Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I note Dr. Trouton used the phrase "abortion care", which is still quite a controversial phrase in this country. It made me wonder whether, if we change our law in Ireland, we will in the future use a phrase like "euthanasia care". Would we use something like "medically assisted in dying"? It seems to me that language is key here and language seems sometimes designed to sanitise and make acceptable. To Professor Lemmens's point about the wide support, there could be increasing support for euthanasia or assisted suicide in the context of diminished access to quality palliative care or quality healthcare, and of rising levels of despair and less hope in society. Future wide support if we enact a change is not necessarily good news for society.

Professor Downie said that over 95% of those who received MAID received or had access to palliative care. Access is not the same as getting it. There is scholarship to say that in Canada, less than half of patients who participate in assisted suicide or euthanasia see a specialist palliative care team. Only 15% of Canadians have access to publicly funded palliative care at home. Three quarters of people would benefit from palliative care, it is reported, yet only one in five Ontarians gets a physician home visit or palliative home care in their last year of life, and only half receive palliative care in any setting. Does that not paint a less reassuring picture than the one Professor Downie gave?