Strengthening safeguards in the assisted dying bill : a comparative review of ethical, legal, and medical considerations in end-of-life legislation

Article

TOLENTINO, Russell

The UK's Assisted Dying Bill aims to give terminally ill individuals the option to choose the timing and manner of their death. This proposal has sparked intense debates regarding the ethical, legal, and medical implications of protecting the rights of terminally ill persons. However, the bill faces considerable challenges in the UK Parliament due to various concerns about its provisions. A critical review of the Assisted Dying Bill reveals key shortcomings in medical assessments, eligibility criteria, conscientious objection, and safeguards against potential abuse. A clearer picture of the necessary improvements has emerged by benchmarking these issues against the more successful assisted dying frameworks in jurisdictions like the US state of Oregon, Canada, the Australian states of Victoria and Western Australia, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. To address these shortcomings, recommendations include enhancing the involvement of specialist physicians, tightening residency requirements, increasing the number of requests for assisted dying, clarifying guidelines for administering lethal medications, mandating the reporting of procedural breaches, and implementing strict measures concerning conscientious objection to safeguard healthcare practitioners. This review aspires to recommend a comprehensive legal framework that permits terminally ill individuals to make informed and voluntary end-of-life decisions while protecting healthcare practitioners from ethical and legal dilemmas, ensuring that any proposed assisted dying legislation embodies a compassionate and ethically sound approach.

http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.80572

Voir la revue «Cureus, 17»

Autres numéros de la revue «Cureus»

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