasia,abortion,community-and-society,adelaide-5000,sa,australia

See the article here:

Could the failed bid for sex work decriminalisation in SA impact other social reforms? - ABC News