The term "
right to die" refers to various issues related to the decision of whether an individual who could continue to
liveLife is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have self-sustaining biological processes from those that do not—either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as "inanimate."In biology, the science of living organisms, "life"...
with the aid of
life supportLife support, in medicine is a broad term that applies to any therapy used to sustain a patients life while they are critically ill or injured. There are many therapies and techniques that may be used by clinicians to achieve the goal of sustaining life...
, or in a diminished or enfeebled capacity, should be allowed to die. In some cases, it refers to the idea that a person with a
terminal illnessTerminal illness is a medical term popularized in the 20th century to describe an active and malignant disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and that is reasonably expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer...
and in serious condition should be allowed to commit
suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
before death would otherwise occur. The concept is often referred to as
dying with dignity.
The term "
right to die" refers to various issues related to the decision of whether an individual who could continue to
liveLife is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have self-sustaining biological processes from those that do not—either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as "inanimate."In biology, the science of living organisms, "life"...
with the aid of
life supportLife support, in medicine is a broad term that applies to any therapy used to sustain a patients life while they are critically ill or injured. There are many therapies and techniques that may be used by clinicians to achieve the goal of sustaining life...
, or in a diminished or enfeebled capacity, should be allowed to die. In some cases, it refers to the idea that a person with a
terminal illnessTerminal illness is a medical term popularized in the 20th century to describe an active and malignant disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and that is reasonably expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer...
and in serious condition should be allowed to commit
suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
before death would otherwise occur. The concept is often referred to as
dying with dignity. The question of who–if anyone–should be empowered to make these decisions is often central to the debate.
Legal documents
Most often, the idea of the right to die is related to a person's wish that caregivers allow death—for example, by not providing
life supportLife support, in medicine is a broad term that applies to any therapy used to sustain a patients life while they are critically ill or injured. There are many therapies and techniques that may be used by clinicians to achieve the goal of sustaining life...
or vital medication—under certain conditions when recovery is highly unlikely or impossible. It may also refer to issues regarding
physician-assisted suicide. It may be called
passive euthanasiaEuthanasia refers to the practice of ending a life in a painless manner. Many different forms of euthanasia can be distinguished, including animal euthanasia and human euthanasia, and within the latter, voluntary and involuntary euthanasia...
in cases where the patient is unable to make decisions about treatment.
Living willAdvance health care directives, also known as living wills, advance directives, or advance decisions, are instructions given by individuals specifying what actions should be taken for their health in the event that they are no longer able to make decisions due to illness or incapacity. A living...
s and
Do Not ResuscitateA do not resuscitate document is a binding legal document that states resuscitation should not be attempted if a person suffers cardiac or respiratory arrest...
orders are legal instruments that make a
patientA patient is any person who receives medical attention, care, or treatment. The person is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician or other health care professional, although one who is visiting a physician for a routine check-up may also be viewed as a patient.The word...
's treatment decisions known ahead of time; allowing a patient to die based on such decisions is not considered to be euthanasia. Usually these patients have also made explicit their wish to receive only
palliative carePalliative care is any form of medical care or treatment that concentrates on reducing the severity of disease symptoms, rather than striving to halt, delay, or reverse progression of the disease itself or provide a cure. The goal is to prevent and relieve suffering and to improve quality of life...
to reduce pain and suffering.
Although specialized legal instruments differ from place to place, there are two more that are important in this context. The
Five WishesFive Wishes is a national advance directive created by the non-profit organization Aging with Dignity. It has been described as the "living will with a heart and soul."-History:...
document allows a person to state in advance the priorities and values they wish to have honored at the end of life. And the Medical Durable Power of Attorney (or MDPOA) designates an agent to make decisions in case of incapacity, and can be used to give written guidance regarding end of life decision making. The MDPOA is generally considered to be the most powerful of all such instruments. All others may require interpretation on the part of health care providers or even court-appointed guardians; the MDPOA takes the job of interpretation out of the hands of strangers and gives it to a person selected and trusted by the individual.
Ethics
A debate exists among
ethicistsBioethics is the philosophical study of the ethical controversies brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, philosophy, and theology.- History...
whether the right to die is universal, or only applies under certain circumstances--such as
terminal illnessTerminal illness is a medical term popularized in the 20th century to describe an active and malignant disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and that is reasonably expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer...
. A court in the American state of
MontanaMontana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of the state contains numerous mountain ranges; other 'island' ranges are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, for example, has found that the right to die applies to those with life-threatening medical conditions. Suicide advocate
Ludwig MinelliLudwig Minelli is a Swiss lawyer and human rights activist. He is the founder of Dignitas, an organization that helps people commit suicide...
and bioethics professor Jacob Appel, in contrast, argue that
all competent people have a right to end their own lives. Appel has suggested that the right to die is a useful litmus test for the overall freedom of a given society.
