Berger J T, Rosner F, Bennett A J
SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine, NY, USA.
Mt Sinai J Med. 1998 Sep;65(4):257-64.
In June 1997, the Supreme Court of the United States found that the Constitution does not guarantee a right to physician-assisted suicide, thereby allowing states the opportunity to variously prohibit or permit such practice. The Court's findings notwithstanding, physician-assisted death remains a topic of intense medical, legal and philosophical discussion. Principled discourse variously supports both an ethical prohibition against assisted death and an ethical obligation to help some patients achieve death. Both theoretical and practical concerns are raised by the practice of physician-assisted death. This essay reviews recent events and developments concerning assisted suicide and euthanasia. The discussion which follows was generated by the members of the Committee on Bioethical Issues of the Medical Society of the State of New York and builds upon a previous Committee report.
1997年6月，美国最高法院裁定，宪法并未保障医生协助自杀的权利，从而使各州有机会以不同方式禁止或允许这种行为。尽管有最高法院的这一裁定，医生协助死亡仍然是医学、法律和哲学领域激烈讨论的话题。有原则的论述对协助死亡的伦理禁令和帮助一些患者实现死亡的伦理义务均有不同程度的支持。医生协助死亡的做法引发了理论和实践两方面的担忧。本文回顾了与协助自杀和安乐死相关的近期事件和进展。接下来的讨论由纽约州医学协会生物伦理问题委员会的成员发起，并以该委员会先前的一份报告为基础。
