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KMID : 0986720130210010097
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Korean Journal of Medicine and Law
2013 Volume.21 No. 1 p.97 ~ p.125
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Possibilities of death with dignity and directions of its legislation
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Joo Ho-No
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Abstract
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Large development of life-sustaining treatment in modern medicine has enabled the treatment that was not possible before the development of artificial life-prolonging measures. As a result, more oppertunities for life-sustaining treatment has been given to patients with terminal condition suffering from severe pain in cancer or other diseases regardless of their will. In this context, it has become problem that life-sustaining treatment for patients with no possibility of recovery in terminal condition is a patients" right or a violation of the dignity of human beings. So-called ‘death with dignity’ and/or ‘withdraw of life-sustaining treatment’ has emerged as a topic of another.
This paper studies the possibility of death with dignity. This paper is standing in the position that the death with dignity should be allowed under certain conditions. This paper discusses introduction (Ⅰ), history of the debate about death with dignity(Ⅱ), possibilities of death with dignity(Ⅲ) and directions of the legislation for death with dignity(Ⅳ). The introduction(Ⅰ) distinguish between death with dignity and euthanasia, the one means natural death with dignity as a human being by withdrawing futile life-sustaining treatment for patient with no possibilities of recovery of terminal patients while the other means murder for removal of pain. The history of the debate about death with dignity(Ⅱ) examines debates divided into three stages, triggered debate, social debate and legislative efforts. The possibilities of death with dignity(Ⅲ) proposes new conditions for death with dignity. This paper finds the legal basis of the new conditions for death with dignity in the limits of duty to treat. The legal basis of the new conditions for death with dignity is composed of right to impossibility of recovery of life, self-determination of the patient and procedures. Therefore, in this paper, as the conditions for death with dignity, precondition, substantive conditions and procedural conditions are proposed and studied in detail. Finally, the directions of the legislation for death with dignity(Ⅳ), instead of the conclusion, argues the necessity of the legislation for death with dignity in order to reach social consensus although the legislation for death with dignity can also serve as an unspoken pressure for death.
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KEYWORD
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death with dignity, withdraw of life-sustaining treatment, right to self-determination of the patient, terminal patients, euthanasia
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