Scientific articles via PubMed
See also
- Assisted suicide
Assisted suicide is the process by which an individual, who may otherwise be incapable, is provided with the means to commit suicide. In some cases, the terms aid in dying or death with dignity are preferred...
- Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of ending a life in a painless manner. Many different forms of euthanasia can be distinguished, including animal euthanasia and human euthanasia, and within the latter, voluntary and involuntary euthanasia...
- Living will
Advance health care directives, also known as living wills, advance directives, or advance decisions, are instructions given by individuals specifying what actions should be taken for their health in the event that they are no longer able to make decisions due to illness or incapacity. A living...
- Final Exit
Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying is a controversial 1991 book by Derek Humphry, founder of the Hemlock Society in California and past president of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies....
- Oregon Death with Dignity Act
- Advance Directives Act (Texas)
The Texas Advance Directives Act , also known as the Texas Futile Care Law, describes certain provisions that are now Chapter 166 of the Texas Health & Safety Code...
- Initiative 1000 (Washington),
- Betty and George Coumbias
Betty and George Coumbias are a Canadian married couple seeking to become the first husband and wife to complete simultaneous suicides with legal authorization...
- Bioethics
Bioethics is the philosophical study of the ethical controversies brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, philosophy, and theology.- History...
/ Medical ethicsMedical ethics is primarily a field of applied ethics, the study of moral values and judgments as they apply to medicine. As a scholarly discipline, medical ethics encompasses its practical application in clinical settings as well as work on its history, philosophy, theology, and sociology.Medical...
- Jack Kevorkian
Jack Kevorkian is a former pathologist. He is most noted for publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via physician-assisted suicide; he claims to have assisted at least 130 patients to that end...
- Philip Nitschke
Dr. Philip Nitschke is an Australian medical doctor, humanist and founder and director of the pro-euthanasia group Exit International. He successfully campaigned to have a legal euthanasia law passed in Australia's Northern Territory and assisted four people in ending their lives before the law...
- Derek Humphry
Derek Humphry is a British-born American journalist, author and principal founder in 1980 of the Hemlock Society USA and past president of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, both of which support the notion of decriminalization of voluntary euthanasia...
- Sue Rodriguez
Sue Rodriguez was an advocate of assisted suicide.She was born in British Columbia, with the given name Sue Shipley, and grew up in Thornhill, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. Her first marriage was short-lived....
- Edward Brongersma
Edward Brongersma was a Dutch politician and doctor of law. For a number of years he was a member of the Dutch Senate for the Labour Party, and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee...
- Terri Schiavo
The Terri Schiavo case was a successful seven-year long legal effort by Michael Schiavo to have his wife, Terri Schiavo — diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state for several years — disconnected from life support...
- Ramón Sampedro
Ramón Sampedro was a ship fisherman from Galicia, Spain, who became a quadriplegic in a diving accident at the age of 25 and fought for his right to an assisted suicide for the next 29 years....
- Nancy Cruzan
Nancy Beth Cruzan was a figure in the right-to-die movement. After an automobile accident left her in a persistent vegetative state, her family petitioned in courts for three years, as far as the U.S. Supreme Court , to have her feeding tube removed...
- Tirhas Habtegiris
Tirhas Habtegiris , a legal female immigrant into the United States from Eritrea, was removed from a respirator under Texas law against the wishes of her family, Habtegiris had cancer that had spread to her lungs and she was diagnosed as terminally ill.There is debate over whether Habtegiris was...
- Karen Ann Quinlan
Karen Ann Quinlan was an important person in the history of the right to die controversy in the United States....
- Dignitas
Dignitas is a Swiss assisted dying group that helps those with terminal illness and severe physical and mental illnesses to die assisted by qualified doctors and nurses...
- Do not resuscitate
A do not resuscitate document is a binding legal document that states resuscitation should not be attempted if a person suffers cardiac or respiratory arrest...
- Patient refusal of nutrition and hydration
People who feel they are near the end of their life often consciouslyrefuse food and/or water. Published studies indicate that"within the context of adequate palliative care, the refusal of food and fluids does not contribute to suffering among the terminally ill", and might actually contribute to...
- Right to Die?
Right to Die? is a controversial documentary aired on Sky Real Lives in December 2008 about the assisted suicide of Craig Colby Ewert, a 59-year-old retired university professor who suffered from motor neurone disease. Oscar-winning Canadian John Zaritsky directed and produced the film...
(documentary)