What is it about?
Respecting the human rights and wellbeing of the dying through supporting initiatives that honour the presumption in favour of care, competence and communication.
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Why is it important?
Physician assisted suicide is legalised at the end-of-life, or in cases of 'unbearable suffering', in some jurisdictions, against the standard legal model which prohibits it. This has led to well documented infringements. Further shifts to legalise 'non-medical' assisted suicide for people over 70 is ageist and sends a dangerous message to an already stigmatised group.
Perspectives
The presumption in favour of living as well as possible up to death demands an ethics of competence and communication and an institutional context where the human rights of the dying are not only supported in principle but honoured in the design and delivery of care.
Cathriona Russell
University of Dublin Trinity College
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Care, Coercion and Dignity at the End of Life, Studies in Christian Ethics, October 2018, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0953946818807463.
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