Ireland and Euthanasia

 

Euthanasia “Compassionate and Caring” – Ombudsman

Editor’s note. This story comes from the Irish pro-life publication LifeZone.

European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly

The Irish Ombudsman, a position established in 1980, deals with complaints against Departments of State, local authorities, health boards, and so forth.
Ireland’s former Ombudsman and current European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has described euthanasia as “the compassionate and caring thing”. She said that the debate on euthanasia in Ireland is likely to intensify in the next few years. Speaking at a conference on advocacy for older people, Ms O’Reilly predicted that trends in some European countries where euthanasia and assisted suicide are permitted would have an influence in Ireland.
“Ireland isn’t unique. We’re going to be swimming in the same cultural streams—maybe not today or tomorrow, but we will be maybe in five or 10 years’ time and that is the debate,” she said. “In those countries [that permit euthanasia], that’s become the norm and that has become the compassionate and caring thing—to end somebody’s life at a point where, in Ireland, it wouldn’t happen,” she added.
She did highlight, however, the worry that if euthanasia becomes normalised, people who may not appear to have “quality of life” may feel pressurised to end their lives.
“It’s a debate that we will be forced to have anyway, because anything that happens in mainland Europe or elsewhere eventually comes to these shores as well,” she said.

Source: NRLC News