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The human rights activist Cecilia Heyder positively valued the advance in Congress of the bill of “A dignified death and palliative care”, which, fulfilling certain conditions established in the initiative, seeks to allow a person to decide and request medical assistance to die.
With 79 votes in favor, 54 against and five abstentions, the initiative was approved yesterday, Thursday, by the Chamber of Deputies and Deputies and returned to the Health Commission for discussion in particular, since various modifications were introduced during the parliamentary debate.
Patient with breast cancer, lupus, and now septicemia from factor VII deficiency, Cecilia told Cooperative his desire to die with dignity after years of suffering that he says he can no longer tolerate.
“My children support me 100 percentThey are the only witnesses who have seen me arrive very badly at the emergency service, who have seen me for two years as my health has deteriorated “, said Heyder, by telephone, from the San José Hospital.
“It is brutal, very few doctors empathize with the patient. The health system that we have in Chile is cruel and indolent, where the sick are practically abandoned. You go to a doctor, where another and everyone tells you ‘we don’t know what to do with you,’ “the woman said.
The daughter of Osvaldo Heyder, Army captain executed by the civic-military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) after refusing to assassinate innocents, celebrated that the discussion of the project has resurfaced: “I had been sleeping in a drawer of Congress for six years and I think it is fantastic that this issue has finally been touched upon.”
“I hope it is not long term and that it is approved later”, he emphasized.
DEPUTY MIROSEVIC, DRIVER: THE TOPIC “WAS BANNED IN THE CONGRESS”
The project in question establishes legal regulations to allow the wishes of the patients are always respected and it ensures that those who are in a terminal state or with severe non-cancer pain have the right to receive palliative care aimed at reducing it.
Only in case a person has been diagnosed with a serious and irremediable health problem and also comply with all the requirements established in the legislative text, you may request professional assistance to end your life.
Some of the requirements stipulated in the proposal are that Two doctors must diagnose the disease or ailment, be over 18 years of age, be aware when making the decision and in full use of their mental faculties, a matter that must be certified by a specialist.
Medical teams, under the proposal, will also have the right to be conscientious objectors, while the patient who decides to request medical assistance must designate one or more trusted persons, of legal age and classified by order of preference and priority, to inform the doctor of the patient’s wishes.
The deputy of the Liberal Party and one of the promoters of the project, Vlado Mirosevic, declared this Friday to Cooperative that when he presented the initiative in 2014, “Chile was a very different country from today. It was one of the most conservative countries in Latin America. Before it was a taboo on the subject of death, and talking about medical assistance to die was completely prohibited in Congress. ”
“Yesterday we achieved a majority that is unprecedented and quite historical; a majority in favor of freedoms, which speaks of a society that has changed a lot and for the better, that has become aware of its own individual freedom “, he claimed.
The project contemplates the signing of a declaration of advance directive to access medical assistance to die.
DETRACTORS ASK FOR EMPOWERING PALLIATIVE CARE
In yesterday’s session, a large number of deputies participated who, on the one hand, they valued the possibility of incorporating into the legislation this norm that would aim to guarantee the right to a dignified life and autonomy in decision-making.
However, there were those who criticized the measure, ensuring that palliative care needs to be further enhanced and rejected by 74 votes in favor, 61 against and four abstentions that minors can access medical assistance to die (It needed 89 votes in favor because it is a standard of constitutional organic law).
The deputy of the Christian Democracy Jorge Sabag, who voted against, asked the Government today “to urge the palliative care project”.
“In general, our legislation does not guarantee palliative care. It has been shown that almost 99 percent of seriously ill patients with palliative care change their decision to cause euthanasia or hasten death,” said the legislator.
