"Right to die": Situation is different in developing countries...

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7504.1389

BMJ 2005;330:1389 (11 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7504.1389

Letter

"Right to die"

Situation is different in developing countries...

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Grayling's editorial on the "right to die" andthe various responses to it are interesting.¹ I also followedTerry Schiavo's case closely, and I agree with the decisiontaken by the court. But what happens in developing countriesis different.

The laws are the same and are more rigid in these countries.The medical decision to end life is influenced more by financialconsiderations than by the sanctity of life. Terry Schiavo wouldnot have lived for 15 years if she had been born in a developingcountry and had been in a vegetative state. Governments in developingcountries do not have the means to take care of such patients,and neither do the husbands, parents, and relatives. They donot guarantee the right to life for people who do not have theminimum means for living, let alone a decent living. The argumentabout a right to . . . [Full text of this article]