PHIL-386 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Palliative Care
4 Jun 2020
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Document Summary
Voluntary active euthanasia and/or doctor assisted suicide is legally available only in parts of. Australia, belgium, canada, colombia, luxembourg, the netherlands, switzerland, and several. In canada, physician assisted suicide and active euthanasia became legal only in 2016: passive euthanasia: the withholding or withdrawing, for merciful reasons, of life- extending medical treatment to allow death to occur from natural causes. Passive euthanasia is common and noncontroversial: some typical arguments in favour of active euthanasia (these are not all of them, just examples): Patient autonomy is a pillar of health care ethics. Choose your death, meeting it on your own terms, is part of the ultimate expression of our freedom and dignity as human beings. Extension of life can increase the burdens of patients suffering a poor quality of life and pain at the end of their lives. Extending life may cause more harm than good beyond the patient.
