Much has been said and written recently about the controversial issue of euthanasia. Should terminally ill people have the right to decide when and how to end their lives? This book presents up-to-date information and a wide range of opposing views on the subject, including the ethical, medical and legal issues. There is also a chapter on the issue of living wills.
The information comes from a wide variety of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper reports, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
Table of Contents
Chapter One: The Moral Debate
A non-religious perspective on euthanasia, So you think you know about euthanasia?, Euthanasia and assisted suicide, The law and euthanasia, Assisting the terminally ill, 'I don't want to plan my death, I want to enjoy life', ProLife Party responds to poll, Support for change of the law, The results, Disabled people want the right to die, Euthanasia, The law is not working, Trust, Going abroad.
Chapter Two: The Medical Debate
Revealed: full scale of euthanasia in Britain, The future of the right-to-die movement, Medically assisted dying in the UK, Nurses support a change in the law, Assisted suicide, Pain relief, Swiss charity says its clients 'die with dignity', Secret killings of newborn babies, Professionals speak, No cure for medical madness, Right to pain relief, Refuting the rhetoric.
Chapter Three: Living Wills
Thinking ahead, Assistance to die, Living wills, A matter of birth and death, Advance directives, Living wills, Chaos as 'living will' law passed.
Key Facts
Additional Resources
Index
Acknowledgements
• Euthanasia originally meant 'a gentle and easy death', and is now used to mean 'the act of inducing an easy death', usually referring to acts which terminate or shorten life painlessly in order to end suffering where there is no prospect of recovery. (p. 1)
• Oregon, the Netherlands and Belgium are the only jurisdictions in the world where laws specifically permit euthanasia or assisted suicide. Oregon permits assisted suicide. The Netherlands and Belgium permit both euthanasia and assisted suicide. (page 3)
• In 1996, 54 per cent of 1,000 doctors questioned in a survey said they were in favour of legalising physician-assisted suicide in specific circumstances. The same survey found 3 per cent of GPs had helped terminally ill patients to die. (p. 9)
• It was revealed in September 2004, that 50% of Britons would be prepared to go abroad to seek medical help to die if they were terminally ill. (p. 10)
• Anyone helping another person to commit suicide can now be prosecuted under UK law, though a ban on anyone attempting suicide was scrapped in 1961. (p. 11)
• Opinion polls show overwhelming public support for law changes that would make it easier for terminally ill patients in pain to request medical help to shorten their lives. (p. 17)
• The new mental capacity bill, introduced in parliament in June 2004, has been designed to protect people who lack capacity or have fluctuating capacity to express, in advance, a decision to refuse medical treatment provided by health professionals. (p. 32)
• A living will can take various forms, but usually it is a written document setting out the circumstances under which you would not want to receive life-prolonging medical treatment. (p. 33)
The Ethics of Euthanasia Study Guide
Each book in the Issues series has a study guide. These four-page guides provide a variety of discussion points and other activities to suit a wide range of ability levels and interests.
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £1.50
ISBN: 978 1 86168 316 8
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