RT Article
T1 Should Physician-Assisted Suicide or Euthanasia be Legalized in the United States?: A Medically Informed Perspective
JF Journal of religion and health
VO 63
IS 2
SP 1058
OP 1074
A1 Fowler, W. Craig
A1 Koenig, Harold G. 1951-
LA English
PB Springer Science + Business Media B. V.
YR 2024
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1885291116
AB There is a pressing debate in the United States concerning the implied physicians' obligation to do no harm and the status of legalizing physician-assisted suicide (PAS). Key issues that underpin the debate are important to consider. These include: (1) foundational medical beginnings; (2) euthanasia's historical and legal background context; and (3) the key arguments held by those for and against legalization of PAS. This paper reviews the major claims made by proponents for the legalization of PAS and the associated complexities and concerns that help underscore the importance of conscience freedoms. Relief of suffering, respect for patient autonomy, and public policy arguments are discussed in these contexts. We argue here that the emphasis by healthcare providers should be on high quality and compassionate care for those at the end of life's journey who are questioning whether to prematurely end their lives. If medicine loses its chief focus on the quality of caring - even when a cure is not possible - it betrays its objective and purpose. In this backdrop, legalization of PAS harms not only healthcare professionals, but also the medical profession's mission itself. Medicine's foundation is grounded in the concept of never intentionally to inflict harm. Inflicting death by any means is not professional or proper, and is not trustworthy medicine.
K1 Conscience freedoms
K1 Euthanasia
K1 Hippocratic Oath
K1 Palliative Care
K1 physician-assisted suicide
K1 Suicide
DO 10.1007/s10943-023-01939-9