Title:

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Publish Date:

September 2011

ISBN:

978 1 86168 597 1

Covering Ages:

16 to 18 years

Issue Description

Recent high-profile cases of terminally ill patients such as Diane Pretty fighting for the right to assisted suicide have brought the euthanasia debate to the fore once more. Supporters assert that it should be an individual’s right to choose how and when they die. However, critics argue that legalisation would undermine the sanctity of life, leading to a slippery slope of poor-quality palliative care and vulnerable people being pressured into accepting a premature death. This books looks at the debate, including the potential implications of a change in the law and the role of advanced decisions.
The information comes from a wide range of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper articles, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.

Price:

£7.95

Quantity:

Key Facts

• Euthanasia comes from Greek, meaning ‘pleasant death’. It typically refers to the killing of a person for their own (or another) good, usually to end their suffering. (page 1)
  
  
• The ‘slippery slope’ or ‘thin end of the wedge’ argument says that if you permit voluntary euthanasia, involuntary euthanasia will follow. (page 5)
  
  
• In Oregon, whilst numbers of assisted suicide have risen since legalisation, overall numbers have remained low (under 0.2% of all deaths) and the kinds of people being helped to die have not changed. (page 11)
  
  
• Under English law, all adults have the right to refuse medical treatment, even if that treatment is required to save their life, as long as they have sufficient capacity (the ability to use and understand information to make a decision). (page 13)
  
  
• Some 70 per cent of disabled people would be concerned if the law on assisted suicide were to change because they feel it would lead to pressure being placed on disabled people to end their lives, a Scope-commissioned ComRes survey has shown. (page 19)
  
  
• A review of research carried out over 20 years suggests that UK doctors appear to consistently oppose euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS). The findings highlight a gap between doctors’ attitudes and those of the UK public. (page 22)
  
  
• Deliberately and directly taking the life of another person, whether that person is dying or not, constitutes the crime of murder. The Suicide Act 1961, updated by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, makes encouraging or assisting a suicide a crime punishable by up to 14 years’ imprisonment. (page 24)
  
  
• The doctor–patient relationship is one founded primarily on trust and opponents to a change in the law argue that by taking on the additional role of assisted dying, trust could be lost and the doctor–patient relationship damaged. (page 31)
  
  
• One survey found that a large majority (75%) of the British population think that legislation on euthanasia should be amended to allow some degree of assisted suicide. Just over two-thirds (67%) think that doctors in particular should have the legal power to end the life of a terminally-ill patient who has personally given a clear indication of wanting to die. (page 34)
  
  
• An advance decision allows a person to state what forms of treatment they would or would not like should they become unable to decide for themselves in the future. (page 35)

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The Ethical Debate

Euthanasia, Arguments for and against euthanasia, A humanist discussion of euthanasia, Assisted suicide: how the chattering classes have got it wrong, The slippery slope argument, Brief answers to five objections, Need for change, Alternatives to euthanasia and assisted suicide, What is the relationship between assisted suicide and dying and palliative care?, End-of-life issues and palliative care, Poll shows disabled people’s fears over assisted suicide, Terry Pratchett defends Choosing to Die documentary from critics, Whose right is it anyway?, UK doctors consistently oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide, Support grows for ‘right to die’.

Chapter 2 Legal Issues and Implications

Assisted dying and the status quo, Legislation is not the answer for assisted suicide, We need an assisted dying law, Scottish Parliament rejects Bill to legalise euthanasia, Impact on the medical profession and doctor–patient relationships, Belgian patients are being killed without their consent, Fearful elderly people carry ‘anti-euthanasia cards', Majority would support more compassionate euthanasia legislation, Suicide drugs ‘could be made available over the counter’, Advance decisions, End-of-life care survey, ‘The law is a mess’.

Key Facts
Glossary
Index
Acknowledgements
Assignments

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