Rustlings Of Pro-Death Talk In Hong Kong

Talk of euthanasia comes to Hong Kong.

Euthanasia

Written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (January 11):

Question:

In the past few years, quite a number of members of the public have relayed to me their wish that the Government would permit euthanasia (which, according to the Code of Professional Conduct for the Guidance of Registered Medical Practitioners of the Medical Council of Hong Kong, is defined as "direct intentional killing of a person as part of the medical care being offered") be performed on terminally ill patients. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether it knows the numbers of requests for euthanasia from members of the public received by the Hospital Authority in each of the past three years;

(b) whether the authorities had conducted any study in the past three years on the legalisation of euthanasia and the specific criteria for performing euthanasia; if they had, of the outcome of the study; if not, the reasons for that; and

(c) given that it is understood that certain states of the United States and some European countries now permit a terminally ill patient in clear consciousness to request his doctor to perform euthanasia on him and, upon confirmation by several doctors after assessments, the doctor will prescribe lethal drugs for consumption by the patient on his own initiative, whether the Government will draw reference from the policies adopted in these countries and conduct public consultation on whether euthanasia should be permitted in Hong Kong as well as carry out a further study; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that? more