Ética y muerte digna: propuesta de consenso sobre un uso correcto de las palabras

Abstract

The debate about the “right to die with dignity” will only be productive if the words used are constructed properly. “Euthanasia” is probably the word that most needs further clarification. This word is frequently abused and still remains unclear. Five scenarios around end-of-life care can be highlighted: euthanasia and assisted suicide, withholding or withdrawal of life sustaining therapies, refusal of treatment or withdrawal of consent, palliative sedation and withdrawal of treatment because of patient death. This work supports the hypothesis that Spanish society has reached a sufficient ethical and legal consensus on the lastfour scenarios, which should never been considered “euthanasia” but forms of dignified death and good clinical practice. So, the mainstream of the Spanish debate on the “right to die” should not be based on these four scenarios but on the first, the question of “euthanasia and assisted suicide”, which remain open to further discussion.