Easeful Death: Is there a case for assisted dying?

Easeful Death. Is There a Case for Assisted Dying? Mary Warnock and Elisabeth Macdonald. Explains the main philosophical, ethical, medical.
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Drawing on experience in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the US state of Oregon, where either assisted dying or euthanasia have been legalized, the authors explore the philosophical and ethical views on both sides of the debate, and examine how different legislative proposals would affect different members of society, from the very young to the very old.

They describe the practical, medical processes of palliative care, self-denial of food and water, and assisted dying and euthanasia, and ultimately conclude that the public is ready to embrace a more compassionate approach to assisted dying. This sensitive and authoritative short volume is informed throughout by a strong sense that, whatever the results of the legislative argument, compassion for one another must be both the guide and the restraint upon the way we treat people who are dying or who want to die.

Easeful Death

The issues discussed in this book may touch any of our lives, either directly and personally, or through ongoing public debates about legislation. As such the book will be of interest to the intelligent general reader, especially those with an interest in medical ethics and philosophy, and also to palliative care teams including docotrs, nurses, carers, home visitors, and families of the dying. It will also provide a useful source of reasoned argument to lawyers, politicians, and future legislators. This book not only has the power to stimulate informed discussion, but also to shape social policy and inform good professional practice.

Types of euthanasia 3. Psychiatric assisted suicide 4. Human life is sacred 7. They will always listen to the immediate 'wishes' of the patient, but they will not always agree to cooperate. In other words, the patient selects wise persons who are known to have the patient's best interests at heart who will protect the patient from possibly-irrational suicidal decisions. If and when the patient has good reasons for choosing a voluntary death, then he or she should be able to convince the close family members and friends who make up the MCDC of the wisdom of the patient's chosen pathway towards death.

This approach to the right-to-die puts the emphasis on the individual patient. The life-ending decisions will be taken by the patient himself or herself, possibly with the assistance of the people who are closest to the patient. Whether of not to allow or approve chosen death is not left to a group of strangers, who will apply abstract guidelines to life-ending decisions.

As an illustration of psychological reasons for wanting to die, the authors discuss the Chabot case in the Netherlands: A suicidal woman came to a psychiatrist, Dr. Chabot, and explained her wish to die. She had previously tried to kill herself, unsuccessfully.

Book Review: Easeful Death: Is there a Case for Assisted Dying?

And she wanted professional help to achieve a good death. All of the members of her family were dead and she could find no futher reason to go on living.


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Chabot felt that he could not prevent her suicide, so he agreed to help. The court ruled that he should have asked for the opinions of other physicians. But no penalty was imposed. However, the fact that the court could have ruled otherwise shows some problems with the right-to-die in the Netherlands.

Mary Warnock & Elisabeth Macdonald, Easeful Death: Is There a Case for Assisted Dying? - PhilPapers

Those who help others to die do not always know how they will be treated by the law and the courts. In this case, the application of additional safeguards would have helped to clarify the options. Perhaps other solutions beside death would have emerged. Chabot now recommends voluntary death by dehydration. This pathway towards death would have forced the woman to re-examine her reasons for wanting to die several times during the process of dying. And she might have changed her mind. Friends, previously-distant relatives, and even neighbors might have helped her to adjust to her new situation of grief.

Many people have eventually found ways to recover from bereavement.

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Sometimes just the passage of time changes the early urge toward irrational suicide. Chabot merely determined that the woman was not clinically depressed. It was a philosophical suicide: She had decided to die--with or without his help.


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Chabot believed that his role was merely to determine whether she really wanted to die. Mary Warnoch and Elizabeth Macdonald also discuss neonates who are born with serious birth defects. Sometimes governments have set standards that go beyond what the parents want.

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The authors also present a chapter on adults who cannot decide for themselves. Another chapter deals with the question of the 'sanctity of human life'. If we allow some wise deaths to be chosen, how will we prevent other, premature deaths?

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Does the right-to-die create a slippery slope? Most doctors do not want to kill their patients, but they are sometimes open to allowing death to come. Another chapter discussed some specific methods of choosing an easeful death: Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.

It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.


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Academic Skip to main content. Choose your country or region Close. The typical delivery time is 2 weeks. Ebook This title is available as an ebook. To purchase, visit your preferred ebook provider. Mary Warnock and Elisabeth Macdonald Explains the main philosophical, ethical, medical and legal arguments for and against a change in the law covering assisted suicide and euthanasia Presents a spectrum of widely differing opinions held by the public, doctors, and lawyers Explores the issue of the 'Sanctity of Life', and shows this argument can no longer be usefully or consistently applied to modern medicine An accessible, open-minded, and sensitively-written volume, guiding the reader clearly through some very difficult moral issues.

A powerful and authoritative author team: