Dignity and the Case in Favor of Assisted Suicide

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralf Stoecker
Keyword(s):  
Human Dignity ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Commit Suicide

Advocates of legalization of physician-assisted suicide usually argue that it is as matter of respect for human dignity that people get help in ending their lives (1) because the prohibition interferes with a fundamental liberty to conduct life according to one’s own preferences and (2) because sometimes suicide is an appropriate measure to avoid living an undignified life. In this chapter, it is argued that although the first argument is strong, the second argument is misguided. Hence, from an ethical perspective, society should not legally prohibit physician-assisted suicide. Yet, the person him- or herself should not commit suicide either. In particularly, the person should not regard such a suicide as a demand of his or her dignity.

Szasz, suicide, and medical ethics

Thomas Szasz ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 55-64
Author(s):  
George J. Annas
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Right ◽  
Suicidal Patients ◽  
Commit Suicide

Szasz objected to the medicalization of suicide, the legalization of suicide prevention, and especially the coercive role of psychiatry in this realm. He declared that, by medicalizing suicide, we banish the subject from discussion. What is meant by acceptable and unacceptable “suicide”? Who has a right to commit suicide? How does suicide implicate freedom? Does it reflect abortion jurisprudence? How do psychiatrists become suicide’s gatekeepers? Current phenomena (e.g., new physician-assisted suicide legislation) illuminate these and other issues (e.g., euthanasia, informed consent, informed refusal, the “right to die,”), all suggesting how Szasz would react to each. Suicide is legal, but is almost always considered a result of mental illness. Courts approve psychiatrists who want to commit “suicidal” patients involuntarily. Granting physicians prospective legal immunity for prescribing lethal drugs is, at best, a strange and tangential reaction to our inability to discuss suicide (and dying) rationally. Szasz got it right.

scholarly journals Guidelines for Physician-Assisted Suicide: Can the Challenge Be Met?

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl H. Coleman ◽  
Alan R. Fleischman
Keyword(s):  
American Medical Association ◽  
Medical Association ◽  
American Medical ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
Federal Court ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Direct Control ◽  
Distant Future ◽  
Commit Suicide

The question of legalizing physician-assisted suicide (PAS) has become a serious public debate. Growing interest in assisted suicide reflects a public increasingly fearful of the process of dying, particularly the prospect of dying a painful, protracted, or undignified death. PAS has been proposed as a compassionate response to unrelievable suffering, designed to give terminally or incurably ill individuals direct control over the timing, manner, and circumstances of their death. Although the American Medical Association remains firmly opposed to legalizing PAS, many physicians have begun to express support for the practice, and some have acknowledged that they have helped patients commit suicide despite the existing legal ban.As support for PAS grows, it becomes increasingly likely that the practice will be legalized in at least some states in the not-too-distant future. In 1994, Oregon voters approved a referendum legalizing PAS for competent, terminally ill patients; a federal court injunction preventing the referendum from going into effect is currently on appeal, and it is widely expected that the injunction will be lifted.

Hastened death: Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in ALS

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Russell ◽  
Zachary Simmons
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Medical Decisions ◽  
Physician Participation ◽  
Hastened Death ◽  
End Of Life Decision ◽  
Als Patients ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more than any other disease, promotes patient interest in hastened death. From an ethical perspective, end-of-life decision making should pivot on patient-centric considerations. However, medical decisions made by patients and their physicians are embedded in societal mores and the law. Opinions regarding the morality of physician participation in hastened-death and its incorporation into public policy remain sharply divided. This chapter attempts to provide a contemporary and measured review of the differing perspectives and the current status of physician participation in hastened-death. The focus will be on issues particularly relevant to ALS patients and those of us who care for them. Our primary goal is to provide for ALS clinicians a foundation upon which their individual consciences may determine whether their lawful participation in hastened-death can ever be considered an ethically permissible action or a socially acceptable policy.

Human Dignity as Concept and Lived Experience

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-557
Author(s):  
Columba Thomas ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Alternative Framework ◽  
President’S Council On Bioethics ◽  
John Paul Ii ◽  
Inherent Dignity ◽  
Edmund Pellegrino ◽  
President's Council On Bioethics

In Evangelium vitae, Pope St. John Paul II addresses euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide by striking a balance—maintaining the inherent dignity of all persons while considering the lived experience of those struggling to see dignity amidst suffering. Subsequently, a debate about the word dignity has led to clarifications from the President’s Council on Bioethics (under President George W. Bush) regarding different uses of the word. This essay relies on the work of the council, especially an essay by Edmund Pellegrino, to provide a basis for reflecting on John Paul II’s approach to dignity in Evangelium vitae in terms of concept and lived experience. To further develop these insights, an alternative framework is proposed for thinking about dignity in the practical setting.

scholarly journals EXPLORING THE CONCEPT OF UBUNTU IN RELATION TO DYING WITH DIGNITY IN PALLIATIVE AND HOSPICE CARE

Obiter ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ntokozo Mnyandu
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Hospice Care ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Dying With Dignity ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Right ◽  
Hospice And Palliative Care ◽  
Court Of Appeal

