Berry, Kieran Courtney. “On The Basis of Suffering: The Legal and Ethical Reasons Why Persons with Unbearable Suffering from Psychiatric Illness Should Be Eligible for Assisted Dying Under the End-of-Life Choice Act 2019” The University of Auckland, 2021.

In this academic article the main idea is revolved around the end-of-life choice act (EOLCA). Courtney Kieran Berry, a Master of Law graduate who works as a legal and research counsel for the office of the chief coroner in New Zealand, explains how assisted dying is permissible if: a competent person requests it, they already have a terminal illness likely to end their life within six months, and they experience unbearable pain. She then goes on to explain that EOLCA unlawfully discriminates against people who have psychiatric illnesses because there is no reason to turn someone suffering from mental disorder away if they are suffering just as much. This academic article will be helpful for me in my paper because Berry exhibits how there is no legal or ethical reason to prohibit people with unbearable suffering from mental disorders from assisted suicide.

– “If the primary justification for assisted dying is to relieve suffering, then there is no justification for Parliament to exclude people with unbearable suffering from a psychiatric illness” (Berry).

– “Consequently, persons suffering unbearably from a grievous and irremediable psychiatric illness cannot access assisted dying to end their suffering. The exclusion occurs, not just by application of the eligibility criteria but, is also Parliament’s express intention” (Berry).