(Archive photo: iStock)
Mmamoloko Kubayi, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, is not going to oppose the application by DignitySA to decriminalize medically assisted death and legalize it.
Kubayi says she will abide by the court’s decision and is prepared to make an affidavit to help the court reach a fair and equitable remedy, if her legal advisers believe it is necessary.
Prof. Willem Landman, co-founder of DignitySA, welcomed Kubayi’s decision. He says this is an important milestone in the organisation’s 15-year campaign to ensure South Africans with terminal illnesses who endure unbearable suffering can choose a dignified death with medical assistance.
He emphasizes that Kubayi’s decision not to oppose the application reflects a growing recognition that the current legal position is not in line with South Africa’s constitutional commitments to dignity and compassion.
Maroela Media previously reported that the organization approached the High Court in Pretoria in April and seeks with their application to declare the current common law ban on medically assisted dying unconstitutional and invalid.
Although assisted dying is legal in a number of countries, it is prohibited in South Africa. Anyone who provides assistance in this regard may be prosecuted.
The case relies heavily on fundamental rights in the Constitution, including those that protect human dignity and bodily autonomy.
Prof. Willem Landman, co-founder of DignitySA. (Elisma van der Watt/Maroela Media)
DignitySA requested the court to ask parliament to introduce the appropriate legislation legalizing assisted dying within two years. The organization also asks the court to recognize that someone’s human dignity is seriously diminished when they lose control over the way they die.
The case is made up of 10 cases that could benefit from assisted dying, statements from international medical experts from countries where it is already legal and two statements from South African doctors.
Landman referred back to adv. Robin Stransham-Ford’s experience in 2015. Stransham-Ford, who was terminally ill, approached the same court in Pretoria for permission to obtain medically assisted death.
Judge Hans Fabricius granted the application at the time, but Stransham-Ford died about two hours before the verdict was delivered.
Meanwhile, the palliative community has already indicated that medically assisted dying should not be legalized. They argue that “to kill is to harm”.
However, DignitySA maintains that medically assisted dying is not harmful and that palliative care would benefit from this method.
The EFF and some religious organizations were among those who indicated that they would try to block legalization in parliament.