Abstract
In its 1980 Declaration on Euthanasia, the Roman Catholic Church reconfirmed its firm opposition to euthanasia of any kind: “… nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a foetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is dying” ([20], p. 7). The Declaration captures what I want to call the “sanctity-of-life view”. This is the view that all innocent human lives are absolutely inviolable and equally valuable, and that the intentional termination of such lives is always morally wrong [11].
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Bibliography
Charlesworth, M.: 1993, Bioethics in a Liberal Society, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Dyer, C: 1992, ‘4GMC tempers justice with mercy in Cox case’, British Medical Journal 305, 28 November 1992, 1311–1312.
Engelhardt, H.T.: 1986, The Foundations of Bioethics, Oxford University Press, New York.
Faber-Langendoen, K.: 1994, ‘Center project continues its focus on care of the dying’, Newsletter — The Center for Biomedical Ethics, Spring, 1–2.
Feningsen, R.: 1991, ‘The report of the Dutch governmental committee on euthanasia’, Issues in Law and Medicine 7, 339–44.
Fleming, J.I.: 1992, ‘Euthanasia, the Netherlands and slippery slopes’, Bioethics Research Notes, Supplement, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1–4.
Griffiths, J.: 1992, ‘The regulation of medical procedures which shorten life’, unpublished paper.
Gunning, K.F.: 1991, ‘Euthanasia’, The Lancet 338, 1010.
Keown, J.: 1993, ‘Courting euthanasia?: Tony Bland and the law Lords’, Ethics and Medicine 9(3), 34–37.
Kinsella, T.D. and Verhoef, M.J.: 1993, ‘Alberta euthanasia survey: 1. physician’s opinions about the morality and legalization of active euthanasia’, Canadian Medical Association 148(11), 1921–1932.
Kuhse, H.: 1987a, The Sanctity-of-Life Doctrine in Medicine — A Critique, Oxford University Press, Oxford. (German Edition: 1994, Die Heiligkeit des Lebens in der Medizin — Eine philosophische Kritik, Harald Fischer Verlag, Erlangen.)
Kuhse, H.: 1987b, ‘Voluntary euthanasia in the Netherlands’, Medical Journal of Australia 147, 394–396.
Kuhse, H.: 1992, ‘Voluntary euthanasia in the Netherlands and slippery slopes’, Bioethics News 11(4), 1–7.
Kuhse, H. and Singer, P.: 1985, Should the Baby Live? — The Problem of Handicapped Infants, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Kuhse, H. and Singer P.: 1988, ‘Doctors’ practices and attitudes regarding voluntary euthanasia’, Medical Journal of Australia 148, 623–627.
Kuhse, H. and Singer, P.: 1993, ‘Voluntary euthanasia and the nurse: an Australian survey’, International Journal of Nursing Studies 30(4), 311–322.
Mill, J.St.: 1968, ‘On liberty’, in M. Warnock (ed.), Utilitarianism — John Stuart Mill, Collins, London, pp. 126–225.
Pollard, B.: 1992, ‘Euthanasia in Holland’, Quadrant, November, 42–6.
Pollnitz, R.: 1992, ‘The case against euthanasia: a response to Dr. Syme’, Australian Medicine, June 1, 15.
Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: 1980, Declaration on Euthanasia, Vatican City.
Temkin, O. and Temkin C.L. (eds.): 1967, Ancient Medicine: Selected Papers of Ludwig Edelstein, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
ten Have, H.A.M.J. and Welie, J.V.M.: 1992, ‘Euthanasia: normal practice?’, Hastings Center Report 22(2), 34–38.
Tracy, G.D.: 1992, ‘Medical aspects of euthanasia’, Medical Journal of Australia 156, 579–80.
van Delden, J.J.M., Pijnenborg, L. and van der Maas, P.J.: 1993, ‘Dances with data’, Bioethics 7(4), 323–329.
van der Maas, P.J., van Delden, J.J.M., and Pijnenborg, L.: 1992, Euthanasia and Other Medical Decisions Concerning the End of Life, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
van der Maas, P.J., van Delden, J.J.M., Pijnenborg, L. and Looman, C.W.N.: 1991, ‘Euthanasia and other medical decisions concerning the end of life’, The Lancet 338, 669–674.
Ward, B.J. and Tate, P.A.: 1994, ‘Attitudes among NHS doctors to requests for euthanasia’, British Medical Journal 308, 1332–1334.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kuhse, H. (1996). Sanctity of Life, Voluntary Euthanasia and the Dutch Experience: Some Implications for Public Policy. In: Bayertz, K. (eds) Sanctity of Life and Human Dignity. Philosophy and Medicine, vol 52. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1590-9_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1590-9_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7212-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-1590-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive