Non-profit DignitySA has lodged a motion with the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria to decriminalise medical assistance in dying for terminally ill patients facing unbearable suffering. The group argues that current common law prohibitions conflict with constitutional rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights. This follows 15 years of advocacy highlighted at a media conference in Cape Town.
DignitySA chair Professor Willem Landman and deputy Professor Joseph Raimondo announced the legal action at a media conference on Thursday at the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation in Cape Town. The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu had supported changing the law after learning of Gqeberha resident Craig Schonegevel's struggle.
Craig Schonegevel, who died by suicide on 1 October 2009 at age 28 from neurofibromatosis, had his application for assisted suicide at Dignitas in Switzerland declined. His parents, Patsy and Neville Schonegevel, attended the conference. Patsy Schonegevel said, 'Craig would have wanted this. He hoped that his death and his story would help to change legislation.'
Dieter Harck, who has Motor Neurone Disease, also spoke, expressing hope for legal change before his condition worsens. Landman described medical assistance in dying (MAiD) as aid from a healthcare practitioner at a competent patient's request for terminal or irremediable conditions.
The motion, supported by about 30 affidavits including 11 case studies and reports from 15 foreign experts and two South African doctors, names as respondents the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, National Director of Public Prosecutions, Minister of Health, and Health Professions Council of South Africa. DignitySA seeks a declaration that the blanket ban on MAiD is unconstitutional, obliging Parliament to legislate within 24 months if successful.
