Qualifying for the Right to Die - A Dubious Privilege: Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill

If circumstances permit, we believe that the terminally ill and incurable child should be given the right to die at home. The child's disease, the physical and emotional strength of the parents, the number of children in the family, and the economic situation of the family must certainly be considered. There are some parents who could not face the problem at home and we do not feel that they should be forced to do so. Quite recently we had the sad experience of treating a 4½-year-old boy with neuroblastoma.

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Right to Try and Physician Assisted Suicide: Similar or Different?

Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai Bioethica ◽

10.24193/subbbioethica.2021.spiss.80 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 66 (Special Issue) ◽

pp. 122-122

Author(s):

Andrea Martani ◽

◽

Keyword(s):

Assisted Suicide ◽

Terminally Ill ◽

The United States ◽

Right To Die ◽

Physician Assisted Suicide ◽

Terminally Ill Patients ◽

Conflicting Interests ◽

Life Circumstances ◽

Experimental Treatments ◽

The Right

"In the last few years, the debate whether terminally ill patients should have access to experimental treatments without governmental supervision has intensified. The so-called “Right-to-Try” (RTT) doctrine has become popular especially in the United States, where the federal parliament passed a bill allowing such practices. As many other policies concerning patients’ autonomy in end-of-life circumstances, the appropriateness of RTT has often been challenged. In this context, some authors recently put forward the argument that states where it is allowed to request physician assisted suicide (PAS) should also necessarily recognize a RTT. In the authors’ own words: “if states can give a terminally ill patient the right to die using medications with 100% probability of being unsafe and ineffective against his/her disease [i.e. the substances used for PAS], they should also be able to grant terminally ill patients a right to try medications with less than 100% probability of being unsafe and ineffective [i.e. ET]”. In this contribution, I will question this argument by underlying three flaws in the authors’ comparison of RTT and PAS. First, there is a fundamental distinction in the nature of the choices between the two situations concerning the (un)certainty of their outcomes. Second, the number of actors (and their potential conflicting interests) involved in these two situations is different. Third, the authors’ understanding of the object of patients’ rights in PAS is partially incorrect. I will conclude by arguing that, although reasons might exist to support RTT, such comparison with PAS is not one of them. "

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Assisted dying and Lord Falconer’s recommendations; to what extent should medical and public opinion be considered when amending the law relating to assisted dying?

The Student Journal of Professional Practice and Academic Research ◽

10.19164/sjppar.v1i1.796 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 39-46

Author(s):

Dein Lowdon ◽

Iseult McGrory ◽

Calvin Rowley ◽

Colm Taylor

Keyword(s):

Public Opinion ◽

Right To Die ◽

Assisted Dying ◽

Research Project ◽

Public Opinions ◽

Controversial Topic ◽

The Law ◽

The Uk ◽

The Right ◽

Medical Interest

Assisted dying in the UK is a controversial topic, this is due to a massive peak in public and medical interest in the topic. This is because of two recent Landmark cases Tony Nicklinson and Debbie Purdy. These campaigners for the right to die were arguing cases associated with the prosecution of their spouses assisting in their suicide which is illegal under the Suicide Act 1961.The biggest debate on assisted dying is whether you should have the right to be assisted in dying. This is a very controversial topic which has been contested by new bills presented to parliament such as Lord Falconer’s Bill: Assisted Dying (2014). This was the biggest contest ever to the law on assisted dying. The aim for our research project is to highlight issues with the law; analysing where the law that could be reformed. We will look specifically at how medical and public opinions could be considered when amending the law relating to assisted dying.

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A right to die for prisoners?

International Journal of Prisoner Health ◽

10.1108/ijph-07-2019-0036 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 56-66

Author(s):

Angelika Reichstein

Keyword(s):

Design Methodology ◽

Thought Experiment ◽

Prison Population ◽

The State ◽

Right To Die ◽

Assisted Dying ◽

Content Type ◽

Duty To Protect ◽

Utopian Thought ◽

The Right

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether, although the state has a duty to protect prisoners, there should nevertheless be a right for prisoners to decide when and how they die. Design/methodology/approach Utilising a utopian thought experiment, the paper covers a series of interrelated issues: the aims of punishment, the functions of prisons, the rights of prisoners and the responsibilities of the state towards inmates. While the paper takes a European focus, it is of interest to a global audience, as the philosophical ideas raised are universally applicable. Findings As the right to die advances in society, so should it advance for prisoners. Once assisted dying has been legalised, it should also be available for dying prisoners. Originality/value The question has so far not been analysed in depth. With an ageing prison population, however, it is vital that we start engaging with the problems posed by an ageing and dying prison population.

