Assisted death

Debates over doctor-assisted suicide and euthanasia are active in many countries, and L.W. Sumner approaches them through the broader care given to patients who are dying. He argues that no firm moral boundary can be justified between assisted death and common end-of-life practices, such as withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, relieving pain with high-dose opioids, and using terminal sedation.

The book works through the philosophical concepts underlying these questions: what death is, why it might be bad, why killing is wrong, consent and refusal of treatment, the ethics of suicide, cause of death, the doctrine of double effect, the sanctity of life, the active and passive distinction, advance directives, and non-voluntary euthanasia.

On the legal side, Sumner surveys several prominent systems that either prohibit assisted death or regulate it, then proposes a model policy for regulating it. He answers common objections to that policy, including the slippery slope argument and the risk of abuse, and closes by considering how three common law jurisdictions that currently prohibit assisted death could move to a regulated system.