By Dave Andrusko
The Korea Biomedical Review is reporting that there’s been a “backlash” from the medical community to the re-proposed “Assisted Dying with Dignity Act”.
“A bill that attempts to turn doctors into a tool for assisted suicide (euthanasia), although doctors are the ones who care for patients’ suffering and enable them to live a dignified life until the day they die, can never help patients or the public die with dignity,” the Medical Ethics Research Society said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Medical Ethics Research Society is well aware of the slippery slope which morphs “limited” cases into wide-spread abuse.
“In countries where assisted suicide is legalized, adverse effects have occurred, including the recommendation of assisted suicide to depressed patients who are seeking treatment for suicidal thoughts,” the group said. “There were even amendments to the law to allow assisted suicide for people who are not terminally ill but claim to be suffering from life’s pain, adolescents, and children.”
According to the Korea Biomedical Review, the group has called for the plan to be scrapped “and a practical plan for the care of terminally ill patients to be developed.”
The Medical Ethics Research Society writes that the medical ethics code “strictly prohibits doctors from assisting or participating in a patient’s suicide,” adding “Prescribing and injecting suicide drugs to a patient under their care is a serious ethical violation that undermines the identity of a doctor as a healer. Immediately repeal this bill that undermines the professional ethics of physicians.”
The group warns that the impact of assisted suicide is not limited to the individual.
“The right to self-determination should not harm others. However, the practice of end-of-life self-determination is an unethical act that hurts and harms both the family and those around them,” the Medical Ethics Research Society wrote. “If enacted, the law could lead to tragedies where doctors misinterpret a patient’s plea of ‘I’m sick and would rather die’ as self-determination, leading to the patient’s death.”
Their letter ends “We urge lawmakers to recognize the needs of all people who will be facing the end of their lives. Assisted suicide is never a way to preserve the dignity of life. Please do your best to prepare a system for dignified care at the end of life.”