 South
Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Society (SAVES)
The VE Bulletin Excerpts
'No price is too high to pay for
the privilege of owning yourself' Rudyard Kipling
Vol 19: No 3 November 2002
The
Netherlands | Taiwan | England
World News
The NetherlandsA
legal test case has set the limits within which doctors may agree to assist
their patients to end their lives. A general practitioner, Dr Sutorius, was
found guilty of assisting one of his patients to commit suicide.
86 year -old Edward Brongersma, a former Dutch senator was described as being
obsessed with his physical decline and what he saw as a hopeless existence.
He repeatedly asked his GP for help in ending his life, but the court ruled
that this type of 'existential' suffering was not covered by Dutch voluntary
euthanasia law.
The judgement has thereby drawn a line between 'unbearable and hopeless'
suffering of a medical nature, and 'existential' suffering, characterised
in this case by symptoms of ageing, loneliness and fear of further decline.
The ruling was welcomed in both medical and political circles.
Based on VE Society of NSW Newsletter July 2002
TaiwanThe amendments to the Tranquil and Moderate Medical Treatment Act (Taiwan)
has now passed the first reading in the legislature, further securing the
right of terminally ill patients to refuse resuscitation. The amendments
stipulate that if a patient has been diagnosed by two physicians to be suffering
from a terminal disease, he or she can request in writing that life-support
equipment be removed, or that cardio-pulmonary resuscitation be suspended,
should either measure be merely prolonging pain and delaying an inevitable
death.
However if the patient is under 20 years of age they require the approval
of legal guardians. After stating such a wish in a "living will," patients
are then allowed to die a natural death. The patient's relatives would not
be permitted to make the decision on their behalf, and the act does not apply
to comatose patients, as they are unable to express their wishes.
The Department of Health is seeking to raise awareness of the concept of
natural death in a bid to educate the public of a right to refuse life-extending
medical care. It may also help reduce the medical disputes arising between
physicians and patients' relatives over end of life decision making.
If the document is not on hand when an emergency occurs, it has been suggested
that a person's wishes be included on health insurance cards. The Department
of Health will take the proposal into consideration when health insurance
cards equipped with computer chip technology are issued in 2004.
The Tranquil and Moderate Medical Treatment Act was passed on May 23, 2000.
Based on an article 'Amendments on the right- to- die pass first reading'
by a staff writer of The Taipei Times on June 4th 2002. (Forwarded by ERGO)
England
Terminally ill sports writer, Phil Such, who has been living with motor neurone
disease has undergone a hunger strike in an effort to change the law banning
voluntary euthanasia. The 37 year old journalist who witnessed the same incurable
illness claim the life of his mother five years ago, wrote to Prime Minister
Tony Blair stating:
'Throughout the last year my body has wasted remorselessly. The wheelchair
arrived in June, my arms gave up the ghost in October and my voice weakened
before Christmas. I have had a great, if rather short life. Why should it
be wrecked by a long lingering death?'
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