Euthanasia Laws/Assisted Suicide/End of Life Choices - A complicated process referred to as death with dignity!
"Gloria Taylor, the terminally ill woman who initiated a court challenge of the laws against doctor- assisted suicide and won, is speaking out for the first time since the judge's ruling late last week. Jas Johal reports, 2012."
Global News (Jun. 19, 2012). Right To Die With Dignity.
Four years later Canada implemented Euthanasia Laws (Bill C-14); inclusive of Decisions in the Supreme Court Nationally and relying on empirical evidence base practiced legislation implemented internationally on "Death With Dignity."
This publication represents a piece of research I did in 2018, but didn’t publish it online…However, this research may be more appropriate now with the COVID-19 Pandemic; claiming lives nationally and internationally.
Today, April 15, 2020, during Canadian P.M. Justin Trudeau's, daily briefing on COVID-19, one reporter asked, Why was opioid supply scant at hospitals? Great question, we all know of the Opioid epidemic plaguing North America, and under U.S. President Trump’s watch this issue got phenomenal attention.
It’s quite an anomaly to learn that Canadian hospitals are clamoring for Narcotics and Prescription Drug Classification in Schedule II. What happened to their usual supply? Narcotic drug classifications are extremely regulated in Canada (of course abuse does continue), kept under locked supervision, and medical/health care workers have to sign doses out, with a witness, and keep a record of; date, time, personnel and dose…each dose must be accounted for...no health care provider is allowed to bypass these standards in Canada….I’m not totally sure what the protocol is in the U.S.
A little insight, “OPIOIDs more particularly Narcotics and Prescription Drug Classes (Schedule II -- American Addiction Centers) affects your respiratory system.” Millions have died from these prescriptions knowingly and unknowingly!
As recently as a decade, or so ago terminally ill patients had to be in a coma, void of all relative consciousness for any doctor to recommend; end of life planning and family consultation. Then and only then, was pulling the plug considered humane, because the individual's physical structure/biological frame could not support life without mechanical assistance (on a ventilator). Increasing patient's comfort involves the use of; Narcotics and Prescription Drug Classes…which is also used by authorities/health care professionals (particularly medical doctors) to assist patients to peacefully draw their last breath..
Before the passing of Euthanasia Laws (defined as Mercy Killings), dying with dignity, End of Life Choices (Physician-assisted, or individual decision making) one could be declared mentally ill for entertaining such thoughts. However, Euthanasia and End of Life Choices are interpreted in similar context, meaning both methods bring about unnatural death, but the later term is self-induced. These terms get cloudy when lines get crossed, and individuals apply the law based on how it serves their needs.…quite certain folks considering application of these laws do not seek legal interpretation of specification, they rely on medical advice more often than not.
U.S. States continue to debate legalization of Euthanasia/Dying by Choice, with more complications in regards to how to ensure accountability and prevent abuse..
Less than 1-to-2 decades ago (depending on time and where you lived), individuals who were chronically, and terminally ill could not take their own life to spare the pain and suffering of living; in a fragile medicated state of existence. Family members and health care professionals have faced murder charges for engaging in assisted suicide in North America. Remember Jack Kevorkian, charged and convicted of murder in 1999, facing ridicule, referred to as Dr. Death a-midst mass media controversy.
A decade or two later, some U.S. States as well as Canada (since 2016) permitts assisted suicide…within criterion specific circumstance…
In the 20th. and 21st., century (in Ontario, Canada) it is customary to check patients' charts for D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate). D.N.R. mostly placed on patients chart who are elderly, or declared Paliative, and receiving 24 hours care due to disease process. Usually the patient is involved in consultation along with relatives; so rights are not neglected in planning the end of life process. In which case anyone attempting resuscitation would be reprimanded for not complying with; the patient, their family, or substitute decision-maker’s wishes.
D.N.R. patients referred to as palliative, does not require unusual interventions, and typically the nurse’s role at the bedside is to keep the patient as comfortable as possible; until the end.
