Letting vegetative patients die.

Letting patients die: legal and moral reflections.

Killing And Letting Die

Is it worse to kill someone than to let someone die? It seems obvious to common sense that it is worse. We allow people to die, for example, when we fail to contribute money to famine-relief efforts; but even if we feel somewhat guilty, we do not consider ourselves murderers. Nor do we feel like accessories to murder when we fail to give blood, sign an organ-donor card, or do any of the other t...

Killing, letting die and euthanasia.

Medical ethicists debate whether or not the moral assessment of cases of euthanasia should depend on whether the patient is 'killed' or 'allowed to die'. The usual presupposition is that a clear distinction between killing and letting die can be drawn so that this substantive question is not begged. I contend that the categorisation of cases of instances of killing rather than as instances of l...

Letting die severely handicapped children.

SIR I am a member of Prospect. We came into being to support Dr Leonard Arthur. We are all parents who have, or have had severely handicapped children and think our children ought to have been allowed to sleep on in peace instead of being kept alive by all the medical techniques. We have sent a Limitation ofTreatment Bill to all MPs. Most support it but no one yet has offered to undertake it as...

Euthanasia versus letting die: Christian decision-making in terminal patients.

Utilitarianism and quality-of-life considerations have increased the pressure to devalue life in terminal situations, leading to ethical confusion among caregivers. Where is the balance between a commitment to life and a commonsense willingness to "let go" when the time comes? This paper explores this balance, using a case history of a man with respiratory failure. This provides an opportunity ...