Dr. Louise Campbell:

I agree. Stories are picked up in the media about a very few cases in Belgium and the Netherlands where people requested assisted dying because they are tired of life. These are very controversial cases and I suggest that not many of them would meet the due care criteria set down in law. Some kind of threshold is required, however, because it is not just an individual exercising his or her own autonomy and taking his or her own life. This is about an individual requiring the assistance of a trained medical professional, who is thereby implicated in this act and who must feel it is sufficiently justified in order to comply with the request. This is why the safeguards are in place in these jurisdictions.



Deputy Jim O'Callaghan: Would Dr. Campbell agree that maybe there should be restrictions on personal autonomy?