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The Right to Die and the Communal Body - An examination of the media influence, ethical principles and stakeholder attitudes towards assisted dying in New Zealand from a sociology in bioethics perspective

10.26686/wgtn.17072270.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Sarah Revell-Dennett

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

End Of Life ◽

Right To Die ◽

Assisted Dying ◽

Assisted Death ◽

Pain And Suffering ◽

The Media ◽

The Right ◽

Political Economic ◽

Socially Situated

<p>This thesis is based on a sociology in bioethics approach which seeks to demonstrate that the current rhetoric being used by parties on both sides of the debate is no longer useful for the realities that people are expressing or living. In sociology, the assisted dying literature has tended to focus on the social, political, economic and cultural contexts within which it is sought, and to understand the range of definitions that are used to conceptualise a good death. Bioethics literature, on the other hand, has removed the socially situated individual from ethical discussions of assisted dying. By engaging with an idea of the communal body, interpreted as a moral community who experience intersubjective realties, this thesis provides a platform to combine these two perspectives. It seeks to examine the range of possibilities for understanding the socially situated and relationally autonomous individual requesting medically-assisted death. The debate in New Zealand surrounding the right-to-die was brought to the fore in 2015 when terminally ill Lecretia Seales took a case to the High Court. Her argument sought a clarification of the current law, which would have allowed her doctor to provide life-ending medication should her pain and suffering become unbearable. Seales’ case was unsuccessful but it, along with the following events, has succeeded in bringing attention about end-of-life choices to the New Zealand public and media. The current End of Life Choice Bill, which stands before Parliament and was proposed by Member of Parliament (MP) David Seymour of the ACT Party, will once again provide a chance for these issues to be voted on by New Zealand’s elected officials. A critical analysis of provincial New Zealand media articles, across the time periods between 2002-2005 and 2012-2015, has sought to highlight the ways the media influences public perceptions of the debate and emphasises the limited discourse available. These years represent significant periods during which events in time led the media to variably describe these deaths from murders to mercy killings. Further thematic analysis (TA) of 12 interviews undertaken with stakeholders in the field of medically-assisted dying show discrepancies between lay public knowledge and informed stakeholder views. Overall, this thesis situates the communal body within the right-to-die argument in New Zealand. The results lend themselves to support a view that the current lack of available discourse has for the most part irrevocably rendered a divide between those who campaign for change and those who do not. In this thesis, I argue that by positioning itself within a sociology in bioethics approach, the right-to-die debate in New Zealand will be afforded a clearer understanding.</p>

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The Right to Die and the Communal Body - An examination of the media influence, ethical principles and stakeholder attitudes towards assisted dying in New Zealand from a sociology in bioethics perspective

10.26686/wgtn.17072270 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Sarah Revell-Dennett

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

End Of Life ◽

Right To Die ◽

Assisted Dying ◽

Assisted Death ◽

Pain And Suffering ◽

The Media ◽

The Right ◽

Political Economic ◽

Socially Situated

<p>This thesis is based on a sociology in bioethics approach which seeks to demonstrate that the current rhetoric being used by parties on both sides of the debate is no longer useful for the realities that people are expressing or living. In sociology, the assisted dying literature has tended to focus on the social, political, economic and cultural contexts within which it is sought, and to understand the range of definitions that are used to conceptualise a good death. Bioethics literature, on the other hand, has removed the socially situated individual from ethical discussions of assisted dying. By engaging with an idea of the communal body, interpreted as a moral community who experience intersubjective realties, this thesis provides a platform to combine these two perspectives. It seeks to examine the range of possibilities for understanding the socially situated and relationally autonomous individual requesting medically-assisted death. The debate in New Zealand surrounding the right-to-die was brought to the fore in 2015 when terminally ill Lecretia Seales took a case to the High Court. Her argument sought a clarification of the current law, which would have allowed her doctor to provide life-ending medication should her pain and suffering become unbearable. Seales’ case was unsuccessful but it, along with the following events, has succeeded in bringing attention about end-of-life choices to the New Zealand public and media. The current End of Life Choice Bill, which stands before Parliament and was proposed by Member of Parliament (MP) David Seymour of the ACT Party, will once again provide a chance for these issues to be voted on by New Zealand’s elected officials. A critical analysis of provincial New Zealand media articles, across the time periods between 2002-2005 and 2012-2015, has sought to highlight the ways the media influences public perceptions of the debate and emphasises the limited discourse available. These years represent significant periods during which events in time led the media to variably describe these deaths from murders to mercy killings. Further thematic analysis (TA) of 12 interviews undertaken with stakeholders in the field of medically-assisted dying show discrepancies between lay public knowledge and informed stakeholder views. Overall, this thesis situates the communal body within the right-to-die argument in New Zealand. The results lend themselves to support a view that the current lack of available discourse has for the most part irrevocably rendered a divide between those who campaign for change and those who do not. In this thesis, I argue that by positioning itself within a sociology in bioethics approach, the right-to-die debate in New Zealand will be afforded a clearer understanding.</p>

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A Dignified Death for All: How a Relational Conceptualisation of Dignity Strengthens the Case for Legalising Assisted Dying in England and Wales

Human Rights Law Review ◽

10.1093/hrlr/ngz033 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 733-751

Author(s):

Angelika Reichstein

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Private Life ◽

Right To Die ◽

Assisted Dying ◽

Human Rights Law ◽

England And Wales ◽

Global Issue ◽

Life Itself ◽

The Right ◽

Number Of Individuals

Abstract Criminalising assisted dying is irreconcilable with human dignity and condemns a small number of individuals to significant suffering. Human rights law requires the protection of privacy, but States are given some flexibility in terms of balancing the right to respect for private life with the need to safeguard life itself. The recurring cases of suffering individuals who seek legal recognition of a right to die demonstrate the need for legal change to make the law more compassionate. After introducing conflicting definitions of dignity and the human rights conflict behind a right to die, this article engages with a new idea, which strengthens the claim for the legalisation of assisted dying: relational dignity. While the permissibility of assistance to die is a global issue, this article will specifically focus on England and Wales.

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