ON RECORD: IRISH POLITICIANS TERRIFYING COMMENTS ON EUTHANASIA
By Susanne Delaney
The headline below..It sounds like murder. Classified as something less serious.
Euthanasia accounts for 5% of all deaths in Canada. 1 in 20 deaths is because of MAID (Medical Assistance In Dying). It is now the fifth most common "cause of death" there. The frequent horror stories emerging from Canada are from the nightmare realm.
Euthanasia is currently illegal in Ireland [I digress...many of us have seen loved ones in Irish hospitals be relatively well and not suffering from life threatening illness, only to rapidly go downhill inexplicably. I'm referring to cases where food and water are withdrawn and midazolam or morphine are given in quantities over a period of time, hastening a person's untimely demise].
In recent years in Ireland, we have had senator Lynn Ruane suggesting (on public record) that euthanasia could be aoption for those suffering from long-term depression.
To put that into context, euthanasia has not been officially introduced, but discussions around it have surpassed "it's only for terminal illness" proposals.
Her comments were made during debates on the Dying With Dignity Bill, 2020 (and were accompanied with a whay sounded like a little laugh).
Ruane made these comments despite having previously spoken about the devastating ripple effect of suicides in working class communities, and she paid no heed to the fact that "liberal" euthanasia programmes that allow dying for depression will disproportionately affect working class people (who face more financial pressures and issues like addiction, etc, and may not have access to therapies or other treatements).
Her words were a profound insult and blow to anyone who ever lost a loved one to suicide.
During those debates then Green Party TD Patrick Costello stated [in response to Professor William Binchy comments on suicide affecting loved ones] stated "any death, loss or bereavement will have that ripple effect. Surely, it is about the bereavement itself rather than the nature of the death. This leads me to be concerned that, in focusing on the effect of that autonomous decision, Professor Binchy is focusing on the wrong part." In other words, Costello was suggesting suicide is no different to any other death in terms of its impact on loved ones.
What Professor Binchy had stated was this: "If a person takes his or her own life, this is not simply a private matter. It resonates through society, deeply affecting family members and friends."
Then TD Gino Kenny (who I wouldn't trust to make breakfast) was involved in the debates (and votes) on these matters. Kenny was fully confident that the Irish public should NOT have a vote on euthanasia and that it should be decided upon by a few politicians.
The matter of euthanasia always starts out as "it's for those who are suffering immensely with terminal illness," but ends up a dystopian nightmare that appears to be driven toward relieving governments of responsibility for those needing something from them. In Canada, "social problems" like homelessness and even mild conditions are increasingly "fixed" with a "dying would fix that" mentality.
At one point, a government senate committee in Canada recommended allowing mature minors with terminal illness (12 and up) the right to die without parental consent. There's even a glossy dept store ad in Canada that galmourises the euthanasia of a young woman (with a treatable condition).
In Ireland, The Dying With Dignity Bill, 2020 is dead in the water for now. No new bill has replaced it. But it will be mooted again, and we will have no say on it.
I'd encourage the public to deeply examine euthanasia programmes in The Netherlands, Belgium, and Canada and then ask yourself, do you trust Irish politicians (given the abysmal state of Ireland) with that responsibility? If the answer is "no" then I'd ask you a second question: What are you prepared to do about it?