Autonomy, interests, justice and active medical euthanasia

Résumé

Respect for autonomy does not ground a right to active medical euthanasia (AME) in the simple way many people have argued. However, respect for autonomy does ground a right, now and in advance, to refuse to eat and drink. And given that a person will die (whether by disease, limitation of treatment on distributive justice grounds or legal refusal of food and fluid), justice requires that AME be an option for that person. The combination of respect for autonomy together with distributive justice provides a justification for AME. Thus, we can share the skepticism of opponents of AME about making quality of life judgments and decisions about when life is not worth living. We can in fact eschew such judgments. And we can share their belief that role of medicine should be to serve patients' interests. But that principle should extend to all patients, including those competing for limited resources. Because AME saves resources that can be used by patients who need them, distributive justice requires AME, at least for those who will die and request it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved) EUTHANASIE AUTONOMIE JURIDIQUE