Title: Terminal Ambiguity: Law, Ethics and Policy in the Assisted Dying Debate
Abstract: As we become proficient at prolonging life we also succeed in prolonging the dying process. Fear of pain and suffering at the end of life has led us on a search for ways to preempt the ordeal. This article examines the judicial, ethical and policy responses to the demand for legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia. Medically, endof-life issues are extraordinarily complex, especially when compounded by factors such as undiagnosed or untreated depression and inadequate palliative care. Courts, in declining to recognize a ‘right to die’ have thrown us back on our own devices to fashion resolutions to this problem. The article concludes that the rights-based paradigm is no longer workable and that legislative approaches may either be over-broad or too limited by the desire for compromise to be truly humane. The proper forum for these intensely personal medical matters is neither the courts nor the legislatures, but the doctor-patient relationship. ∗ J. Herbie DiFonzo, J.D., Ph.D., Professor of Law, Hofstra University Law School; Ruth C. Stern, J.D., M.S.W., and former Coordinator of Family Law Programs, Hofstra University Law School. Our thanks to Patricia Kasting, wonderful law librarian at Hofstra. 1 Warren Zevon, Don’t Let Us Get Sick, on LIFE'LL KILL YA (2000).
Publication Year: 2007
Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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