Doctors line up to speak out against euthanasia proposal

Several doctors voiced their opposition yesterday to the practice of euthanasia to end a patient's life, claiming that a natural course of death in a hospice is "best" for a terminally ill patient.

They made the remarks in a public hearing on the feasibility of assisted death held by the Judiciary Committee of the Legislative Yuan, in response to an anemic patient who appealed earlier to the legislature to pass legislation to legalize euthanasia.

Liao Yi-lin (廖倚林), one of the directors of the Taiwan Medical Association, said that the Netherlands and Belgium are the world's only two countries to have passed laws on assisted death.

However, Liao claimed that euthanasia runs against the ancient principles that a doctor should do no harm and should do good deeds. Even an assisted death for a person in a vegetative state runs counter to medical ethics, he added.

According to Liao, there can be "no objective assessment" of whether a patient has made a careful decision of a completely free will and under the principle of self-determination.

Liao further claimed that the purpose of euthanasia "is to relieve pain." If the medical community can work on enhancing the quality of life for terminally ill patients, he said, assisted killing will not be the only option. He added that if doctors can relieve patients' pain, this would "reduce the desperation" felt by dying patients.

Chen Jung-ki (陳榮基), director of the Entzu Temple Hospital, claimed that euthanasia absolutely runs against a doctor's medical ethics.

Terminally ill patients should be put in hospices and given medication, he said. Patients can be allowed to die peacefully by witholding medication.