After much anticipation, Chairwoman of the House human rights committee, Irene Charalambidou, presented a bill on euthanasia on Friday, setting the stage for what is expected to be a heated debate among MPs.
“Death is a given. We respect the human right for patients to choose how they wish to go,” Charalambidou said during a press conference.
The Akel MP noted that 30 Cypriots have traveled to Switzerland to take advantage of the country’s euthanasia and medically assisted suicide laws. She added that she wanted to publicly present the bill to prevent misinformation on the topic.
She admitted it is a sensitive topic and should thus be treated with the necessary seriousness.
The aim of the bill is to give individuals the right “to leave the way they choose they want to. It’s not a matter of life and death. Death is a given.”
Minors are excluded from the bill, as involving adults in the decision on behalf of a child would complicate matters, she said. The proposal applies to patients in their final stages, allowing them to make decisions about their own deaths.
She stressed that the decision would rest solely with the patient, not with any family member or close relative. “Not even a first-degree relative can make this decision,”
The bill includes several safeguards, such as consultations with a medical board, psychologists and psychiatrists, to ensure that the decision is being made for valid medical reasons. This aims to prevent the bill from being misused to legalise suicides driven by non-medical issues.
It would also exclude individuals in a coma or those unable to make decisions for themselves.
Even if no one in Cyprus chooses to exercise medically assisted suicide, the public should be given the right to make that choice, Charalambidou said.
Importantly, no doctor or medical practitioner would be forced to participate in the procedure if they do not wish to. A special register will be created for practitioners who are willing to perform euthanasia.
The House human rights committee has discussed the matter twice before with strong reactions, Charalambidou underlined.
Amid expectations of strong reactions from the church, the MP said a law on the same matter has been passed in Spain and Portugal, both Catholic countries with strong religious sentiments.
A study revealed that 12 countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands, have legalised euthanasia or medically assisted suicide. Additionally, four other countries – France, England, Slovenia, and Ireland – are currently engaged in advanced debates on the issue. In Austria, the law was passed following a court ruling in favour of a person seeking euthanasia.
The proposed law also includes provisions for palliative care as a preferred option for the patient, though euthanasia would be considered as a last-resort measure.
Charalambidou shared that she has personally witnessed the difficulty of seeing loved ones suffer at the end of their lives three times, which strengthened her belief in the right to choose one’s own death.
The debate surrounding euthanasia was brought closer to home after the trial of British pensioner David Hunter who, in December 2021, suffocated his wife, Janice, to death in their Paphos home when she was 74 and suffering from MDS, a form of blood cancer.
According to Hunter, his wife had begged him to end her life due to her unbearable suffering.
After ending his wife’s life, Hunter attempted suicide but was found by police and later received medical treatment.
Faced with the killing of his wife, he went to trial. He was acquitted of premeditated murder but found guilty of manslaughter. Hunter was then released after serving 19 months in prison while awaiting trial.
