Assisted Death — A Compassionate Response to a Medical Failure
- 5 November 1992
- journal article
- Published by Massachusetts Medical Society in New England Journal of Medicine
- Vol. 327 (19) , 1384-1388
- https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm199211053271912
Abstract
Is it ever morally appropriate for physicians to assist a patient's dying, either by providing the means or by directly causing death? What should be the stance of the law toward physician-assisted death?We have usually tried to resolve these questions through appeals to ethical rights, duties, and consequences. This search for a resolution has proved unsatisfactory. In the most difficult and compelling cases, the ethical rights, duties, and consequences seem fairly evenly balanced on both sides of the argument. Any resolution in terms of standard moral principles seems to reject the important moral considerations on one side or the . . .Keywords
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