Madrid, Spain, Oct 9, 2008 / 16:58 pm
The National Association for the Defense of the Right to Conscientious Objection said this week the proposed “Death with Dignity Law” in the Spanish region of Andalusia raises questions “that were already resolved in previous laws and norms” and instead “creates a suspicious environment against health care professionals.”
Maria Dolores Gomez Armenteros, a lawyer with the association, said human dignity is inherent in every person, and the term “death with dignity” is being used for ideological reasons.
The association said the proposed law does not provide any solutions to questions facing patients or doctors, nor does it provide healthcare facilities with funding to implement the benefits it would supposedly bring.
It also criticized the measure for a mere “indirect reference to the right to conscientious objection of doctors and other healthcare workers.” The proposed law would do nothing but “cause great insecurity among doctors and many lawsuits,” the association claimed.