scholarly journals Why Using Religious Arguments in the Euthanasia Discussion is Problematic

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-136
Author(s):  
Theodoor A. Boer
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Assisted Dying ◽  
Specific Position ◽  
Dutch Experience

In discussions about assisted dying (euthanasia, assisted suicide), those who argue ‘against’ legalisation often reason from a religious angle, whereas those ‘in favour’ adopt a secular stance. The Dutch experience is more nuanced: here, euthanasia advocacy largely originated from protestant religious believers. In this contribution, I criticise the use of religious arguments favouring any specific position. Religion may provide a heuristic context to explore norms relevant in the discussion, and religion may help us formulate our personal stance. But when it comes to societal debates (often focusing on whether or not to legalise euthanasia), we should concentrate on legal, societal, empirical, and ethical arguments that are understandable to all.

19. Medical Assistance in Dying

2019 ◽  
pp. 615-665
Author(s):  
G. T. Laurie ◽  
S. H. E. Harmon ◽  
E. S. Dove
Keyword(s):  
Medical Treatment ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Double Effect ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Assisted Dying ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Medical Assistance ◽  
Philosophical Concept ◽  
Medical Assistance In Dying ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter discusses ethical and legal aspects of euthanasia and assisted dying. It first examines the non-voluntary termination of life, covering the relationship between medical treatment and assistance in dying as a matter of failure to treat, and the philosophical concept of ‘double effect’. The chapter then discusses activity and passivity in assisted dying; dying as an expression of patient autonomy; suicide and assisted suicide; physician-assisted suicide; and assisted dying in practice.

Physician-Assisted Suicide: Where to Draw the Line?

2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERNLÉ W.D. YOUNG
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Assisted Dying ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Assisted Death ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Moral Distinction ◽  
Physician Assisted Dying ◽  
Hippocratic Tradition

In brief compass, I will touch on three of the central ethical and public policy issues that divide those who are opposed to physician-assisted dying from those who are supportive of this practice. These are: (1) the moral distinction (if any) between actively hastening death and passively allowing to die; (2) how to interpret the Hippocratic tradition in medicine with respect to physician-assisted death; and (3) whether physician-assisted suicide can be effectively regulated. I shall summarize the arguments pro and con with respect to each issue, and also indicate my own position.

Parliamentary Report

2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-81
Author(s):  
Frank Cranmer
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Assisted Dying ◽  
Considerable Controversy ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Government ◽  
Travel Abroad ◽  
Do So

The issue of assisted suicide has been a matter of considerable controversy. On 9 December 2008 the incoming Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, announced that he would not prosecute Mark and Julie James for taking their son Daniel, paralysed as a result of a rugby accident, to an assisted-dying clinic in Switzerland. At the same time, Margo MacDonald MSP has been attempting to change the law in Scotland, where assisting the suicide of another is a common law offence. During the Lords committee stage of the Coroners and Justice Bill Lord Falconer moved a new clause to make it legal to help another to travel to a country in which assisted dying was lawful, in circumstances where that person had made a formal declaration of intent to travel abroad in order to die and two doctors, independent of each other, had certified that that person was terminally ill and had the necessary mental capacity to make the declaration. For the Government, Lord Bach said that Ministers felt that the Bill was not the appropriate vehicle for changing the law on assisted suicide and suggested that if Falconer wished to pursue the matter further he should do so through a Private Member's Bill – and the new clause was duly defeated by 194 votes to 141.

Adherence to the Request Criterion in Jurisdictions Where Assisted Dying is Lawful? A Review of the Criteria and Evidence in the Netherlands, Belgium, Oregon, and Switzerland

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 885-898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penney Lewis ◽  
Isra Black
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Medical Professional ◽  
Voluntary Euthanasia ◽  
Assisted Dying ◽  
Do So ◽  
Regulatory Sanctions

Some form of assisted dying (voluntary euthanasia and/or assisted suicide) is lawful in the Netherlands, Belgium, Oregon, and Switzerland. In order for individual instances of assisted dying to be lawful in these jurisdictions, a valid request must precede the provision of assistance to die. Non-adherence to the criteria for valid requests for assisted dying may be a trigger for civil and/or criminal liability, as well as regulatory sanctions where the assistor is a medical professional.In this article, we review the criteria and evidence in respect of requests for assisted dying in the Netherlands, Belgium, Oregon, and Switzerland. Our aim is to establish whether individuals who receive assisted dying do so on the basis of valid requests.

