Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Difficult choices in treating and feeding the debilitated elderly
- 3 The American debate about artificial nutrition and hydration
- 4 Reflections on Horan and Boyle
- 5 The Living Will: the ethical framework of a recent Report
- 6 Some reflections on euthanasia in The Netherlands
- 7 Is there a policy for the elderly needing long-term care?
- 8 Is it possible to provide good quality long-term care without unfair discrimination?
- 9 The prospects for long-term care: current policy and realistic alternatives
- 10 What is required for good quality in long-term care of the elderly?
- 11 Should age make a difference in health care entitlement?
- 12 Economic devices and ethical pitfalls: quality of life, the distribution of resources and the needs of the elderly
- 13 The Aged: non-persons, human dignity and justice
- 14 Economics, justice and the value of life: concluding remarks
- Index
6 - Some reflections on euthanasia in The Netherlands
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Difficult choices in treating and feeding the debilitated elderly
- 3 The American debate about artificial nutrition and hydration
- 4 Reflections on Horan and Boyle
- 5 The Living Will: the ethical framework of a recent Report
- 6 Some reflections on euthanasia in The Netherlands
- 7 Is there a policy for the elderly needing long-term care?
- 8 Is it possible to provide good quality long-term care without unfair discrimination?
- 9 The prospects for long-term care: current policy and realistic alternatives
- 10 What is required for good quality in long-term care of the elderly?
- 11 Should age make a difference in health care entitlement?
- 12 Economic devices and ethical pitfalls: quality of life, the distribution of resources and the needs of the elderly
- 13 The Aged: non-persons, human dignity and justice
- 14 Economics, justice and the value of life: concluding remarks
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Drawing on empirical research which I have been carrying out in The Netherlands since 1989, this paper examines critically the Dutch euthanasia experience.
Part I deals with the offence of taking a person's life at his request contained in article 293 of the Penal Code and the extent to which the courts have allowed doctors a defence to this charge. Part II considers the guidelines for voluntary euthanasia which have been set out by the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG). Part III examines the extent to which the Dutch experiment confirms or confutes a major ethical argument against the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia, namely, the ‘slippery slope’ argument.
The offence of killing a person at his request and the defence of necessity
The offence of killing a person at his request
Killing a person at his ‘express and serious request’ is punished by article 293 of the Penal Code. It is one of the ‘Serious offences against human life’ in Title XIX of the Code. Article 287 provides that a person who intentionally takes another's life without premeditation commits ‘homicide’, but a person who intentionally and with premeditation takes the life of another is guilty of murder: article 289.
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- Information
- The Dependent Elderly , pp. 70 - 100Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1992
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