Deja Vu All Over Again: The False Dichotomy between Sanctity of Life and Quality of Life
18 Pages Posted: 2 Oct 2005
Abstract
The furor surrounding the recent Schiavo case included the assertion that the Florida court was implementing a quality of life ethic that would inevitably undermine a preferable sanctity of life ethic. This paper recalls how similar assertions have continuously been made by right to life supporters ever since the Quinlan case in 1976. Those supporters have constantly claimed that surrogate end-of-life medical decisions would jeopardize the well being of vulnerable populations.
This paper argues that quality of life judgments are an unavoidable part of end-of-life medical decisionmaking. The alternative is to keep pumping fluids and gases into floundering, moribund patients until the last possible breath. Notions of intolerable indignity in the dying process can be defined and administered in a sensible fashion.
Keywords: Death and Dying, Medical Jurisprudence, Quality of Life
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