Ireland is continuing the suicide drive into oblivion, despite the Paki PM resigning after anti-immigrant violence.
The defeat of two referenda to remove the word woman from the constitution and alter the legal definition of what constitutes a family under Irish law appears not to have blunted progressives in Ireland. On Thursday, March 21st, the legalisation of euthanasia passed a crucial milestone in the Irish Parliament (Oireachtas).
Initiated by Trotskyist MP (TD) Gino Kenny in 2020, and finding tacit support among the Republic’s ruling centrist parties, the parliament’s “Committee on Assisted Dying” rubber-stamped plans to introduce both euthanasia and assisted dying for the terminally ill.
Currently, euthanasia is the latest target of a decade of liberalisation, which has undermined the Catholic ethos behind Irish law. This latest effort follows the legalisation of abortion and same-sex marriage by popular vote in 2018 and 2015, respectively.
It is unknown whether the Irish government will be required to hold a referendum to legalise euthanasia. However, the governing parties are unlikely to rush a bill through parliament before the next election, at which point liberal legislators will have to begin the process again.
Ireland’s era of liberal referenda could be at an end, however, with the ruling Fine Gael party admitting that future votes could risk populist backlashes as migration quickly becomes the defining issue of Irish politics.
The moves to legalise euthanasia have been opposed by the Catholic Church as well as conservative lawmakers such as Senator Ronan Mullen, who previously campaigned against the ideological capture of the committee deciding on the matter.
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Euthanasia is currently legal in five European countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and more recently, Germany and Spain. The Dutch system has attracted particular notoriety for its leniency and willingness to kill patients with psychiatric rather than terminal illnesses.
Many testifying before the Irish Parliament have warned that Ireland could follow the Dutch example, with the use of the phrase ‘foreseeable death’ being questioned by anti-euthanasia activist Janie Lazar.
A viral video of one of Ireland’s foremost legal experts, Professor William Binchy, clashing with one progressive senator has already attracted mainstream attention, while conservatives warn that the process around euthanasia has been hijacked by liberal parliamentarians.
Senator Lynn Ruane rudely harangues Prof William Binchy of the Pro-Life Campaign in this clip. She even accuses him of being a ‘white, privileged man’ (thereby singling out his race, class and sex). pic.twitter.com/qkzcBh15j4
— David Quinn (@DavQuinn) November 9, 2023
Regardless, the risk of an election and the shock resignation of the Republic’s liberal prime minister, Leo Varadkar, are likely to stall the country’s march towards liberalism, at least temporarily. Most pundits predict a general election within the next 12 months.
The government killing people is such a nasty business.
I remember when that Armenian guy was killing people in the United States in the 1990s, this was a huge scandal.
Now it’s considered “human rights”?
Government-enforced suicide?