Misleading language diminishes the seriousness of assisted suicide

An assisted suicide Bill, the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020, is currently being considered in the Republic of Ireland and one ethicist has warned about misleading language.

Medical Ethics lecturer Noreen O’Carroll states “assisted suicide and euthanasia are labelled and packaged attractively in the Dying with Dignity Bill through the use of euphemistic terms that obscure important ethical and empirical distinctions.”

The lecturer stresses that legislation doesn’t just apply to patients, but to medical professionals, families, and society as a whole adding that the wider consequences of such a law would be profound on those who do not want to participate on moral grounds.

When Irish politician Gino Kenny introduced the Bill he argued that “assisted dying should not be conflated with suicide and that a terminally ill, mentally capable patient who wants to end their life is not suicidal.”

However, a nationwide strategy, Connecting for Life, published jointly by Ireland’s Department of Health, the HSE, the National Suicide Prevention Office, and Health Ireland defines suicide with its root meaning “to kill oneself”.

The foreword to the strategy states “suicide prevention is everybody’s concern… since suicide is a whole-of-society issue, we’re taking a whole-of-Government approach."

A spokesperson for CARE commented:

“We believe we have a duty to protect those who are vulnerable, and therefore assist people to live, not commit suicide. We want to see truly compassionate approaches to care at the end of life being articulated in policy.

“Language can be a powerful tool. It has the potential to influence individuals to act and think in particular ways. The language used in this Republic of Ireland Bill – and legislation currently being considered in the UK – masks the truth of what it represents.”