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  3. Helping terminally ill people to commit suicide should be made legal under strict new safeguards, a major independent report is

Helping terminally ill people to commit suicide should be made legal under strict new safeguards, a major independent report is

admin2013-09-16  46
问题     Helping terminally ill people to commit suicide should be made legal under strict new safeguards, a major independent report is expected to recommend this week. The eagerly a-waited advice from the Commission on Assisted Dying, chaired by Lord Falconer, a former lord chancellor, is likely to criticise the current legal framework and suggest that, in some cases, those who encourage or assist another to die should no longer be threatened with prosecution. The report is certain to reignite the fierce debate between advocates and opponents of euthanasia.
    Baroness Warnock, a leading expert in medical ethics, backs a change to the law, which currently leaves someone who assists in the suicide of a friend or loved one liable to up to 14 years in prison. Warnock says that if parliament does not change the law—if "aiding or abetting suicide remains a form of murder"—then "the only remedy is to follow the Law Society’s long-standing advice and change the law of murder".
    Opponents of assisted dying say that the commission, which has members from medicine, law, academia, the police and politics, is packed with euthanasia supporters. But Warnock, who is not on the commission, says it has interviewed expert witnesses "thoroughly and conscientiously".
    Although the current law is clear that assisting someone to die is illegal, the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer, has produced guidelines to clarify when an individual might not face prosecution. These suggest that relatives acting on compassionate grounds are unlikely to go to jail, but those acting in a professional capacity, such as doctors or nurses, are much more likely to face charges.
    Those backing a change in the law accept they are unlikely to convince the current government to push their recommendations through parliament. But they hope the report will help make the case for change. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "The government believes that any change to the law in this emotive and contentious area is an issue of individual conscience and a matter for parliament to decide, rather than government policy. "
    Warnock says that the status quo is not satisfactory. "For one thing, the law classes together the actions of some one who broadcasts encouragement to suicide to the world at large with one who agonisingly decides that, out of compassion, when asked to do so, he must help a person he loves to escape from suffering. For another thing, the only people who may not be exempt from prosecution are professionals, doctors or nurses, who are the only people with the knowledge to be sure of success. Nothing could be more terrible than a clumsy suicide, a terminally ill person determined to die brought back to yet more horrible life. "
The government’s attitude to the change in the law can be described as one of______.
选项 A、disapproval
B、appreciation
C、tolerance
D、evasiveness
答案D
解析 第五段首先指出，支持修改现行法律的人认为他们不能说服政府通过议会支持他们的主张；随后引用司法部发言人话语指出，政府认为现行法律修改问题应当由议会来决定，与政府政策无关。由此可推知，政府对现行法律修改问题不置可否，处于含糊其辞的态度，[D]选项正确。
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