GESTIÓN EN SALUD PÚBLICA: BioEdge: First euthanasia case in Quebec

domingo, 24 de enero de 2016

BioEdge: First euthanasia case in Quebec

First euthanasia case in Quebec

by Michael Cook | 23 Jan 2016 |

At least one person and perhaps three have been euthanased in Quebec since the Canadian province’s legislation went into effect in December. Dr Georges L’Espérance, president of the death-with-dignity group l’Association québécoise pour le droit de mourir dans la dignité, said that he was not aware of the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

Dr L’Espérance does not believe that the number of euthanasia deaths will be very large. “Considering our population here and what has happened in other countries (where euthanasia is legal), I would be very surprised if we have more than 50 or 60 cases in the first year,” he told the National Post.

Quebec health authorities say that data on euthanasia will be confidential. The first figures will be released in June.

The legality of the deaths is disputed. Although the Supreme Court struck down the prohibition of assisted suicide and euthanasia in February 2015, Quebec is the only province which has passed a law regulating it. Technically, however, this conflicts with the still-extant national criminal code. Drafting of new legislation has been held up by a change of government after October’s election.

To solve this, the Supreme Court last week permitted assisted suicide across the country under certain circumstances, while granting the government four more months to pass regulations.

However, the deaths in Quebec preceded the Supreme Court’s concession and thus were technically illegal. Columnist Peter Stockland was scathing in his criticism of the province’s independent spirit: “it proceeded with the assisted suicide while maintaining the pretence of participating in the legal process. I do not know if that technically constitutes contempt of court. But I do know a very contemptuous nose thumbing when I see it.”

- See more at: http://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/first-euthanasia-case-in-quebec/11720#sthash.IHN9Fz6k.dpuf

Bioedge

The Atlantic recently published a feature about the early days of artificial reproductive technology. The headline was: “The First Artificial Insemination Was an Ethical Nightmare: The 19th-century procedure involved lies, a secrecy pledge, and sperm from a surprise donor”.

It turns out that the first pregnancy with artificial insemination (at least in the US) was in 1855 in New York but it ended in a miscarriage. The first successful pregnancy with the same method took place in Philadelphia in 1884.

The patient was a married woman whose husband was infertile because of venereal disease. Without seeking the consent of either husband or wife, the doctor anaesthetised her and inseminated her with the sperm of one of his medical students. The women never discovered the truth and the students were sworn to secrecy.

However, when her baby was a 25-year-old businessman one of the students published his recollections of the event (after contacting the child). As far as he was concerned, artificial insemination was a eugenic boon, “a race-uplifting procedure”, which would produce children of “wonderful mental endowments” instead of “half-witted, evil-inclined, disease-disposed offspring”.

The author of the article in The Atlantic was amused by the old-fashioned lies, secrecy and donor anonymity. But has any of that changed? Most children born from contemporary reproductive technologies are “genetic orphans”. Most parents shop for donors who will confer “wonderful mental endowments” upon their offspring. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.