Dommerne konkluderede at retten til liv ikke er udtryk for at livet er en pligt, men til gengæld har den implicitte forudsætning at livet kan leves under værdige vilkår, og altså ikke blot som biologisk eksistens. At nogle menneskers religiøse uenighed her ikke kan være udslaggivende for andre.
Da det er en absolut ret for et menneske selv at måtte afslutte et ubærligt liv, kan det ikke være forbudt med lægens hjælp hertil. Det helt centrale er patientens ønsker, og evne til selvstændigt at træffe en beslutning. Lægen må selvfølgelig ikke have andre motiver end at hjælpe patienten, og ikke have alternativer der kunne sikre patientens værdighed til det sidste.
For første gang er en udlænding nu på vej til at benytte sig af disse humane vilkår. Altså ser det ud til at Colombia, på lignende vilkår som Schweiz, kan blive et godt rejsemål for mennesker med behov for en lidt hurtigere død end hvad en svær sygdom tilsiger. Aktiv dødshjælp er en meget pænere måde end selv at arrangere et brutalt selvmord.
PRESS RELEASE
Last Wish Granted, the Colombian organization that has been quietly referring their members in Colombia to physicians for end of life consultations, has accepted their first international member for a medical referral.
Last Wish Granted follows the guidelines put in place by the Constitutional Court of Colombia’s C-239-97 decision which disallows criminal penalties to physicians who have medically assisted a patient to die if the terminal patient has expressed his unequivocal wish to die.
Asked about the legality of accepting foreign nationals into their membership ranks, Carlos Martel, Director of Last Wish Granted, says, “For years, Colombia has been a destination of choice for patients who take advantage of its excellent practitioners and superior medical infrastructure. No one has to be a Colombian national to take advantage of those services and they don’t have to be for these either, specially since the Constitutional Court did not address the nationality of the terminal patient in their landmark 1997 decision. It is simply not an issue.”
In order to be referred to a physician for a consultation, you are required to be a member of Last Wish Granted, send a complete medical history about your actual medical condition, and, be accepted by the physician for a consultation.
For further inquiries, write to: ContactLWG@yahoo.com
—Carlos Martel, Director, Last Wish Granted
- Assisted-Suicide Blog:
Group in Colombia (S.America) guiding physician-assisted suicides - Associated Press:
Euthanasia regularly practiced in Colombia
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