But days earlier, another mother, Frances Inglis, was given a life sentence with a minimum of nine years in jail for giving her severely disabled son a lethal heroin injection, after a road accident had left him with brain damage.
但就在那案件宣判的几天前,另一位母亲,法兰西斯·英格利斯则被判终身监禁,至少入狱九年后才能申请假释。事源她为交通意外导致大脑受损而严重残废的儿子注射致命剂量的海洛因。
Britain's chief public prosecutor has issued interim guidelines on whether to bring charges against people who help their loved ones to die, and invited public comment. He's due to publish his final guidelines soon.
就应否起诉协助亲人爱眷终结生命的人,英国首席检察官已发表了一份中期指引,并征询各界意见,而最终的指引将会很快出版。
Dr Philip Nitschke is a well-known advocate of legal assisted suicide. He says in 1995, the Northern Territory became the first 9)jurisdiction in the world to allow assisted suicide, under strict conditions.
菲利普·尼什克医生是主张“协助自杀合法化”的著名活跃分子。他表示,在1995年,(澳大利亚的)北领地成为全世界首个允许在符合严格条件的情况下施行协助自杀的司法管辖权的地区。
Philip Nitschke: That didn't last long—eight months—and then that was overturned by federal government, and the federal government passed law then that said that territories couldn't make such laws. And everyone went back into the relatively same situation that suicide is not a crime. It's been 10)decriminalised in all jurisdictions, but anyone who assists usually is subject to fairly savage penalties.
菲利普·尼什克:但为时不久,仅仅八个月后就被联邦政府推翻,而且联邦政府还立法规定各领地不能制定类似的法例。大家又退回到大同小异的境地:自杀不算犯法,所有司法管辖权里,自杀都已非刑事化,但是任何人协助他人自杀则通常会被严刑论处。
Porter: However, Dr Nitschke says the states and territories have tried to deal with the right to refuse treatment.
波特:但是,尼什克医生说,各州各领地已着手处理病人“拒绝医治”这一权利。
Nitschke: They vary in their…how broad they are and how, if you like, patient-friendly they are. The most recent one to pass and be enacted was Western Australia a couple of weeks ago. But that's to do with refusing treatment, it's not about allowing someone to get help to die—you can't go and ask for help to die. All you can say is, “I don't want that treatment.”
尼什克:各地做法也有些差别……涵盖面不一样,而且,这样说吧,“病人舒适度”也不一样。最近通过立法的是西澳地区,几个星期前的事。但那谈的是拒绝医治,并非说允许某人寻求他人协助结束生命——你不能叫人帮忙寻死。你只能说,“我不愿意接受那治疗了。”
Porter: Recently, Tasmania, South Australia, and Victoria all tried to introduce legislation similar to the original Northern Territory law and more attempts are being planned.
波特:最近,塔斯马尼亚、南澳、维多利亚地区都着手立法,采用北领地类似的相关法律,更多地区也纷纷计划仿效。
Nitschke: The one that's coming up next is probably going to be South Australia and that's probably got the most chance of passing.
尼什克:下一个尝试立法的很可能是南澳地区,通过的机率很高。
That law will be a very strictly controlled variation on what the territory had. You'll have to be just about dead to qualify, but if you do qualify a doctor will be lawfully able to give you the drugs that will be needed to allow you to die.
那是在该地区旧有法规基础上变改并加以严格控制的新例。要快死了的人才符合资格,而如果真的是合资格,那么医生就能合法地给你施药让你安然离世。
Porter: As in Britain, the euthanasia debate here is far from over.
波特:跟在英国的情况一样,关于安乐死的讨论在澳大利亚也远未结束。