Torture‚ pain‚ suicide‚ lies and compassionate doctors illegally ending suffering people’s lives will be the subject of discussions at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on Friday as it examines whether euthanasia should be legal. For 17 years‚ Parliament ignored a 1998 Law Reform Commission report that explored whether or not terminally ill people‚ with intractable suffering‚ should be allowed to request a doctor’s help to die. In his last six days of life‚ a dying man forced the issue to be heard by the High Court in Pretoria‚ in a case that could ultimately change South African law. On April 22 2015‚ Cape Town advocate Robin Stransham-Ford‚ suffering with cancer‚ filed an urgent application to allow a doctor to help him end his life. Six-days later‚ his case was heard by Judge Hans Fabricius‚ when Stransham-Ford was already in a coma. He died the next day‚ just hours before judgment on April 29. The judge ruled specifically on his case‚ allowing him to ask a doctor for help. On Fr...
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