Briefing paper on End of Life Assistance Bill

The Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office, SCPO has provided a very interesting briefing paper on the End of Life Assistance Bill. It provides wonderfully clear background reading on the Bill. Please follow this link to read the full text.

The Voluntary Euthanasia view on the Living Will

The VES wishes to make the provisions of a living will binding upon the medical staff involved. They see this as a first step towards fully legaliseing eithanasia and, for the same reason they wish to see a proxy document separately legislated for, as a separate deed from a living will. No Will can 'work' without the appointment of an executor. the appointment if a 'health-care proxy' to be in effect the executor of the living will would greatly assist the effectiveness of such a document.

At present, only the person making the living will has the right to enforce it, and he is by definition incapax (incapable of making valid legal decisions). To give treatment against the expressed wishes of the patient, however, is already assault at common law, and there is therefore nothing to prevent the patient refusing in advance. The wisdom of restricting the judgement of the doctor responsible for care at this sensitive time of life is a matter which would require careful consideration. The style of living will published by the EXIT, the Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Scotland (VESS) proposes the appointment of a tutor dative (an agent appointed by the court) by the Court of Session, but this is a cumbersome and expensive procedure.





Bookmark this on Delicious

Biblical Truth and the affirmation of Life

"No one can keep himself from dying ort put off the day of his death. That is the battle we cannot escape; we cannot cheat our way out".

Legalisation of euthanasia will not produce a solution to the needs of the individual sufferer; or address the health-care challenges of contemporary society. It is the expression of an attitude to life which belittles the sovereignty of God, diminishes the importance of sustaining relationships, and inhibits the pursuit of life-affirming answers for people in need and distress. Christians must be active in promoting positive alternatives derived from Biblical truth, so that the momentum toward intentional killing may be curbed. The Church of Scotland has an obligation before God to assert God’s interest in life, rather than in death; to exercise Christian compassion towards the sufferer, the disabled and the dying; and to encourage the relief of symptoms and improvement in the quality of life for such people. The Church cannot support euthanasia as a means to anything of these ends, and rejects the introduction of death as a treatment option in any clinical situation. Jesus said: ‘I am come that they may have Life, and that they may have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10). This declaration applies at the end of life or in the midst of distress, just as much as it does in any other circumstances, or any other time.




Bookmark this on Delicious

Christian Action in Caring for At-Risk People

It is not enough to oppose the progression of pro-euthanasia arguments, nor simply to oppose voluntary euthanasia societies and similar bodies. If the Church is not say 'no' to euthanasia, it must be ready to say 'yes' to life-affirming alternatives. The Christian Gospel is a Gospel of HOPE and in particular of hope in the context of death and hopelesness. In the situation of terminal care the challenge is to bring effective relief within the context of Christian hope. It has been characteristic of the Church though the ages that it has been in the forefront of work for the suffering, the dying, and the hopeless. The hospice movement owes its existence largely to Christian initiatives which, while they have been followed by secular involvement, remain a positive motivation.

The roots lie in the need for Christians to do, rather than merely protest. A belief in the eternal worth and dignity of human beings is the mark of the Christian since the Lord Himself gave the worth of His own life and death to each one and afforded us the dignity of His eternal love.

Where the elderly, the disabled, the dying and the dementing are held in respect as fellow human beigns, they cease to be seen in negative terms. They also cease to be seen as an alien 'other' kind of person for whom the best thing is to give up on life, but are valued as individuals and to the Christian as individuals for whom Christ died. To quote from Dr. John Wyatt, a prominent paediatric specialist:

In summary, Biblical Christianity does not devalue individuals becuase of their disability. In fact, from a Christian perspective, all of us are disabled in some sense.... and the differences between us are therefore only iun degree. The essence of humanity is not in our functional ability, which may be impaired rto a greater or lesser extent, but in our creation as beings made in God's image. Functional impairment in itself does not impair our dignity or worth as human beings. The central purpose of human life is seen not in the selfish pursuit of pleasure through use of our bodily functions, but in mutual loving relationships with others and with God Himself. In Christian terms it is these personal relationships of love and self-giving which give life its 'quality'. (Survival of the wakest: CMF Publication).

Bookmark this on Delicious