Pro-euthanasia activist in S’pore to aid Govt’s euthanasia
agenda
http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_co…
The Right to Die in Singapore
Written by Ben Bland Monday, 20 April 2009
Singapore may have not a reputation for opening its doors to
outspoken activists but in an intriguing move, next month it will
host a seminar by one of the world’s most controversial speakers,
Philip Nitschke, the Australian campaigner for voluntary euthanasia
and assisted suicide known, like Dr Jack Kevorkian in the United
States, as “Dr Death”.
What makes the visit of the renowned pro-euthanasia campaigner
even more surprising is the legal status of suicide in Singapore,
where attempting to take your own life remains a criminal offence.
Those who have slashed their wrists or taken an overdose but failed
to kill themselves are routinely handcuffed to their beds when they
are brought into hospital by the police. Assisting a suicide is
considered an even more serious crime, with a mandatory jail term
for anyone found guilty of such an offence.
Nitschke has played a key role in driving the global debate
about voluntary euthanasia and in 1996 he became the first ever
doctor to administer a fully-legal, voluntary lethal injection
under the right-to-die law in Australia’s Northern Territories. His
campaign group, Exit International, regularly holds seminars around
the world in which it discusses voluntary euthanasia and tells over
50s and the seriously ill how they can end their lives in a
reliable, painless and cost-effective manner. However, his vigorous
advocacy for euthanasia has earned him many critics, who oppose
assisted suicide on moral, religious or social grounds.
With an irony not lost on Nitschke himself, he will be welcomed
in Singapore, a state that places strict limits on public
discourse, just weeks after he was turned away by the Oxford Union,
the famous university debating society that likes to think of
itself as the “last bastion of free speech in the Western
world”.
“We get repeated requests for information from Singapore so we
think it would be reasonable to see what the interest really is,”
Nitschke told Asia Sentinel from his base in Darwin. “We’re unclear
about the reaction but we’ll see how things go.”
The Singaporean government argues that it is necessary to place
restrictions on freedom of speech when it comes to sensitive
political and religious issues in order to prevent outbreaks of
social disorder. The fact that the government is willing to allow
in someone such as Nitschke, whose views have prompted furious
opposition from religious groups in the past, is indicative of its
desire to push forward the debate about end of life issues in a
nation that has one of the world’s most rapidly-ageing
populations.
By 2030, one in five Singaporeans will be over 65, up from 1 in
12 today, according to the Ministry of Community, Development,
Youth and Sports’ latest report on the ageing population. This
graying of Singapore, which is being driven by a low birth rate and
ever-increasing life expectancy, will put even greater pressure on
the island’s already-stretched healthcare and social services.
Singapore has also been flirting with ways to increase the
number of organ donors for those with failing kidneys or other
organs. As Asia Sentinel reported in January, the government has
decided to legalize the payment of compensation to organ donors,
who can be reimbursed for their medical expenses and loss of
earnings. Although the figure has yet to be finalized, the sum
could be at least S$50,000 (US$33,179.69 after Singapore’s most
recent devaluation).
In a widely reported speech last year, health minister Khaw Boon
Wan called for an open public discussion about the end of life
issues including palliative care and the right to a “good death”.
While not openly endorsing euthanasia, he said that he had been
moved by accounts of terminally ill people who wanted the right to
end their lives.
“I do not know if Singaporeans are ready for euthanasia,” he
explained. “But I do know that aging will throw up many more human
stories of agony and suffering. All societies will have to prepare
for longer life spans and the many dilemmas that they will have to
confront. We must seek a humane way out of such dilemmas.”
In light of these comments, it becomes easier to understand why
Singapore is welcoming Nitschke with such open arms. His seminar,
which will take place on May 13, is being hosted by the National
Arts Council, in the ultra-modern National Library building.
Nitschke says that while there is a chance that the event will
fall apart because he still needs to obtain a public entertainment
license, he is hopeful that there will be no hitches. He is mindful
of the legal climate surrounding suicide in Singapore and concedes
that he will be modifying his usual program as a result.
“We’ll be taking a great deal of notice of the legal situation
and we won’t be presenting the same sort of material as we do in
the UK, for example,” he says. “We’ll mostly be talking about the
advantages and disadvantages of moving toward legislation for
providing legal assistance to die.”
Nitschke says he will not be running his workshop on how to
commit suicide painlessly, although he will happily direct
Singaporeans to such information, which is widely available on the
Exit International website and elsewhere on the internet, if they
ask.
“I would imagine that there’ll be private discussions with
people who want to know how to end their lives and I’d point them
in the right direction without necessarily sitting down and saying
this is what you do,” he explains.
The main aim of his trip is to generate support for the
establishment of a branch of Exit International in Singapore. “We’d
like to see a branch of our organization set up in Singapore and
I’ll be interested in talking to people who want to help us do
that,” he says.
Although the right-to-die law in the Northern Territories was
overturned after just a few months, a number of other jurisdictions
– including Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and
the US states of Oregon and Washington – have since enacted similar
legislation.
Nitschke is hopeful that he can persuade more governments to
bring in right-to-die laws, which he believes are much needed.
“There’s an awful lot of tragedy going on around us,” he adds. “I
see people every day caught up in medical nightmares who are
desperate for help. But people are fearful to provide that help
because of the legal climate we all find ourselves operating
in.”
He thinks it is an “inevitability” that right-to-die laws will
eventually become commonplace around the world and that it is a
question of “when not if”. Judging by the government’s unusually
open-minded approach, perhaps Singapore will be next.
With one of the most rapidly-ageing populations in the world and
a severe shortage of transplantable organs, the Singapore
government has been looking at ways to increase the number of organ
donors and believes that legalizing the payment of compensation
will help. The move is intended to allow altruistic donors to be
reimbursed for their medical expenses and loss of earnings and is
not meant to operate as an inducement.
Although the upper limit for compensation is still to be
finalized, a survey by the Ministry of Health found that
three-quarters of Singaporeans believe an appropriate sum would be
at least S$50,000.
Critics point out that while this sort of figure may be viewed
as just compensation by a Singaporean professional who has to take
months off work, the same amount would be an inducement to many
less well-off people both within Singapore and from neighboring
countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia. And, crucially, the
government has insisted that it will not be bringing in a ban on
foreign donors receiving compensation, which would be paid by the
receiver or charities such as the National Kidney Foundation, as to
do so would be discriminatory.
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