Democratic Party for the People Chairman Tamaki’s comments “We will review medical care for the elderly， especially end-of-life care， in order to lower social security insurance premiums．．．and also legalize dignified death” have caused a stir．
Comments made by Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, at a party leaders’ debate held at the Japan National Press Club on October 12, 2024, ahead of the House of Representatives election (nominations announced on the 15th, voting on the 27th) regarding the “legalization of dignified death” have caused a stir. Mr. Tamaki has been busy responding to the situation, including making explanations about his own actions. ■ “We have also begun to review medical care for the elderly, especially end-of-life care.” The debate was attended by seven leaders of ruling and opposition parties, including the new president of the Liberal Democratic Party, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, and involved discussions. What is causing a stir is Tamaki’s argument for a “review of end-of-life medical care, including the legalization of euthanasia.” Tamaki said, “In order to lower social security premiums, we have also begun to review medical care for the elderly, especially end-of-life care. “This includes legalizing death with dignity,” he said, adding, “I believe that taking these measures, as well as reducing medical care benefits and social insurance payments for young people, will stimulate consumption and encourage the next virtuous cycle and wage increases.” “I realized how difficult it is to explain things in such a short time.” There has been much discussion surrounding “death with dignity,” a delicate topic that concerns life and death. In this context, Tamaki’s discussion of dignified death in relation to social insurance premiums drew a series of criticisms on social media. On the evening of the 12th, after the debate had ended, Tamaki explained through his account, “At the Japan National Press Club, I mentioned the review of end-of-life medical care, including the legalization of death with dignity, and I received criticism and comments such as, will we abandon treatment for the elderly in order to reduce medical costs? However, the legalization of death with dignity is not something that is being done in order to reduce medical costs.” Regarding euthanasia, he explained, “It is a matter of an individual’s right to self-determination, so among our key policies we have deliberately positioned it under the heading of human resource development, rather than under the heading of reducing social insurance premiums.” Regarding the criticism he received, he said, “I had to explain everything in one minute today, so I apologize for the rough explanation. “I realized how difficult it is to explain this in such a short amount of time,” he said, adding, “I would like to reiterate that I view death with dignity as a matter of the right to self-determination.” “It’s not that we should allow dignified death in order to reduce the burden of social insurance premiums.” Tamaki has previously expressed his views on dignified death. At a press conference announcing key policies on September 20, he stated, “We would also like to undertake a review of end-of-life medical care, including the legalization of dignified death.” “As a result, I believe this will lead to a reduction in medical expenses and a lighter burden in social insurance premiums,” he said, but added, “However, this does not mean that we should allow euthanasia in order to reduce the burden of social insurance premiums.” “The reason we deliberately wrote it here (in the section on human development) is because (death with dignity) is about ’how a person lives,’ ’how one ends one’s life’…it is something that relates to ’way of life,’ how one spends one’s final moments as a parent, grandparent, etc.,” he explained. He continued, “This is what is known as ACP, advance care planning (an initiative in which the patient, family members and other close people, and medical professionals repeatedly discuss in advance the medical treatment and care to be received in the final stages of life). “I have set out here that we will firmly establish such family meetings and legislate them, and will review how we spend our final days.” Posted on 10/13 (Sun) 11:46 Yuichiro Tamaki (Representative of the Democratic Party for the People) @tamakiyuichiro ★1: 2024/10/13 (Sun) 23:13:37.33.
>>1 [Important] “We would also like to work on reviewing end-of-life care, including legalizing death with dignity.” “As a result, I think this will lead to reduced medical expenses and a reduction in the burden of social insurance premiums.” “As a result, this will lead to a reduction in the burden.” Tamaki has consistently stated that the most important issues are reducing the burden on the working generation and imposing a fair burden on the elderly. That’s pretty much all there has been recently, and “death with dignity” was one of the topics discussed. No doubt, what is in mind is “death with dignity,” aimed at reducing social security burdens. That should never happen. At the very least, the explanations given so far do not clear up the suspicions.
>>1 I think it’s worth discussing. What do you think about forcing someone over 90 years old, who is practically dead, to live by connecting them to tubes? Don’t sacrifice young people to make doctors profitable.
>>1 That’s not going to cut medical costs, much less the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare cut insurance premiums. Tamaki is intentionally mixing up different stories to pander to the finance bureaucrats. What a dirty guy.
I think it is necessary to draw a line as to how far medical care should be provided. I wonder if treatment simply to keep the heart beating is a bad idea.
I want a euthanasia system. When I become unemployed, I want to die quickly and peacefully so as not to cause trouble for my family. I hope they enact a euthanasia system soon.
I can trust Yamamoto Taro’s “abolition of the consumption tax” because he’s been saying it ever since the party was founded, but Tamaki is a liar who changes his pledges every election, so I really can’t trust anything.
The issue of nursing care for the elderly has been an issue for a while. Someone had to say something, but all the politicians are silent. They can get good care because they have money, but for ordinary people who can no longer receive that, they should at least give them a place to die peacefully.
This is certainly true. The idea that the longer you live, the better is clearly a distorted value. Wasting the lives of young people to care for the elderly is far removed from the true nature of life.
>>47 I heard that a nurse I know has been a nurse for 20 years. She said that because nurses have a tough job, they’re secretly happy to have easy-going patients like that.
>>61 I really think so I hope a big movement happens My perspective is completely different, but I once voted for the Euthanasia Party, but the results were terrible, so I guess there’s still a negative reaction outside of 5ch. But that’s what I thought.
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