Ethics-Governance: Article: eMJA: "Death talk": debating euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in Australia

Articles indexes: a \| b \| c \| d \| e \| f \| g \| h \| i \| j \| k \| l \| m \| n \| o \| p \| q \| r \| s \| t \| u \| v \| w \| x \| y \| z \| other

Article - Abstract. To view full article click on the article title.
eMJA: "Death talk": debating euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in Australia Imprecise language and deliberate confusion of important ethical and legal concepts are clouding our understanding of controversial end-of-life issues. This could affect our decision about whether or not to legalise euthanasia. In postmodern societies, the euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide debate is an important forum for the "death talk" through which we accommodate — with as much comfort as possible — the reality of death into the living of our lives.1 Recently, I debated Dr Philip Nitschke, at the Australian Medical Association's Annual General Meeting in Canberra, 24–26 May 2002, on whether euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide should be legalised. Dr Nitschke advocates such legalisation; I oppose it. In this article, I discuss my impressions of the discussion of euthanasia that took place at that AMA meeting and respond to it. Full Article: http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/178_04_170203/som10499_fm.html


2006 Ethics-Governance.com