Right to Die

Swift but Sound Legislation Should Follow

The Supreme Court's landmark ruling on death with dignity Thursday was an inevitable ― if belated ― acceptance of reality.

At Seoul National University Hospital, for instance, up to 85 percent of people who died of cancer in 2007 faced their final moments as their family members asked medical staff not to resuscitate the terminally-ill patients. The other 15 percent might have extended their lives through meaningless ― and painful for both themselves and their beloved ones ― treatments, only because ``life must be held as dignified.'' What if being alive is far less dignified than passing away gracefully, then?

Take none of this to mean people can make light of life, including their own. And this is why the 9-4 ruling strictly ― and rightly ― restricted the conditions under which the cessation of treatment could be allowed; by including the patients' own intention and the medical experts' endorsement among prerequisites.

Most worrisome is the possibility of abusing and misusing this passive version of euthanasia, especially by patients' family members for economic and other reasons. Fortunately, experiences in countries that have long implemented this system, including the Netherlands, show there could be fewer cases of these adverse side effects than expected.

Considering the weight of this literally life and death issue, however, the nation can ill-afford to waste any more time in working out detailed principles and guidelines as well as penalties for violators. It is quite regrettable in this regard that the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family seem to be in no hurry to come up with follow-up measures. Officials must be able to discern prudence from foot-dragging.

No less significant in the top court's ruling is its expansion of one of the basic rights of people, by shifting part of the rights concerning medical care from doctors to patients, increasing the latter's autonomy. This is meaningful because how to die is as central as how to live for a person who wants to end his or her life with maximum dignity and minimum pain. And for some people, an ugly fall from prime appearance could be more unbearable than physical pain.

Humans, particularly we Koreans, have tended to regard death as the opposite to life, while in actuality the two could be two sides of the same coin and on the same spectrum. The time has long past for the nation to introduce a hospice system, in which patients with no hope of recovery could end their lives in the most peaceful, comfortable and even joyous atmosphere surrounded by their family members, both keeping fruitful feelings about their own lives and leaving the fondest of memories to their loved ones.

Currently, up to 250,000 people die in hospitals every year, meaning almost all Koreans meet their final moments in medical institutions, which are devoid of any facilities that enable the dying and their family members to share an eternal parting in a ``warmer'' atmosphere.

Korean hospitals, which have fiercely vied to attract a greater number of ``funeral customers'' with luxurious halls and reception rooms, need to make greater investment into facilities providing the most memorable final days or weeks for patients. Funerals are for the bereft, not the dead. It's time to think about how to die.