29 July 1999 - MEDIA RELEASE DOCTORS FOR LIFE encouraged by The Law Commission going soft on active euthanasia. (Doctors For Life's response to S.A. Law Commission's media release on euthanasia.) Doctors For Life (DFL) is cautiously encouraged by the fact that the Law Commission has, for the present, not made any recommendations to legalise active euthanasia. Even though we are convinced that a lot of public debate and discussion is needed concerning their report in general, DFL does not see a need to, once again, get the public's opinion on the issue of active euthanasia (as is suggested in the report). It creates the impression that they are reluctant to submit to society's prohibition of intentional killing/active euthanasia. DFL is convinced that the public's rejection of active euthanasia was already obvious in the reaction which the Law Commission received to their original proposals a few years ago. Should South Africa try to legalise active euthanasia in any way, we will not only, as it was the case with the legalisation of abortion on demand, go against the majority of the people of South Africa, but also isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. Virtually all countries across the world, with the exception of one or two, reject active euthanasia. This is true of influential organisations such as the British Medical Association (BMA), the American Medical Association, the American Association of Psychologists and the American Nurses Association. As recently as 1998 the latter three testified against the legalising of active euthanasia before the American Supreme Court. The American Medical Association (AMA) has stated that even physician assisted suicide (where the doctor does not actually give the injection but only supplies the medicines with which to commit suicide) is fundamentally inconsistent with the physician's professional role, and that requests for euthanasia should signal to medical doctors that patients' needs are unmet and that further help is needed. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) calls physician assisted suicide "antithetical to the central mission of healing". The American Nursing Association (ANA) states that "the nurse should not participate in assisted suicide". They say that such an act is in violation of the Code for Nurses and the ethical traditions of the profession. They also say that nurses "have an obligation to provide comprehensive and compassionate end-of-life care which includes the promotion of comfort and the relief of pain. In reference to the suggested legislation concerning pain control: Even though we do accept the fact that strong pain treatment can sometimes cause respiratory depression and death, pain control can never be a subtle form of euthanasia and neither should euthanasia become a synonym for pain control. One does not see respiratory depression in-patients not on the brink of death already, unless the intent is to cause death e.g. by starting off with unusually high dosages of opiates instead of slowly increasing the dosage until adequate pain relief is obtained. It becomes active euthanasia when one causes these effects earlier than when they would occur in the natural process. We would therefore urge the South African legislators to rather abandon all efforts to try and legalise active euthanasia in some way or another. We consider the prohibition of active euthanasia as the cornerstone of law and of social relationships. It protects each one of us impartially, embodying the belief that all are equal. We also do not believe that it is possible to set secure limits on voluntary euthanasia, as it would be next to impossible to ensure that all acts of euthanasia were truly voluntary. DFL is an organisation of about 640 doctors, specialists and professors of medicine from medical faculties across our country. For more information contact: Dr A. van Eeden at: Tel: (031) 306-0972 or 082 7817 130. |
| You are viewing this
page from one of the Doctors For Life web sites. To return to the site you
were visiting, close this window. All Materials ©2004 Doctors For Life International unless otherwise noted. |