Editorials
Why active euthanasia and physician assisted suicide should be legalised
If death is in a patient's best interest then death constitutes a moral good
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Last month Diane Pretty was refused the legal right to choose the circumstances of her own death.1 She suffers from motor neurone disease and is experiencing the disintegration of her body. She faces a death that she believes will entail indignity and suffering and physically cannot kill herself. The court has denied her request that her husband be allowed to help her. This decision may be consistent with legal precedent but is morally wrong. That is why the law should be changed.
Suppose that Mrs Pretty became permanently and severely incompetent as
a result of brain damage and that her life was being sustained by
medical technology. If her doctors believed that medical treatment
could provide no benefit because of her inability ever to engage in any
self directed activity, then legally they could withdraw life
sustaining treatments, including hydration and nutrition.2
In such circumstances they would foresee that she
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Rapid Responses:
Read all Rapid Responses
- Moral Bankruptcy
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bmj.com, 9 Nov 2001 [Full text] - Doctors as killers
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bmj.com, 10 Nov 2001 [Full text] - If autonomy is valuable, euthanasia should be permissible.
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bmj.com, 12 Nov 2001 [Full text] - in the face of so much moral right, where is the wrong?1
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bmj.com, 22 Nov 2001 [Full text] - COMPASSION AND CHOICE
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bmj.com, 22 Nov 2001 [Full text] - The state's power over our bodies should be ended
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bmj.com, 24 Nov 2001 [Full text] - patients need medical care not legalised euthanasia
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bmj.com, 26 Nov 2001 [Full text] - The implications could have grave consequences
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bmj.com, 29 Nov 2001 [Full text] - Criticism of Editor
- Andrew Cooper
bmj.com, 29 Nov 2001 [Full text] - Withholding and withdrawing medical treatments towards the end of life
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- Francis H Sansbury
bmj.com, 17 Jan 2002 [Full text] - Ethical Diversity, Consistent Law
- Daniel L Johnson
bmj.com, 29 Jan 2002 [Full text] - Denying our humanity
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bmj.com, 7 Apr 2002 [Full text] - Re: Specious arguments do not assist informed debate.
- Agnes Wood
bmj.com, 28 May 2002 [Full text] - Re: Re: Specious arguments do not assist informed debate.
- Michele Tringali
bmj.com, 29 May 2002 [Full text]
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