Filenews 9 May 2022
The issue of euthanasia and the need to inform and initiate social dialogue in Cyprus was discussed on Monday at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights.
Konstantinos Fellas, President of the Cyprus National Bioethics Committee, said that a nationwide survey was conducted with the participation of 750 people over the age of 18 on euthanasia.
According to the survey, six out of ten participants said they agree with the legalization of euthanasia and that our fellow human beings have the right to choose death through euthanasia, he said, adding that eight out of ten argue that this right can be enjoyed by someone in case of incurable and excruciating chronic illness or when all the room for pain relief has been exhausted. Furthermore, he noted that 64% of respondents said that the time has come to create a legal framework for euthanasia in Cyprus and that 50% agree with the right to choose a person to euthanasia. One in five would examine under strict conditions the application of euthanasia to children over the age of 12, Mr Fellas added.
"Society sends a message to the state for the institutionalization and legalization of euthanasia," he suggested, adding that the opinion of the Cyprus National Bioethics Committee is unanimous in favour of the legalization of voluntary euthanasia with the patient's valid and informed consent. Mr Fellas also called for strict conditions and strict safeguards to be put in place to protect the dignity and respect of those suffering from an incurable disease. "The legalization of euthanasia is not a substitute for an effective palliative care that the state is obliged to provide to our fellow citizens," he suggested. "Is it the right to a dignified death or the obligation to a painful living?" asked Mr. Fellas.
Irene Charalambidou, Mp for AKEL and President of the Committee, noted that the research of the Cyprus National Bioethics Committee is the first documented approach to society's views on euthanasia. "Everything points in the direction of the acceptance of such a legislative approach on the part of society," he said, adding that the position of the Ministry of Health, which is in favour of giving the right to euthanasia under strict conditions and after dialogue with medical teams, is also positive.
Mrs. Charalambidou stressed that we must defend the right of a patient suffering from a disease from which he will end up, on the basis of a medical opinion, to choose the way to leave life. In addition, he stated that in collaboration with the University of Nicosia, the University of Cyprus, the Cyprus Bar Association, a "very difficult" - as he called it - law proposal will be prepared that will provide for changes to the Penal Code. In response to a journalistic question, he explained that similar practices exist around the world and that it is a matter of supervision and implementation of laws by each country. "In the first instance we will not touch the issue of minors," he concluded.
Rita Superman, DISY MP, said that the dilemmas for the implementation of a legislative framework for the informed right to death and the autonomy of the individual still remain. "What we are looking at here is not the right to death, but the right to be killed by a doctor or the right to support in suicide," he said, adding that euthanasia requires two people to make it possible and a "complicit society" to accept it.
Mrs Superman referred to the example of the Netherlands, 'which, from the very beginning of the application of the law of euthanasia, has amended the framework several times and today gives the right to a great many groups of patients'. He argued that there is a risk that supply will also create demand, as evidenced by the large increase in the number of people seeking euthanasia at European level. In addition, he suggested that the patient-doctor relationship is corrupted, because it creates a perception among patients that doctors sometimes help or incite suicide.
Pavlos Mylonas, MP for the DIKO, noted that passive euthanasia is applied informally in Cyprus and described active euthanasia as "a dangerous line between murdering and alleviating the patient's pain". The data of the research of the National Bioethics Committee of Cyprus are useful, but a survey addressed to patients who are in the final stage would give us the answer, stressed Mr. Mylonas, adding that the issue is sensitive.
Moreover, Mr. Mylonas raised the issue of minors and the elderly, as well as the patient's agreement with doctors. "Who will carry out the murder, with or without quotation marks? Who will make the decision if the patient is not able to take it?" he wondered, adding that the issue is what patients who are in the final stage of their illness say and think.
On her part, Alexandra Attalidou, Member of parliament for ecologists, stressed that the society of Cyprus in its great majority consents and agrees to the right of euthanasia for people who are at an end stage. "Euthanasia will be for people who in full conscience agree and consent to their exit from life by this method," he said, adding that the legislative framework will be very strict. "The state legislates for all citizens and not for specific groups," he suggested.
In response to a journalistic question, Mrs. Attalidou said that since science assures that the patient will die and will have to deal with a Calvary of pain, we ask that the patient be entitled to shorten this Calvary. "It's people's right to decide. Life and its disposition belongs to people under certain strict conditions", he concluded.
Alekos Trifonidis, a DIPA MP, said that his party will follow the issue of euthanasia and listen carefully to all opinions. "We consider it important that there is a social dialogue so that all opinions can be heard, whether positive or negative. The legal framework to be voted on should be strict and include all procedures and conditions," he added.
In addition, Mr. Trifonidis underlined that the State must substantially improve its palliative care services and provide all patients who need it. "There are serious gaps and omissions in this area, resulting in our fellow citizens suffering," he suggested.
For his part, Father George Christodoulou, Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod, stated that the view of the Church is timeless and may sound harsh, because the philanthropic dilemmas posed may become marginal and are perceived as aphilanthropic.
"For the Church, euthanasia, whether active or passive, is considered an abstraction of life. If it is wilful, it is considered as assisted suicide. If it is not wilful, it is no different from murder", he stressed, indicating that when the issue of death is raised under discussion, the question of the principle of life is essentially raised.
CNA
