A new bill aimed at enabling citizens to die medically in the event of an illness may come into force in Ireland. This system is legal in many other countries. But this week, if the deal is passed into law, there will be discussions on the bill in Ireland.
The bill, introduced by People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny, is highly controversial and fraught with moral crisis.
The Dying with Dignity Bill 2020 or Assisted Dying is an act of deliberately providing medical care to someone who wants to end their own life. The new bill, which legalises assisted dyeing, is set to come before Dáil later this month.
The subject has already made headlines through Marie Fleming and Gail O’Rorke. Marie Fleming is someone who lost her appeal to the Supreme Court in order to establish her constitutional right to die. And Gail O’Rorke is her friend who stood trial on charges that she tried to assist the suicide of Marie.
The bill was initially expected to defeat by the government. But it is likely to move forward after allies hinted last week that a conscience vote could take place.
At last week’s party meeting, Fine Gael TDs and senators made speeches in favor of a vote of conscience. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has suggested that the proposed legislation would allow a vote of conscience.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin had also indicated the possibility of a conscience vote among the Fianna Fáil TDs, saying it was the party’s recent policy for votes on life or death issues.
The aim of the bill is to prepare assistance to achieve a dignified and peaceful end of life for those who wish to die, especially those suffering from a terminal illness.
When someone helps them receive drugs with the awareness that they want to use such drugs to kill themselves, they indulge with aid in the act of dying or assisted dying. What takes place here is like a doctor giving a lethal injection to a patient. Therefore, this practice is different from euthanasia.
You may be wondering if this is legally wrong. However, under Section 2 of the Criminal Law (Suicide) Act 1993, it is currently illegal under Irish law to assist in taking one’s own life, but not while taking one’s own life.
In-depth about the new bill
● Dying with Dignity Bill consists of 15 sections.
● Sections includes who should seek assistance to die, the criteria by which they can do so, and the rules regarding the role of those who provide them with medical care.
● Under the terms of the bill, a person can only seek help to die if he or she has a terminal illness. Moreover, the disease must be incurable and irreversible through treatment.
● This illness must be verified by two medical practitioners.
● The patient must be 18 years of age or older and must have lived in Ireland for at least one year.
● A person who says he needs assistance to end his life must have the ability to do so, which will also be evaluated by medical practitioners.
● If a person meets these criteria and wishes to end his or her life, they must state their clear intention to do so and sign a declaration in the presence of a witness. It must be signed by two medical practitioners.
● In addition to these two practitioners, two other people are required to sign the declaration as witnesses.
● Only two weeks after the declaration goes into effect will a doctor prescribe it to enable a person to end their own life.
● A medical practitioner or a nurse can give these drugs to the patient and help them to administer them. And would have to remain with them until they took them or chose not to do so.
● Medical practitioners will have to take documents at all times, including the final declaration that the assisted dying has taken place, more than a week after the drug was administered.
● The bill also includes security measures to ensure that an individual is qualified to make the decision to end his or her own life.
Medical practitioners who are morally opposed to assisting in the death of a patient have provisions for conscientious objection.
If the bill becomes law, one of the two medical practitioners will be independent and will be the focal point of the whole process. An independent practitioner cannot be a relative, partner or colleague of the first practitioner.
These practitioners will be relied upon to ensure everything from the individual’s medical condition to the transparency of their decision to end their own life.
The first step is for both medical practitioners is to examine the individual’s terminal illness and assess their ability to make the decision to end their own life.
Those who do not understand or retain information about ending life or who are unable to communicate their decision will not be allowed to request assistance. Therefore, a person in a coma cannot be considered to seek medical help to end his or her life if the bill becomes law.
In the presence of the person who wants to die, along with two medical practitioners, one more witness will have to sign the declaration. Moreover, this witness must be someone who did not benefit from the person’s property after their death. Each of the four signatories to the declaration can later revoke their signature, and they do not have to do so in writing.
The person would then have to wait 14 days after the declaration became active, before they could end their own life. But if both medical practitioners are confident that the person will die within a month of the declaration taking effect, it will be reduced to six days.
The Dying with Dignity Bill will be debated in the Dáil on Thursday.
Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats and People Before Profit have all said they will vote in favor of the bill next week, but some independent TDs have objected.
The three parties will decide whether to allow a free vote on the proposed legislation before Thursday’s debate. This indicates how likely the possibility of assisted dying becomes in the next few years.
If you want to read about Dying with Dignity Bill, click on the link below;
https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2020/24/eng/initiated/b2420d.pdf