Advantages
of the Premature-Death Approach to the Right-to-Die
The most common approach to securing the right-to-die
inserts a new law into the
health-care section of
any set of laws.
This
gives a new authority to licensed physicians
—namely
to prescribe controlled drugs
for the purpose of bringing death
to
selected patients,
who have applied for such aid in ending their
lives.
In contrast, the new premature-death approach
inserts a new law into the
homicide section of
any set of laws.
This
defines a new crime
against patients who were believed to be
dying.
And
when it defines this crime and its punishment,
it also permits other
non-harmful behavior (by
anyone, not just doctors)
which
will result in wisely-chosen deaths.
In other words, outlawing causing premature death
could at the same time legalize
help in dying
when the intended death is
not premature.
When we make wise
end-of-life medical choices,
we are not causing premature
death.
The safeguards embodied in the proposed law
(linked
at the bottom of this file)
become the operational method of separating
the harmful behavior
of causing a premature death
from the helpful behavior
of making wise, end-of-life medical decisions.
Here are the advantages of this
new approach: