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09: The Case for Voluntary Euthanasia
The moral case for legalising voluntary euthanasia is based on three major
principles:
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Respect for personal autonomy, our right to make decisions that are primarily
our own concern;
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Compassion for those who are suffering with no prospect of relief:
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Concern for the dignity of the person and his or her quality of life.
These same principles are also embodied in modern health care, particularly
in hospice and other forms of palliative treatment, except that at present
personal autonomy falls short of permitting the choice of death by direct
means no matter how desperate the condition of the patient.
Many objections are raised to legalising voluntary euthanasia but this
has not stemmed the growing tide of public, medical and nursing opinion
that the law should be changed.
The case for voluntary euthanasia, answers to objections to legalisation,
and commentary on other aspects of the debate are given in the SAVES 48
page handbook, "The Right to Choose" available from the Hon. Secretary
at the address below on receipt of order enclosing cheque or money order
to the value $5.00 (bank draft or international postage coupons for overseas
orders).
Brief answers to five common objections are given in Fact
Sheet 10 and to another two in:
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