In the second of five articles analysing public submissions on the proposed euthanasia law, Jeremy Rees examines worries about families coercing people to end their lives.
Would families pressure a loved one suffering a terminal disease into taking their lives if euthanasia becomes legal?
“I believe that this law change will be putting vulnerable patients at risk,” Auckland GP, Gisa George says.
“I am worried about the strain this would put on our elderly. Often the elderly feel isolated and vulnerable. Many of them feel that they might be a burden to their loved ones, especially when they need a lot of input and care. If assisted dying is legalised , there is a risk that our elderly might feel that they need to choose this option….”
The worst case of this I witnessed involved the hospital roomate of my maternal grandmother who spent a month dying from lung cancer at 87. At that time, visiting hours were the same for everyone, and the family of her roommate was in at the same time everyday. The roommate's daughter-in-law spent the visits telling her mother-in-law how the cost of the treatment was taking away the future of her grandchildren. Awful....