The Oireachtas Justice Committee is scrutinising the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020. This is a submission from Atheist Ireland responding to questions raised by the Committee.
Define the problem/the policy issue which the Bill is designed to address; to what extent is it an issue requiring attention?
The Bill has the potential to relieve the extreme pain, suffering and anxiety of terminally ill patients by giving them control over their own bodies.
It can increase the quality of life for terminally ill people, as they have the peace of mind of knowing that they can die peacefully when the time comes.
In addition, for those who decide to avail of this option, the ability to say goodbye properly and at a set chosen time has the potential to be of great psychological relief – for patients and loved ones alike.
We see no tension between palliative care and assisted dying. Both, we believe, are compatible with each other and can serve the interests of terminally ill people.
Indeed, assisted dying can become a natural part of a holistic palliative care process that respects the rights of terminally ill people who want to live as long as they can and those who want to die at a time of their choosing.
It can regulate a practice that is happening anyway, and will continue to happen regardless of the Bill. In reality, terminally ill people have their own ethical priorities and their own autonomy.
It can put an end to tragic cases of terminally ill patients trying to take their own lives in a painful or inhumane manner which might result in further injury and severe psychological repercussions for loved ones.
If the Bill is passed, such people would have access to reliable information, as well as psychological counselling that might result in them changing their mind.
In the wider context, a society where voluntary assisted dying is possible would be one containing less pain and suffering. In fact, it is often the case that patients who received assurances from doctors that they will assist them to die if their suffering becomes unbearable have an enhanced sense of well-being.
Conversely, the thought of their lives becoming unnecessarily drawn out seems to add an extra sense of fear, dread, and anxiety. The mere availability of voluntary assisted dying can by itself bring solace without the practice having to be provided.
What is the current policy and legislative context? Have there been previous attempts to address the issue via legislation?
Suicide was de-criminalised in 1993 but assisted suicide and euthanasia are both still illegal under Irish law, and anyone who deliberately provides assistance to someone else could potentially face a 14-year prison term on conviction.
In 2012, laws around assisted suicide were challenged by the right-to-die campaigner Marie Fleming, who was in the final stages of multiple sclerosis. She argued that the ban on assisted suicide disproportionately infringed her constitutional rights and discriminated against her, as a disabled person, under the European Convention on Human Rights. Both the High Court and the Supreme Court rejected her claim. Read more…

The right to Education

In Ireland the majority of schools are publicly funded private schools. Minorities leave their human rights at the school gate.
Here is a video on privatisation and the right to education.
“The third video is out – privatisation and the right to education.
This week’s short video on the Abidjan Principles deals with the issue of privatisation in education, one of the major contemporary dynamics that the text seeks to address. In less than 5’, you’ll find an overview of the main stakes, and how the Abidjan Principles can help States and other actors to use human rights to respond to the growing involvement of private actors in education, with some unique footages from the adoption conference and the experts and stakeholders involved.”

*|YOUTUBE: [$vid=r73H4rC95to]|*

This is from October 2020…

The Constitutional Right to leave the classroom during Religious Instruction

Most Irish schools insist that children, whose parents do not want them to attend religious instruction, must sit at the back of the class while religion is being taught. This is unconstitutional. Such children have the right to physically leave the classroom while religion is being taught.
The inalienable rights of parents
The rights of parents in relation to the Education of their Children can be found in Article 42.1 of the Constitution. It is described as an inalienable right. The Constitution uses the word inalienable sparingly. It only describes rights as inalienable in three places.

• Article 1 refers to the inalienable right of the Irish Nation to choose its own form of Government. Inalienable means not subject to being taken away from or given away by the possessor.
• Article 41.1 refers to the Family as having inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent to and superior to all positive law. Imprescriptible means they are not subject to being taken away.
• Article 42.1 refers to one of these inalienable rights of the Family, which is the inalienable right of parents to provide for the religious and moral, intellectual, physical and social education of their children.

It is not up to church or state to decide what is or is not against the conscience of parents or to decide that any particular type of religious teaching is suitable for their children.
Article 42.1 states that:

 The State acknowledges that the primary and natural educator of the child is the Family and guarantees to respect the inalienable right and duty of parents to provide, according to their means, for the religious and moral, intellectual, physical and social education of their children.

Article 44.2.4 of the Irish Constitution which is essentially about state funding for denominational schools was also meant to protect the rights of minorities in publicly funded schools. The Supreme Court has already linked together Article 42.1 and Article 44.2.4.
The right to not attend religious instruction
Article 44.2.4 states that:

Legislation providing State aid for schools shall not discriminate between schools under the management of different religious denominations, nor be such as to affect prejudicially the right of any child to attend a school receiving public money without attending religious instruction at that school.

This Article refers to students not attending religious instruction. That is different from not participating in religious instruction. It means that you have a right to physically leave the classroom. The right of students to not attend religious instruction is a condition of the funding of schools.
In addition, the Irish version of the Constitution which takes precedence over the English version refers to students not attending religious teaching as opposed to religious instruction. Under the Education Act 1998, all subjects are referred to as instruction. Students have a right to not attend any religious teaching.
The Irish version of Article 44.2.4 states that:-

Reachtaíocht lena gcuirtear cúnamh stáit ar fáil do scoileanna ní cead idirdhealú a dhéanamh inti idir scoileanna atá faoi bhainistí aicmí creidimh seachas a chéile ná í do dhéanamh dochair do cheart aon linbh chun scoil a gheibheann airgead poiblí a fhreastal gan teagasc creidimh sa scoil sin a fhreastal.

The Rules for National Schools
The next place that recognises the right of parents to ensure that their children do not attend religious instruction is in Rule 69- 2 (a) of the Rules for National Schools. This states that: Read more…

Calling concerned teachers

If you are a teacher and concerned about unwanted religious influence contact Chris at teachers@atheist.ie