Blair government plans euthanasia (Great Britain).

London--Concern has been expressed by the Catholic bishops of England and Wales that if re-elected this spring, the Labour government of Tony Blair plans to introduce euthanasia.

Proposals have already been made by Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, to extend to the rest of Britain the "Adults With Incapacity (Scotland) Act," passed by the Scottish Executive last spring. The Act permits the appointment of a third-party proxy--who does not require medical training--empowered to refuse food and fluids (classified as "treatment") to mentally incapacitated patients. These patients may be, but do not necessarily have to be, in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). Doctors who refuse the proxy order are liable to prosecution.

At present, patients may be starved or dehydrated to death by judicial permission after individual court cases. The British judiciary has got around the provisions of right to life in article 2 of the Human Rights Act (1998) by redefining the provision of food and fluid as 'treatment.' This redefinition served during the first week of April to influence a High Court judge's decision to withdraw food and fluids from a woman who has been in a coma for eight years. The woman is expected to die within a few weeks. The judge in the case even critized the hospital board for taking so long to apply for permission to end the patient's life.

Along with the bishops, patients' and doctors' groups have also expressed their concerns over the trend of events. Mrs Julia Quenzler of SOS-NHS Patients in Danger stated, "This sends a very dangerous message to the medical profession."

Lawyer Jamie B ogle said, "The good ones (doctors) will resign and we will have an NHS full of killers and not carers." Meanwhile the group Doctors Who Respect Human Life and various pro-life MPs continue to oppose the government's plans.

(Catholic Herald, April 6)

Comment: Last year "killer doctor" Harold Shipman was discovered to have murdered hundreds of patients but this career of crime seems to have made no impact on the Blair government.