In Canada and U.S.A., ailing/sick/debilitated/palliative individuals have launched battles with a system of litigation all the way to the Supreme Court (the highest court in the land), so that they could legally die at the hands of others, or plan their own death. These folks are usually capable of mixing their own poisonous cocktail, however they would not, because laws specify who is allowed to engage in suicide planning. Anyone reported for having thoughts, or developing plans to commit suicide was/is classified as having a mental illness/disorder (World Psychiatric Association). Any plan to commit suicide is unlawful and folks could easily be put on 24 hours watch as a precautionary measure.
Pets get “Euthanize” all the time, they have no rights, no laws of objection - Now humans have decided not to expect a cure for debilitating suffering, not to have faith in a better tomorrow, to give up the gift of life!
In 2018, 5 U.S. States had legislation promoting dying with dignity. Oregon State (1990’s), was one of the first U.S. State to implement the “Death with Dignity Act,” Next, Washington State, in 2009; then Vermont State implemented "Patient Choice and Control at the End of Life Act,” in 2013; then Colorado (2016), implemented “End of Life Options Act;” and finally in 2018, Californians decided to also introduce “End of Life Option Act.” These Acts allow individuals who are over 18 years of age, declared terminally ill with 6 months/less to live, too plan death. Individual patients can request the drugs to mix up a potent cocktail, but only if they meet certain qualifications. Patients have to be declare of sound mind (open to interpretation, as per the World Psychiatric Association), a competent decision-maker, who is not being forced into taking their own life; by producing 2 witnesses. Example; George Gallegos..
In 2020, there are 9, U.S.States providing Death with Dignity laws…
Patients may also request physician-assisted end of life measures, other health care professionals may also assume the responsibility of ending life, or family care givers, or others (more used in the U.S), based on patients’ wishes. There are also individuals who go around taking jobs to end life. It’s possible that with changing times, one day an illegal act becomes legal; an industry where individuals are licensed to “Kill?” Example, End Of Life Doulas, Non-Profit Agency in Oregon, U.S.A.
Could society possibly loose hope! Is this the new norm, where doctors are tagged with the responsibility of determining how long an individual have to live? Could this be open to abuse, the slippery slope of accountability? There are stories of individuals lining up on waiting lists; to plan their exist from life. Could this not be compared to a pandemic where individuals want to hurry on and get in queue? In retrospect, this comment was made in 2018, and in 2019-2020, we're now in the midst of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), where individuals are dying in large numbers globally; death are occuring in hospitals, long term care, and at home (mainly).
Remember antibiotics for bacterial infections, everyone believed this would heal their ailment; forcing doctors to over prescribe too the point of redundancy. Now the world is concerned about antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics stemming from overuse.. If caution is abandoned, one day the solution can become the problem..
Today, life and living has gotten burdensome to the point where individuals go into severe depression, developing illnesses/diseases; relying on pharmaceuticals, because we have come to believe this is the preferred remedy!
Could this be the start of a super generation where everyone interpreted as ill, old, feeble, diseased, ailing, fatigued, depressed, chronically medicated could request to die? Does this not change the current system and laws in society? What happens to the system of health care? Would the value of life saving techniques be inconsequential? Are we seeing the end of health care as we know it to be? What happens to health care professionals if individuals can mix up a potion, and end it all; or have their family/friend assist?
When did living, or life become so tedious that society chose not to believe in living?
Millennials are sicker now than in previous generations, what does this spell for the average life-cycle of mankind (A North American example)? Human suffering dictates the wider population ponderance on procreation analysis...
Tips for healthy living in regards to life choices!
My Nursing Education, Training and Experience is specific too: Community Care, Hospitals, Long Term Care Facilities, Mental Health facilities and Community Nursing in Northern and Southern regions of Ontario, Canada. My specializations are in: Oncology, Geriatrics, Chronic Care, Pediatric and Palliative Nursing...
Joy Kissoon © 2020
