Debate over 'death with dignity' intensifies

By Song Sang-ho
2009.03.06

The debate over terminally-ill patients' right to die has been reignited following the death of Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan last month.
Nearing his death, Kim, 86, asked medical staff to let him face natural death with dignity without a life-support machine to avoid a "meaningless extension of life."
The debate has gotten more intense with a recent court battle on whether to turn off life-support for a 76-year-old woman in a permanent vegetative state as requested by her family, who asserts their mother, when conscious, said she wished to die naturally.
The case is currently pending in the Supreme Court after district and appeals courts ordered removal of her respirator.
Ruling Grand National Party lawmaker Shin Sang-jin held a public hearing at the National Assembly on Wednesday over legislation governing legal procedures for "death with dignity."
Experts at the hearing concurred that the time is ripe for the country to seriously discuss legislation regarding death with dignity.
National Cancer Center director Yoon Young-ho cited figures in a survey that suggested a great portion of respondents approved of death with dignity.
In the survey of 1,006 adults, conducted in September last year, 87.5 percent of respondents said that a patient should be allowed to face natural death when it is imminent and medical treatment is futile.
Experts also drew a clear distinction between death with dignity and euthanasia.
"In the case of death with dignity, a patient can make their own decision to die naturally with dignity whereas euthanasia means a doctor, though the intention is good, assists in 'killing' the patient," said Shin Hyun-ho, a lawyer and member of the health and medical committee of the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice.
Rep. Shin Sang-jin submitted a bill last month which stipulates detailed procedures for death with dignity and punitive measures for irregularities.
Under the bill, when a patient is unconscious, the patient's family can request that life extension treatment be halted after presenting evidence to prove that the patient, when conscious, expressed a wish to die with dignity.
When conscious, the patient can write a note to express their wish, which will then be scrutinized through close consultation with psychiatrists or a hospital's ethics committee.
Under the bill, if a family opposes the patient's decision to die, it can call for further deliberation to the hospital chief via the hospital's ethics committee.
The bill also stipulates that medical staff participating in the procedures are to be exempt from prosecution, and that a patient will not get any disadvantage in receiving insurance payments when an insurer labels their death a suicide.
The bill also has punitive provisions.
Those who assist a patient's suicide or stop treatment against a patient's will are to face jail terms of three years or more. Both those who impede the death with dignity and those who continue life-extension treatment against a patient's will are to face jail terms of up to three years or fines up to a maximum of 10 million won ($6,400).

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