A Korean lawmaker proposed a bill to allow assisted dying (euthanasia) for patients with no hope of recovery.
Rep. Ahn Kyu-baek of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said Friday that he has introduced a bill for the “Act on Assisted Dying with Dignity” to this effect.
Rep. Ahn Kyu-baek of the Democratic Party of Korea has introduced a bill for the “Act on Assisted Dying with Dignity,” which would allow terminally ill patients with no hope of recovery to die with a physician’s assistance. (Credit: Getty Images)
In June 2022, Rep. Ahn sponsored the amendment to the “Act on decision-making for patients in hospice, palliative care and the end-of-life process” but it was scrapped upon the expiration of the 21st National Assembly’s term. At the time, the bill was proposed as a partial amendment to the End-of-Life Decision Act. However, some experts pointed out that it was inappropriate to treat death with dignity alongside life-sustaining treatment.
The new legislative bill calls for requiring those who wish to receive assisted dying to apply to the Assisted Dying Review Committee to determine eligibility while establishing a review committee under the minister of health and welfare to deliberate and decide it.
A person can carry out assisted suicide one month after the date of determination of eligibility after the person has expressed his or her desire for assisted dying to his or her family doctor and two specialists. In this case, the physician who assists the person in dying is excluded from the application of the criminal law that bans aiding and abetting a suicide.
The bill also includes a punishment clause, stating that if a person who worked for the management organization and the assisted dying review committee leaks information about the implementation of assisted dying, he or she will be punished by imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won ($215,830).
Besides, it added new provisions on consultation with a psychiatrist, the right of withdrawal, which allows the person to cancel the decision to end their life at any time, and the prohibition of disadvantage to the person who died as a result of the implementation of assisted dying and the recipients of insurance benefits or pensioners.
The Assisted Dying Review Committee will have 25 members, more than half of whom will be medical professionals, reflecting the medical community’s opinion.
“The essence of the Assisted Dying Act is to allow terminally ill patients to choose when to end their lives,” Ahn said. “The living are mortal, and death comes to everyone. We will do our best to pass the Act on Assisted Dying with Dignity bill in the 22nd National Assembly.”
출처 : KBR(https://www.koreabiomed.com)