Shaw Julia J A
School of Law, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK.
Eur J Health Law. 2009 Dec;16(4):333-49. doi: 10.1163/092902709x12506817652810.
Assisted suicide remains a deeply contested issue in the U.K. Recently three Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bills were introduced in a three year period, all of which failed. Despite the provision of clear and precise safeguards, at each reading the House of Lords fixed largely on the traditional slippery slope and sanctity of life positions; a disproportionate reliance on theological determinism in particular prevented informed rational debate. People are living longer often with chronic, incurable diseases and palliative care is frequently of poor quality or even unavailable in the U.K. and it is unacceptable that individuals 'suffering unbearably' in their final days have no available domestic alternative. Yet the courts have consistently declined to prosecute in cases where friends and relatives have accompanied terminally ill persons abroad to die, against the provisions of the 1961 Suicide Act s2(1). This article critically assesses recent developments in English law on assisted dying and considers the implications for a more inclusive and reasoned debate in the future.
在英国，协助自杀仍然是一个极具争议的问题。最近，在三年时间里提出了三项《晚期病人协助死亡法案》，但均未通过。尽管制定了明确而精确的保障措施，但在上议院的每次审议中，主要关注的都是传统的滑坡效应和生命神圣性立场；特别是过度依赖神学决定论阻碍了理性的知情辩论。人们寿命延长，常常患有慢性、不治之症，而在英国，姑息治疗质量往往很差，甚至根本无法获得，那些在生命最后日子里“遭受难以忍受痛苦”的人没有国内可用的替代方案，这是不可接受的。然而，对于朋友和亲属违反1961年《自杀法案》第2(1)条规定，陪同绝症患者前往国外死亡的案件，法院一直拒绝起诉。本文批判性地评估了英国法律在协助死亡方面的最新发展，并考虑了其对未来更具包容性和理性辩论的影响。
