16. 11. 2007, Assisted suicide law proposed
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Zdroj: Praguepost. Přečteno: 1458x
Experts say public debate about risk of abuse is needed first
By Kristina Alda For The Prague Post October 17th, 2007 issue
http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2007/10/17/assisted-suicide-law-proposed.php
Patients of Cesta domů hospice are treated at home, an often preferred alternative to conditions in some hospitals.
This summer, a young disabled Czech man traveled to Switzerland and paid more than 100,000 Kč [$5,000] to be put to death at a private clinic.
The case sparked a debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide, which is illegal in the Czech Republic although a number of deputies are trying to change that.
Opinion polls, most recently conducted by SC&C market research firm for Mladá fronta Dnes in July, consistently show strong local support for euthanasia, with more than two-thirds saying this form of death should be made available to terminally ill patients.
Boris Šťastný, a Civic Democratic Party (ODS) deputy who is preparing to propose a law next year that would make assisted suicide legal, says much public debate is still needed on the issue, but that society might soon be ready for such a law.
“During the 40 years under the communist regime, Czechs lived with severely limited rights,” says Šťastný. “Legalizing euthanasia would be another way of increasing people’s freedom.”
Within the European Union, assisted suicide is currently legal in Belgium and in the Netherlands, and it was the Belgian model that inspired Šťastný.
He proposes to legalize assisted suicide, which, he notes, is not euthanasia in its true sense. The proposal wouldn’t allow a third person to do the actual killing. Patients would need to administer their own lethal dose while doctors would only be allowed to prepare the necessary drugs.
Only people over 18 years old, who are mentally sound and who make repeated requests of their own volition would be granted permission. Šťastný says he would like the final stage of the approval process to go through a court, so as to minimize chances of abuse.
But some worry that no matter what the precautions, euthanasia could always be abused in some circumstances, be it by relatives who are tired of taking care of an elderly family member or by people who are not terminally ill and are looking for an alternative to committing suicide.
Easy solution?
Martina Špinková, director of Cesta domů hospice, is among those strongly opposed to Šťastný’s proposal to legalize euthanasia.
“Society right now is completely unprepared to legalize euthanasia, and the discussion surrounding this issue is very confused,” she says. “Euthanasia is an easy solution. Palliative care in the Czech Republic is still in its infancy. Pain [in the final stages of someone’s life] can be completely eliminated in 99 percent of the cases.”
“But people here are often dying in undignified conditions. Anyone who has experienced the death of a relative at a hospital for people with long-term illnesses is afraid,” she adds. “It’s this fear of death that feeds the drive to legalize euthanasia.”
Zdeňka Rybová, deputy chair of Hnutí pro život, an association opposed to euthanasia that promotes “respect [for] human life from its beginning to its natural end,” agrees.
“Many people in this country do not die well,” she says. “They die alone in a hospital. They feel depressed because they feel that society no longer needs them.
“But it doesn’t need to be this way,” she adds. “There is such a thing as a good way to die. Experiencing the death of a relative can be a meaningful experience for the whole family. And virtually all pain can be eliminated through drugs.”
Barely aware
Despite these arguments, Marek Šetina, deputy head doctor at the cardiovascular department at the Motol Teaching Hospital in Prague, says modern medicine can only go so far to make the final stages of patients painless.
“Often the drugs used to reduce pain have other side effects. In many cases, when the doses are strong, the patients are heavily sedated and barely aware of their surroundings,” he says. “And some things, like despair and hopelessness, you just can’t eliminate.”
Šetina says Czech society might be ready for legalizing euthanasia. “It would need to be very strictly regulated, but I think the option should be there.”
He notes that high-quality palliative care and legalizing assisted suicide should not be mutually exclusive.
Milan Hamerský, chairman of the Liberal Reform Party, which supports legalizing euthanasia, concurs. “For more than 90 percent of patients, euthanasia will not be an acceptable option,” he says. “But people should be free to make that choice.”
He says it’s not so surprising that such a high proportion of locals are in favor of legalizing euthanasia.
“Czechs belong among the least religious people in Europe,” he says. “They tend to look at things pragmatically. They don’t want to die in undignified conditions, they don’t want to suffer and they want to feel like they have their lives under control.”
Like Šťastný, Hamerský says more debate on the issue is needed. He would like to see the discussion of euthanasia to shift from a “yes or no” to a “what and how” debate.
“This law will probably not get passed on the first try,” he predicts. “It will take a while, but I think we will eventually get there.”
Kristina Alda can be reached at kalda@praguepost.com