Health professionals’ opposition to euthanasia and assisted suicide: a personal view

Abstract

This commentary evaluates the motives of health professionals' opposition to the legislation of assisted dying. We argue that there are no rational or justifiable grounds for such opposition in the case of patients who are suffering unbearably and whose request to be helped to die is competent, enduring and voluntary. We then engage in plausible speculation about what other, more hidden motives of health professionals might lead to them reject the legislation of assisted dying. We assert that, while these hidden motives are understandable from a psychological perspective, they also suffocate the self-determination of palliative patients. Therefore, the challenge is for health professionals to reconsider extending their own limits in order to fully support their patients' needs. Finally we discuss the consequences of NOT legalising assisted dying, and conclude that this position might be more detrimental than legalising it.