Investigations: Assisted Dying
Investigations: Assisted Dying
With reference to the topic you have investigated, examine and comment on the controversies which arise from an issue or issues in medical ethics and how far these can be resolved by or how far these conflict with religious/moral principles
In this essay, I will be examining and commenting on the controversies that arise from assisted dying and far these are resolved or conflicted by religious and moral principles.
Assisted Dying, or Euthanasia, is the act of a doctor passively giving means to a patient to kill themselves with the intention of them doing so, but not actively killing the patient themselves.
In the U.K., all forms of assisted dying are illegal. However, since the 1961 suicide act, the undertaking of suicide has been decriminalised. Despite this, counselling or procuring the suicide of another individual remains illegal and persecutors are liable to prosecution.
However, in other parts of the world, assisted dying is legal. For example, in Switzerland, at special clinics such as ‘Dignitas’, people can go with loved ones to end their lives. What is unique about Swiss law is that non-Swiss citizens can go to Switzerland to end their lives, under the conditions that there is no ‘financial motive’ for any involved. In the Netherlands, it is legal for Dutch people to undertake assisted dying provided that they have a ‘reasonable understanding of their interests’; for example, under-18s are not considered competent to make this decision. Also, in the state of Oregon in the U.S., is it legal to request lethal medication.
Debbie Purdy, a political activist, for many years sought clarification on the law surrounding assisted death. As previously stated, under the 1961 suicide act, procuring the suicide of another is illegal. Debbie Purdy, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, wanted to know whether or not her husband would be prosecuted for assisted her to Switzerland so she could end her life, a trip that she wouldn’t be
With reference to the topic you have investigated, examine and comment on the controversies which arise from an issue or issues in medical ethics and how far these can be resolved by or how far these conflict with religious/moral principles
In this essay, I will be examining and commenting on the controversies that arise from assisted dying and far these are resolved or conflicted by religious and moral principles.
Assisted Dying, or Euthanasia, is the act of a doctor passively giving means to a patient to kill themselves with the intention of them doing so, but not actively killing the patient themselves.
In the U.K., all forms of assisted dying are illegal. However, since the 1961 suicide act, the undertaking of suicide has been decriminalised. Despite this, counselling or procuring the suicide of another individual remains illegal and persecutors are liable to prosecution.
However, in other parts of the world, assisted dying is legal. For example, in Switzerland, at special clinics such as ‘Dignitas’, people can go with loved ones to end their lives. What is unique about Swiss law is that non-Swiss citizens can go to Switzerland to end their lives, under the conditions that there is no ‘financial motive’ for any involved. In the Netherlands, it is legal for Dutch people to undertake assisted dying provided that they have a ‘reasonable understanding of their interests’; for example, under-18s are not considered competent to make this decision. Also, in the state of Oregon in the U.S., is it legal to request lethal medication.
Debbie Purdy, a political activist, for many years sought clarification on the law surrounding assisted death. As previously stated, under the 1961 suicide act, procuring the suicide of another is illegal. Debbie Purdy, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, wanted to know whether or not her husband would be prosecuted for assisted her to Switzerland so she could end her life, a trip that she wouldn’t be