2007年6月27日水曜日

Euthanasia passport

Do you know that the Dutch can have three passports?
One is for proving nationality when they go on an overseas travel. The rest of the two are “euthanasia passport” and “life passport”.

“Euthanasia passport” is for asking doctors to carry out euthanasia if they fall into coma. People who want to get this passport can decide what the unbearable state is for them. So, if anything should happen to a euthanasia card possessor, doctors have to decide remedy in compliance with that card.

“Life passport” is for refusing euthanasia even if they fall into coma.

That is to say, these two passports are mobile living will to indicate how they die. Both of them are postcard size and published by NGO (NVVE).
Now, the number of euthanasia passport comes up to about two hundred thousand. This means that many Dutchman accept euthanasia. On the other hand, the number of life passport is about two thousand.

I’m surprise to know this fact, but I’m in favor of the system of these two passports. I think these cards are similar to a donor card. If people have one of these cards, their living wills are respected till the end of life. Being able to select the way of dying is one of people’s happiness, I think.

NVVE

Netherlands was the first country which legalized euthanasia in 2001.

NVVE (Nederlandse Vereniging Voor Een Vrijwilling Levenseinde) is NGO in Netherlands. This was founded in Friesland, a district in the north of the Netherlands, in 1973, and one of the biggest NGO in Netherlands. One of the important NVVE’s tasks is to broaden the limit of acceptable euthanasia. The following are aims of NVVE.

Aims of the NVVE:
a. The advancement of an as broad as possible use and social acceptance of the existing legal possibilities towards a free choice for the ending of life.
b. The advancement of the social acceptance and the legal regulation of a free choice for ending of life in situations which are not within the scope of the existing legal possibilities.
c. Striving towards the recognition of a free choice for the ending of life and assistance with it as a human right.


References: NVVE. 27 Jun 2007
< http://www.nvve.nl/nvve2/pagina.asp?pagkey=72177>

Euthanasia related NGO

I was searching for an NGO which relates to euthanasia, wondering it could give us any hints on doing presentation. And I found 1 euthanasia related NGO which is in England and Wales.

Here is brief introduction of the NGO "Dignity in dying".

Up to 2006 it was named the Voluntary Euthanasia Society (VES).
It is a campaigning organisation in the field of medical issues that promotes patient choice at the end of life, and operates independently of any political, religious, medical or other organisations.

It campaigns for a change in the law to permit medically assisted dying (also termed "euthanasia") within strict safeguards.

It also promotes the concept and use of advance health care ("living wills") in England and Wales.

The mission of Dignity in dying is

1.Patient choice at the end of life
2.A dignified death for all

Their vision is to secure the right for everyone to be able to die with dignity at the end of their life.

what they mainly do is

  • Promotes patient choice at the end of life
  • Campaigns for a change in the law to permit medically assisted dying within strict safe guards
  • Believes that a change in the law will give terminally ill people more control at he end of life and enable people to keep living longer than they might otherwise have done
  • Wants to see greater openness around the process of dying and better support for doctors and nurses

I haven't read everything on the webpage, but I hope this NGO could be one example of our presentation.


Dignity in dying::: http://www.dignityindying.org.uk/

2007年6月20日水曜日

United States

As to euthanasia, there are several ways of thinking in the United States. Such differences come out of the diversity of religion. According to the results from past General Social Survey, respondents who are secular are found to be support euthanasia more than those who are pious.

Moderate Protestants shows less support than secular people, but they are less opposed to euthanasia than conservative Protestants. Though Catholic Church has come out in firm opposition to physician-assisted suicide, they share the nearly same level of support as moderate Protestants.
The liberal protestants are the most supportive. They don’t affiliate with religious institutions so much, so their stance on euthanasia is similar to that of non-affiliates. Thus, religiosity is related to level of opposition towards euthanasia.

Monks of Theravada Buddhism can be expelled if they simply describe the miseries of life or the bliss of the after-life. Like these subjects are taboos for them.

Mahavira Varadhman, the founder of Jainism, plainly allows suicide.

In Hinduism, euthanasia is seen as murder. They think that any bad action happening in one life time will be reflected in the next. However, in case of vegetative state, and with no quality of life, they are allowed to choose whether they continue their life, or not.

Ethnicity is also related to stance on euthanasia. African-Americans are almost 3 times less likely to accept euthanasia than European-American. The main reason of this is attributed to the lower level of medical establishment. Researchers think that past history of medical abuses towards minorities have made this different way of thinking.

Some studies showed that there are differences in views between males and females. A recent Gallup Poll found that 84% of males supported euthanasia compared to 64% of females. One study found that African-American women are 2.37 times more likely to oppose to euthanasia than European-American. African-American men are 3.61 times more likely to oppose to euthanasia than European-American men.

"Euthanasia-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Influence of various factors on opinion regarding euthanasia. 20 June 2007. 20 Jun 2007
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia>.

2007年6月13日水曜日

Apology

I apologize to everyone for telling incorrect information. The World Medical Association (WMA) is NOT an NGO. Jodias taught me, so I have to say thank you for him.WMA is not an NGO, but they dedicate themselves to better medical treatment.
It is not so easy to find NGOs which are related to our topic, but I hope to find them.