Special committee should examine assisted dying, report recommends
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A special Oireachtas committee should be established to examine the topic of assisted dying, the joint committee on justice has recommended.
The Dying with Dignity Bill 2020 is a private member’s bill from People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny that seeks to allow for the provision of assisted dying to qualifying persons – those suffering from a terminal illness – with the aim of allowing them to achieve a dignified and peaceful end of life.
If enacted, this bill would give a medical practitioner the legal right to provide assistance to a qualifying person to end their life, according to the terms of this act.
While conducting pre-committee scrutiny for this bill, the Justice Committee received more than 1,400 submissions, relating to legal, medical, personal, academic, faith-based and end-of-life or rights-based perspectives on the provisions contained within the bill.
The bill was also sent to the Office of the Parliamentary Legal Advisers (OPLA) to ascertain the legal and constitutional implications of such proposed legislation.
These submissions and analysis formed the basis for the committee’s report, which determined the bill had “serious technical issues” in several sections and there were “serious flaws” which could potentially render them vulnerable to challenge before the courts.
Speaking about the bill, chairman of the committee James Lawless said: “It may have unintended policy consequences – particularly regarding the lack of sufficient safeguards to protect against undue pressure being put on vulnerable people to avail of assisted dying.
“Therefore, it reluctantly decided that the bill should not progress to committee stage but that a special Oireachtas committee should be established, at the earliest convenience, to progress the matter. In addition, all submissions received by the Justice Committee would be shared with any such committee.”
Mr Lawless added he would like to commend Mr Kenny for his “dedication in proposing and advocating for the progression of this legislation and for opening up a conversation which needs to be had”.