Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Malta rejects euthanasia and proposes living wills.

Alex Schadenberg
International Chair - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Last week, a Maltese political party rejected euthanasia and decided instead to codify "living wills." 

The Malta Independent news published a statement from government Chairperson, Professor Arnold Cassola.
"A 'biological will' would allow a person, when still in full possession of one's intellectual faculties, to declare what kind of treatment to accept and whether to prolong or not in an artificial way - through the use of machines or other artificial systems - a life that would otherwise have naturally come to an end. The standards of palliative care should also be looked into to guarantee dignified end-of-life care for everyone." 
“Whilst AD does not agree with the termination of life through euthanasia, it is in favour of the drawing up of 'living wills' or 'biological wills.’”
It is good that the Maltese political parties are debating the issue of euthanasia and recognizing that euthanasia constitutes the termination of a human life.

1 comment:

Raphael Vassallo said...

The following is for your readers' information:
the political party quoted above is a minor fringe party that represents less than 2% of the population.
a recent nationwide survey revealed that 53% of the Maltese public agrees with euthanasia in certain cases.
the party currently in government is considering including euthanasia in its forthcoming electoral manifesto.