The Supreme Court of Appeal in Minister of Justice and Correctional Services v Estate Stransham-Ford raised more questions than the answers it provided. However, of note is the enquiry it made regarding the implications of palliative care in relation to whether the criminality of physician-assisted suicide and physician- administered euthanasia infringes a person’s dignity. In response, this paper aims to reconstruct – through the lens of Ubuntu – our understanding of human dignity and draw links with how the values of compassion and survival, which underpin Ubuntu, enjoin us as a re-affirmation of human dignity, to strive towards making hospice and palliative care readily available. Ultimately, this is done for the benefit of providing constitutionally sound reasons for why greater emphasis should be placed on palliative and hospice care when it comes to dying with dignity. To this effect, a conceptual framework of human dignity that is based on Ubuntu is summarised. This is done for the purpose of properly aligning the understanding of the right to dignity to one that represents our constitutional dispensation and ethos. Flowing from this is an extract of the values of compassion and survival that underpin Ubuntu. These values are then used to gain a lucid perspective, as to why – in our pursuit of providing a dignified death for terminally ill patients – greater emphasis should be placed on hospice and palliative care.

Autonomy, Human Dignity, and the Right to Healthcare: A Dutch Perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARTIN BUIJSEN
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Medical Ethics ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Ethics Policy ◽  
The Right

Dutch medical ethics policy is renowned for being highly liberal, due largely to the Dutch law on euthanasia. The Netherlands is one of the very few countries in which euthanasia performed by physicians and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) has been legalized. Acts of euthanasia and PAS go unpunished, provided certain conditions are fulfilled.

scholarly journals Counteracting Throwaway Culture in Daily Clinical Practice

2020 ◽  
pp. 002436392093608
Author(s):  
Jeffrey W. Fuchs ◽  
Joseph R. Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Daily Clinical Practice ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Pope Francis ◽  
Translation Services

Since his election in March 2013, Pope Francis has brought significant attention to the concept of “throwaway culture.” This moral paradigm—which has been defined by Francis in various speeches and the encyclical Laudato si’—characterizes a present-day culture in which food, disposable objects, and even human beings themselves are “discarded as ‘unnecessary.’” As Catholic physicians, it is our duty to ensure that we are working to counteract throwaway culture in our daily clinical practice by embracing and exhibiting a culture of encounter. When throwaway culture is discussed within the context of medical practice, it is easy to think of major life and systemic issues including abortion, assistive reproductive technology, physician assisted suicide, and so on. However, rejection of throwaway culture has much broader implications for Catholic physicians. We are called to resist this perverse culture whenever we experience a situation that requires special attention to the respect of human dignity. In this article, we present two common situations encountered in clinical practice in which it is essential to counteract throwaway culture and embrace a culture of encounter: in working with patients who are isolation settings and those who require translation services. Various studies are cited which demonstrate a lack of respect for human dignity that can be seen when working with these patient populations, and recommendations are provided which illustrate how to embrace a culture of encounter in each scenario. The authors conclude that through adoption of a culture of encounter, Catholic physicians as a community can be role models for coworkers, trainees, and students, promoting a culture in which we validate human dignity and ensure the quality and just care of even our most vulnerable patients. Summary: Pope Francis had defined a “throwaway culture” in which “Human life, the person, are no longer seen as a primary value to be respected and safeguarded.” In this article we present two common situations encountered in clinical practice in which it is essential to counteract throwaway culture and embrace a culture of encounter: in working with patients who are isolation settings and those who require translation services. We conclude that, as Catholic physicians, it is our duty to ensure that we are working to counteract throwaway culture in our daily clinical practice by embracing and exhibiting a culture of encounter.

Euthanasia and Related Practices Worldwide

Crisis ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 109-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J Kelleher † ◽  
Derek Chambers ◽  
Paul Corcoran ◽  
Helen S Keeley ◽  
Eileen Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
International Association ◽  
Active Euthanasia ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Passive Euthanasia ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
General Acceptance ◽  
International Importance ◽  
Controversial Area ◽  
Active And Passive Euthanasia

The present paper examines the occurrence of matters relating to the ending of life, including active euthanasia, which is, technically speaking, illegal worldwide. Interest in this most controversial area is drawn from many varied sources, from legal and medical practitioners to religious and moral ethicists. In some countries, public interest has been mobilized into organizations that attempt to influence legislation relating to euthanasia. Despite the obvious international importance of euthanasia, very little is known about the extent of its practice, whether passive or active, voluntary or involuntary. This examination is based on questionnaires completed by 49 national representatives of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), dealing with legal and religious aspects of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, as well as suicide. A dichotomy between the law and medical practices relating to the end of life was uncovered by the results of the survey. In 12 of the 49 countries active euthanasia is said to occur while a general acceptance of passive euthanasia was reported to be widespread. Clearly, definition is crucial in making the distinction between active and passive euthanasia; otherwise, the entire concept may become distorted, and legal acceptance may become more widespread with the effect of broadening the category of individuals to whom euthanasia becomes an available option. The “slippery slope” argument is briefly considered.

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