Practical Reasons and Reasonable Practice: The Case of Euthanasia in The Netherlands

Since the early 1970s the issue of euthanasia has been intensely debated in The Netherlands. Through these debates knowledge about medical practices involving the end of life was no longer confined to medical or legal quarters, but became public to a large extent. Following public opinion changes, t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of social issues 1996-07, Vol.52 (2), p.149-168
Main Authors: Hessing, Dick J., Blad, John R., Pieterman, Rod
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude
Attitude of Health Personnel
Bioethics
Criminal Law
Cultural Diversity
Culture
Empirical Research
Euthanasia
Euthanasia, Active - ethics
Euthanasia, Active - legislation & jurisprudence
Euthanasia, Active - statistics & numerical data
Guideline Adherence
Health care
Health Facilities - statistics & numerical data
History
Humans
Law
Liability, Legal
Medicine
Netherlands
Organizational Policy
Physicians - legislation & jurisprudence
Physicians - psychology
Politics
Public Opinion
Public Policy
Right to Die
Social Values
Suicide, Assisted - legislation & jurisprudence
Suicide, Assisted - statistics & numerical data
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Summary:Since the early 1970s the issue of euthanasia has been intensely debated in The Netherlands. Through these debates knowledge about medical practices involving the end of life was no longer confined to medical or legal quarters, but became public to a large extent. Following public opinion changes, the legal reaction to euthanasia changed. By prosecuting test cases the public prosecutors allowed the Dutch Supreme Court to formulate specific conditions in which euthanasia would go unpunished. The political debate about changing the criminal law, which still holds that euthanasia is a serious crime, developed at a much slower pace. Several extensive empirical studies were undertaken to gain valid knowledge about the medical practices. This article is concerned with a presentation of the various debates and the changes that took place in the fields of criminal law, politics, and medicine. The main conclusion is the hypothesis that a more open climate for medical practices concerning the end of life allows society to better control these practices.
ISSN:0022-4537
1540-4560
DOI:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1996.tb01573.x