死亡权:安乐死立法的价值基础

A Right to Die:the Value Foundation of Euthanasia Legislation

目前,绝症病人的死亡权问题已成为国际性话题。和死亡权密切相关、争论最为激烈的问题是安乐死立法。表面看来,安乐死不但违背了尊重生命的直觉,也似乎公然侵犯了最基本的人权——生命权,因为人们常常把生命简单地等同于生存,把死亡理解为生命结束后的状态即和生存无关的无生命状态。其实,死亡和生存是贯穿生命始终的生命自身的本质规定。因此,生命权是生存权和死亡权的统一,死亡权是生命权的应有之义。这就奠定了安乐死立法的价值基础。

So far,a right to die for the terminal patients has become an international issue.Closely related to a right to die and,being argued most vehemently,is the issue of euthanasia legislation.Superficially it seems euthanasia not only contradicts the instinct of respect for life but also publicly violates the basic human right——a right to life.Usual,for people life is simply equated with living and death the state after life,a lifeless state unrelated with living.In fact,death and living is the nature of life itself goes through the whole life from beginning to end.So,a right to life is the union of a right to live and a right to die,and a right to die is naturally included in the right to life.Consequently this sets the value foundation for legislation for euthanasia.