The heated debate on euthanasia in Britain has been reignited by the annual Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Congress held earlier this week. As all nurse leaders across the UK reaffirmed the College’s stern opposition to euthanasia, pro-life organisations have gathered strength from these professionals to step up their protest against such legislation.
Earlier this month, a House of Lords select committee called for a parliamentary debate on legalising assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia based on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill proposed by Lord Joffe.
According to the Bill, a competent adult who is suffering unbearably as a result of a terminal illness will be enabled to receive medical assistance to die at his own considered and persistent request; and to make provision for a person suffering from a terminal illness to receive pain relief medication, so-called "assisted suicide" or "voluntary euthanasia".
The Christian social concern charity CARE, sponsored a fringe meeting with the theme "Nursing and Voluntary Euthanasia: Can They Go Together?" at the RCN Congress on Tuesday.
120 medical professional leaders attended the meeting. In response to the theme of the forum, British nurses insisted that the two cannot be compromised with each other.
Tuesday’s conference heard some arguments from some nurses in favour of terminally-ill patients having the right to decide when and how to end their lives. The RCN finally concluded that it would not change the policy to oppose euthanasia after an earlier poll found that 70 percent of British nurses did not back assisted dying.
Dr Andrew Fergusson, policy consultant for the Centre for Bioethics and Public Policy (CBPP) gave real evidence of the case in Netherlands to explain why most nurses oppose euthanasia, "There is a slippery slope of logic and practice. The Remmelink Report analysed all 129,000 deaths in the Netherlands in 1990; three percent were euthanasia and one percent of all deaths in the Netherlands were euthanasia 'without explicit request'."
The Netherlands and Belgium are the only countries in Europe that has legalised euthanasia so far.
The pro-life charity LIFE has echoed the similar concern over the abuse of euthanasia. In the Netherlands and Belgium where euthanasia was first legalised for adults, a growing number of "infant euthanasia" has been performed illegally by the doctors.
Martin Foley, LIFE's chief executive, said, "Exactly the same phenomenon would be witnessed here in the UK if euthanasia were legalised…LIFE urges politicians, nurses and doctors to reject calls for the legalisation of euthanasia. To die with dignity we do not need doctors to kill us."
