Ken Orr: Euthanasia an attack on the dignity of the human being
Stuff co.nz 8 November 2016
Family First Comment: “Good medical care aims to eliminate the pain, not kill the patient.”
Well said.
Philip Nitschke is the founder and director of Exit International; its objective is to teach vulnerable people about suicide.
His presence in New Zealand should be seen as a threat to our most vulnerable members, the aged, the disabled and the seriously ill.
Euthanasia is about doctors killing their patients or assisting in their suicide, it is an attack on the dignity of the human person.
Every human being has intrinsic dignity and is endowed at conception with an inalienable right to life. Being inalienable, it may not be taken from us nor may we give it up.
Australian health authorities have recorded at least 51 Australians, 14 of whom were in their 20s and 30s, who have killed themselves with the lethal drug Nembutal.
In 2014 the Medical Board of Australia suspended Nitschke, stating that he presented “a serious risk to public health and safety”. He was reinstated in 2015 following an appeal to the courts. In 2016 he destroyed his licence to practise, refusing to comply with the new demands of the Medical Council.
Nitschke promotes a culture of death and seeks to have our laws changed to allow doctors to kill their patients or assist in their suicide.
The Crimes Act prohibits aiding or assisting in suicide, it also prohibits homicide. These laws are there for the protection of the most vulnerable members of our community, we change these laws at our peril.
Nitschke, who now resides in Holland, holds up Holland as an example to be emulated. Holland has, within15 years of introducing euthanasia legislation, expanded the killing to now include the depressed, those with Alzheimers, children, and an estimated 650 babies each year.
The Dutch Government, made up of Greens, Labour and liberals, recently advised Parliament that the euthanasia law will be amended next year to allow the government to provide a lethal pill to the elderly who believe that they are “done with life”, but not suffering from a serious or terminal medical condition.This proposal has the support of 60 per cent of the community.
How many years will it take for this right of the elderly to kill themselves to become a duty?
We should learn from Oregon, where 60 per cent of those who seek doctor-assisted suicide also believe that they are a burden on family and society. It is cheaper to kill the patient than to care.
Good medical care aims to eliminate the pain, not kill the patient.
READ MORE: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/euthanasia-debate/86177417/ken-orr-euthanasia-an-attack-on-the-dignity-of-the-human-being
