Assisted death ‘may be abused’

EVIDENCE: BID TO LEGALISE EUTHANASIA OPPOSED

Pair who want to die with dignity give testimony under commission.

The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) is fighting a bid to legalise assisted dying and euthanasia in the country, with its case in part that doing so would pave the way for abuse and even murder.

Advocate Adrian D’Oliveira, who is representing the HPCSA in the case, yesterday said his client’s stance was that placing “the power of death” in the hands of individuals like doctors “inevitably allows for abuse by unscrupulous doctors and family members”.

D’Oliveira was cross-examining 71-year-old Dieter Harck, who testified under commission this week.

Harck is the second plaintiff in the case and palliative care specialist Dr Suzanne Walter, the first. The case has yet to be set down for hearing but Harck, who has motor neurone disease, and Walter, who has multiple myeloma, both fear they might not live long enough to testify at trial.

So, retired judge Neels Claassen, sitting as commissioner, is hearing their evidence now.

Harck and Walter want the law changed to allow for physician-assisted suicide and physician-assisted euthanasia. In the interim, they also want the courts to declare that any sound-minded terminally ill person can approach them for an order allowing them for assisted death.

During his evidence, Harck repeatedly expressed his belief that end-of-life choices should be for an individual to make. But in laying out the HPCSA’s case yesterday, D’Oliveira spoke about broader society.

He said one of the reasons the HPCSA was opposed to legalising assisted dying and euthanasia was that terminally-ill people would end up choosing this route as a result of their socioeconomic circumstances.

He also said the HPCSA’s belief was that the system would invariably wind up being abused.

“Family members and doctors will abuse the system and cause the death of individuals for reasons of getting inheritance or for money,” D’Oliveira said.

Harck has now completed his evidence and Walter is expected to begin testifying today.