Acts, Omissions, and Assisted Death: Some Reflections on the Marie Fleming Case

  • Richard Hull
  • Annie McKeown O’Donovan
Chapter
First Online:
Part of the International Political Theory book series (IPoT)

Abstract

Hull and McKeown O’Donovan offer a philosophical examination of the case of Marie Fleming, confined to a wheelchair and in the final stages of multiple sclerosis. The High Court in the Republic of Ireland ruled that she did not have the right to be assisted in taking her own life and made a strong moral distinction between letting nature take its course and bringing about death. Through an examination of the work of Jonathan Glover, Shelly Kagan, Warren Quinn, and James Rachels, the authors argue that the most compelling philosophical basis for a moral emphasis on the distinction between acts and omissions lies in the structural difference, where acts interfere with a victim in a way that omissions do not. It is also argued that assisted suicide can be morally justified in the advanced stages of terminal illness in a limited way that can resist any inevitable descent down a slippery slope.

Keywords

Multiple Sclerosis Palliative Care Expand Disability Status Scale Active Step Terminal Illness 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Battin, M. P. (2005). Ending life: Ethics and the way we die. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Booth, R. (2008, October 18). “He wasn’t prepared for a second-class life”: Why injured rugby star went to Switzerland to die. The Guardian. Retrieved July 20, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/oct/18/11.
  3. Bunreacht na h’Éireann—Constitution of Ireland. (1937/2013). Retrieved July 20, 2015, from http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/en/constitution/.
  4. Criminal Law (Suicide) Act, 1993. (1993). Retrieved accessed July 20, 2015, from http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1993/act/11/enacted/en/print.
  5. Fleming, M., & Leonard, S. (2014). An act of love: One woman’s remarkable life story and her fight for the right to die with dignity. Dublin: Hachette Books Ireland.Google Scholar
  6. Foot, P. (1977). Euthanasia. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 6(2), 85–112.Google Scholar
  7. Guardian Staff. (2014, October 17). Euthanasia and assisted-suicide laws around the world. The Guardian. Retrieved July 20, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/17/euthanasia-assisted-suicide-laws-world.
  8. Glover, J. (1977). Causing death and saving lives. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
  9. Glover, J. (2010). Responses: A summing up. In A. N. Davis, R. Keshen, & J. McMahan (Eds.), Ethics and humanity: Themes from the philosophy of Jonathan Glover (pp. 237–282). Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Holland, K. (2012, November 14). Woman “denied a termination” dies in hospital. The Irish Times. Retrieved July 20, 2015, from http://www.irishtimes.com/news/woman-denied-a-termination-dies-in-hospital-1.551412.
  11. Hull, R. (2007). Deprivation and freedom. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  12. Kagan, S. (1989). The limits of morality. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
  13. Kamm, F. M. (2013). Bioethical prescriptions: To create, end, choose, and improve lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Kearns, N. (2013). [2013] IEHC 2 Fleming-v-Ireland & Ors. Dublin: High Court. Retrieved July 20, 2015, from http://www.courts.ie/Judgments.nsf/0/911CB02A6531C7A380257AEF0037C379.
  15. Kurtzke, J. F. (1983). Rating neurological impairment in multiple sclerosis: An Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). Neurology, 33(11), 1444–1452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Pretty v. Director of Public Prosecutions. (2001). UKHL 61, [2002] 1 A.C. 800.Google Scholar
  17. Quinn, W. S. (1989). Actions, intentions and consequences: The doctrine of doing and allowing. The Philosophical Review, 98(3), 287–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Rachels, J. (1975). Active and passive euthanasia. New England Journal of Medicine, 292(2), 78–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Rachels, J. (1999). Active and passive euthanasia. In P. Singer & H. Kuhse (Eds.), Bioethics: An anthology (pp. 227–230). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Richard Hull
    • 1
  • Annie McKeown O’Donovan
    • 1
  1. 1.National University of IrelandGalwayRepublic of Ireland

Personalised recommendations