Euthanasia, Ethics and the Law: From Conflict to Compromise (Biomedical Law and Ethics Library) - Hardcover

Huxtable, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1844721051 ISBN 13: 9781844721054

Publisher: Routledge-Cavendish, 2007

Synopsis

Euthanasia, Ethics and the Law argues that the law governing the ending of life in England and Wales is unclear, confused and often contradictory. The book shows that the rules are in competition because the ethical principles underlying the rules are also diverse and conflicting.

In mounting his case Richard Huxtable considers some familiar and topical debates, including assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia, examining such situations as the Dianne Pretty litigation and Lord Joffe's Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill. The book also enters some important, but less well-charted areas, looking at the advent of 'death tourism' and the real status of involuntary and passive euthanasia in English law, in addition to clarifying the confusion that surrounds the use of powerful painkillers like morphine. Dealing with both legal and ethical issues, the text concludes that the time has come to more openly adopt a compromise position - one that more honestly recognises and accommodates the competing values, whilst also restoring a measure of coherence to the law.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard Huxtable is a Senior Lecturer and the Deputy Director of the Centre for Ethics in Medicine at the University of Bristol, UK.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge-Cavendish
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1844721051
• ISBN 13: 9781844721054
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 232