Any move toward legalizing assisted suicide in the nation should be made with caution and start from the grassroots, as it would be “improper” for the government to take the lead on the policy, Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) said yesterday.
Hsueh made the remarks at a meeting in the Legislative Yuan, where he took several questions relating to famed sculptor Ju Ming (朱銘), who died by suicide at 85 over the weekend following years of chronic health problems.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞) said that Ju’s death and dozens of similar cases each year highlighted areas of Taiwan’s “long-term care” policies that still needed to be improved.
Photo: CNA
In making those reforms, the government should also consider the question of whether to legalize euthanasia, Wen said, but added that it would probably be difficult to reach a consensus at present.
New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) asked to what degree such issues could be handled under current laws, such as the Hospice Palliative Care Act (安寧緩和醫療條例) of 2000 and the 2019 Patient Right to Autonomy Act (病人自主權利法), which guarantees patients’ right to a good death.
Citing the Netherlands as an example of a country that has legalized euthanasia while maintaining “extremely rigorous standards,” Chiu asked whether the health ministry should initiate conversations with various sectors of society on the topic.
Hsueh said that with euthanasia, the crux of the issue is that it does not just involve a person who is ill and wants to end their life, but also another individual who has to actively assist them.
As this responsibility would currently fall on medical personnel, there is significant controversy over whether it should be allowed, he said.
Many cases, like Ju’s, have complex backstories, and should not be automatically attributed to failures in long-term care policies, he said.
As for the legal and ethical side of the issue, the laws cited by Chiu are sufficient at least for passive situations, in which doctors do not provide life-extending care if that is what the patient wants, he said.
However, in terms of physician-assisted suicide, the problem is that both the Hippocratic Oath and the policies of the World Medical Association are firmly opposed to it, Hsueh said.
Therefore, even if there were a legal basis for euthanasia, there might not be medical professionals willing to take part, he said.
Hsueh also appeared wary of engaging with medical associations on the issue, saying it would be “a bit strange” for the health ministry to be in the position of trying to convince doctors to breach their own professional guidelines.
Because of this, Hsueh said he believes that any plans to change the legal status of euthanasia should be made with caution, and should proceed from the bottom up.
“The government should not be enthusiastically promoting euthanasia. Having the government take the lead [on the issue] would be improper,” Hsueh added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS