Dick Sobsey of the University of Alberta Developmental Centre
has
briefed a Special Senate Committee on Euthanasia and assisted suicide on
September 30,1994 in Canada. 3 He has stated
that these conditions to
voluntarily make a decision on euthanasia or physican
assited suicide are not
readily met. Many patients with serious illnesses are poorly informed about
their conditions and prognoses. They cannot be
expected to make informed
decisions about suicide. People are given unclear
or misleading information
about their prognosis or how long they are expected to live Their professional
help simply do not know or are incorrect in expectations (Sobsey).
Sobsey also has contended that most conditions permit the patient
to
commit suicide. In effect their condition would not prevent an individual act of
suicide. In fact, very few people have disabilities or illnesses that make it
impossible for them to commit unassisted suicide.
The great majority of people
with illnesses or disabilities are perfectly capable of committing suicide by the
same means employed by other individuals. Cases reflective of assistance are
coma or high-level nerve or spinal injury. In this condition the competence of
the patient is in jeopardy (Sobsey).
The five moral conditions
lead into the legal placement of physicians to assist in suicide and their credibility is suspect (Sobsey):
Safeguards through
the involvement of the health care professionals would not be equivalent to legal due process safeguards, there is no reason
to believe that their inclination, training, or experience prepares them to exercise life and death power more wisely than
any other group of individuals.
The
abuse of providers of assisted suicide is heightened resulting in a conflict of interest between health care providers and
life-ending roles by physicians. The cost control issue predisposed encouragement to physicians to gain consent from patients.
This is triage not euthanasia (Sobsey).
The Sancticity of Life position here can involve the medical which is duty bound to the preservation of life. Natural
law is unique in that it is perceived universally and does not require any supernatural gift of faith that many genuinely
do not have. In the ideal, professional medical consultation is a key to a correct choice. The natural law is common ground.
