This paper is based on an ethical analysis of 1,200 reports submitted to one of the five Regional Review Committees on Euthanasia in the Netherlands in the years 2005-09. Despite legal and professional safeguards with...This paper is based on an ethical analysis of 1,200 reports submitted to one of the five Regional Review Committees on Euthanasia in the Netherlands in the years 2005-09. Despite legal and professional safeguards with regard to euthanasia, and despite the overall high quality of care, the Dutch euthanasia practice is still not unproblematic. This paper identifies some important ethical issues： the sometimes obscure meaning of ＂patient autonomy＂; inferior quality of care or refusal to accept care, which aggravates a patient＇s suffering; insufficient spiritual, social, and psychological care; fears for a terrible death on the basis of outdated experiences in the past; and undue pressure from the side of relatives. Despite these concerns, and despite the fact that euthanasia remains a morally problematic death, however, the Dutch euthanasia practice can be described as morally solid.展开更多
文摘This paper is based on an ethical analysis of 1,200 reports submitted to one of the five Regional Review Committees on Euthanasia in the Netherlands in the years 2005-09. Despite legal and professional safeguards with regard to euthanasia, and despite the overall high quality of care, the Dutch euthanasia practice is still not unproblematic. This paper identifies some important ethical issues： the sometimes obscure meaning of ＂patient autonomy＂; inferior quality of care or refusal to accept care, which aggravates a patient＇s suffering; insufficient spiritual, social, and psychological care; fears for a terrible death on the basis of outdated experiences in the past; and undue pressure from the side of relatives. Despite these concerns, and despite the fact that euthanasia remains a morally problematic death, however, the Dutch euthanasia practice can be described as morally solid.
