Doctor’s 18 Year-Term for Consensual Killing of ALS Patient Upheld

The Osaka High Court on Monday 25th November upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a doctor, Yoshikazu Okubo, aged 46, to 18 years in prison for the consensual killing of a woman, Yuri Hayashi, 51, who had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare neurological disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2019 in western Japan. The defense for 46-year-old Yoshikazu Okubo had argued that finding him guilty of murder would violate the Constitution’s right to self-determination. But the high court rejected the appeal, stating that the Constitution presumes the right to life but does not recognize a “right to seek assistance from others to end one’s life.” Okubo was found guilty by the Kyoto District Court in March of administering a lethal dose of a sedative to Yuri Hayashi, 51, in her Kyoto apartment on Nov. 30, 2019, at her request. Yuri Hayashi kept a Twitter account and a blog – both of which have since been deleted – detailing her last months of being alive and her desire to end her life. Episode Notes: 'Doctor’s 18 Year-Term for Consensual Killing of ALS Patient Upheld': https://barrierfreejapan.com/2024/11/25/doctors-18-year-term-for-consensual-killing-of-als-patient-upheld/