By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The Supreme Court's ruling Thursday to allow a woman suffering from terminal stage cancer in a coma to be removed from life support is expected to provide fresh momentum for the move to revise the Medical Law.
With the court requesting guidelines on dealing with similar cases in the future, some doctors, civic groups and politicians are claiming it is time to implement a law respecting a person's right to make decisions about his or her own health, and reject ``meaningless treatment.'' They say unless a law is implemented, many similar lawsuits will be filed that will haunt doctors and families for years to come.
Rep. Shin Sang-jin of the ruling Grand National Party submitted a bill in February that would allow the suspension of treatment for patients who are critically ill with no hope of recovery, and where continued treatment would only lead to more pain. He said that before a ``death with dignity'' law is established, a committee should be formed and other steps taken to ensure that people do not abuse it.
Shin noted, ``It's time we talked about such death with dignity for human dignity's sake. It has been taboo for too long. Even religious circles, which have been negative about euthanasia, agree that such a stoppage of treatment is necessary in some cases,'' he said.
Shin said he was quite confident that the bill will pass. His fellow lawmaker Kim Se-yeon and opposition assemblywoman Jeon Hyun-heui are also preparing similar bills.
Prof. Heo Dae-seog of Seoul National University Hospital said the ruling has paved the way for a revision of the law. His hospital has decided to accept ``Do Not Resuscitate'' (DNR) documents from patients suffering from terminal stage cancer.
Since SNU is considered the best in the country, it's expected that other hospitals will follow suit. However, since there is no law backing it, DNR documents are not yet legally binding.
``The court has provided a precedent and the SNU hospital has set out some guidelines. Now it is up to the Assembly to make it legal,'' he said.
Health Minister Jeon Jae-hee said Thursday it was time the public started talking about the issue. But she remained on the fence when asked whether the bill will pass in the Assembly. ``As far as I know, every single lawmaker has his or her opinion about the issue,'' she said. She also said the government wouldn't be pushing a revision.