Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their input. To avoid confusion, I want to clarify the language that I will use here. As a committee, we have not yet decided what we mean by assisted dying. I am going to rely on the distinction made in Canada where "medically assisted dying" comports euthanasia, but also comports what I will term "assisted suicide". This is where the person is assisted but that the primary and main intervention is not taken by the doctor or other person who is bringing about the death of the person. I will direct most of my questions to Dr. Campbell because it is clear that she takes a position on this, perhaps more so than Mr. Keyes. She said that if we want a just society and we allow other people to request the withdrawal of treatment, which is the normal understanding of the courts and of our society at the moment, this is not euthanasia in any shape or form; it is a respect for human dignity and somehow it flows from this that we have to concede in some cases then to people's direct request to be killed so to speak or have their lives directly ended.

Somehow, it flows from that that we have to concede in some cases to people's direct request to be killed, so to speak, to have their lives directly ended. I am surprised that Dr. Campbell does not allow for a greater obvious philosophical distinction between the two. Dr. Campbell mentioned autonomy in her paper but has she considered that it is not just a case of what happens, if it is possible to put necessary safeguards in place and if they work, but that once this is changed and society accepts it is okay to allow some people and not others to have their lives ended, it changes the situation? It will not just change for the person in that situation who might avail of the new regime but overall and in a wider context in society, including people's ability to struggle, and we all have to struggle one way or another through life, the attitudes of people as a whole will change. It is not just a question of whether there are abuses but that we will change the way in which people see themselves, particularly if they find themselves in situations of terminal illness, although not just that.