scholarly journals En kritisk granskning av Oregonmodellen

2020 ◽  
pp. 275-290
Author(s):  
Anne-Berit Ekström ◽  
Mikaela Luthman
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Nordic Countries ◽  
Suitable Model ◽  
Assisted Dying ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Last Stage ◽  
Safe Model

The so-called Oregon model has been described as a more attractive and safer alternative for assisted dying than the controversial euthanasia laws in the Benelux countries. Many advocates of assisted dying believe that the Oregon model, which implies physician-assisted suicide, is better adapted to Swedish (Nordic) conditions. In order to be able to offer assisted dying according to the Oregon model, seven criteria must be met. In this chapter, we will analyse the criteria and examine whether the practices of the Oregon model meet them. Is it a safe model to help severely ill people from suffering during their very last stage of life? To what extent can the model guarantee security and justice for those involved? Finally, we want to investigate whether it can be a suitable model for the Nordic countries.

scholarly journals Er det at blive gammel tilstrækkelig årsag til dødshjælp?

2020 ◽  
pp. 235-247
Author(s):  
Søren Holm
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Elderly People ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Assisted Dying ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Wish To Die ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Vulnerable Elderly

A proposal put forth in the Dutch Parliament suggests that anyone over the age of 75 should have a legally guaranteed right to physician-assisted suicide if they wish to die, unless the wish is the result of a mental illness. This chapter discusses three questions about the relationship between age and entitlement to assisted dying: 1) are there good reasons to introduce a purely age-determined criterion for a right to assisted dying; 2) would such an age criterion lead to problematic discrimination against the elderly, or alternatively to discrimination against people who are too young to meet the criterion; and 3) what is the relationship between an age criterion and a postulated duty to choose assisted dying in specific situations. The discussion of these three issues shows that there are no good reasons for introducing an age criterion for the right to die, that an age criterion is potentially discriminatory to both the elderly and the young, and that introducing an age criterion could lead to problematic pressure against vulnerable elderly people.

scholarly journals UK Public’s Views and Perceptions About the Legalisation of Assisted Dying and Assisted Suicide

2020 ◽  
pp. 003022282094725
Author(s):  
Panagiotis Pentaris ◽  
Lucy Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Assisted Dying ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Convenience Sampling ◽  
Views And Perceptions ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Religious Aspects ◽  
Public Views

Current debates about assisted dying and assisted suicide cover a series of medical, legal, moral, ethical and religious aspects. Yet, public views on the subject remain underexplored and, therefore, not always accounted for in the formation of public policy. This paper reports on empirical data from a cross-sectional study in the UK in 2019, which examines public views about the legalisation of assisted dying and assisted suicide, by means of a self-administered Qualtrics-based survey (self-devised vignettes). A combination of simple random and convenience sampling was used. Participants (n = 297) state their preference that both assisted dying and assisted suicide should be legalised in the UK (n = 70%), while doctors should be legally allowed to support such wishes of patients with an incurable and painful illness from which they will die (n = 62.22%). The paper concludes that public opinion needs to be further accounted for in policymaking and discourses regarding patient autonomy and dignity of care.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Muders
Keyword(s):  
Human Dignity ◽  
Terminal Illness ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Assisted Dying ◽  
Medical Context

This chapter provides an overview of the book. It argues that human dignity deserves a closer examination within the debate on assisted dying. The aim of this book is threefold. First, it will enlighten and explain the widely shared intuitions about human dignity, which has a specific usage in the medical context of terminal illness, because opponents as well as supporters for assisted suicide lay claim to that notion. Second, it will push the debate an important step forward because arguments that are often taken for granted can be more fairly reconsidered once their relationship to dignity has been clarified. Third, if one is able to make sense of dignity even within the complex and seemingly confused context of this debate, one will have taken an important step toward a clarification of it in general, which might lead to its application in other contexts as well.

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