Cited by 26Ethics and bioethics in healthcarePalliative and Oncologic CareHealth, Medicine and Society

The terminal, the futile, and the psychiatrically disordered

Cholbi, Michael J.·2013·International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

Abstract

The various jurisdictions worldwide that now legally permit assisted suicide (or voluntary euthanasia) vary concerning the medical conditions needed to be legally eligible for assisted suicide. Some jurisdictions require that an individual be suffering from an unbearable and futile medical condition that cannot be alleviated. Others require that individuals must be suffering from a terminal illness that will result in death within a specified timeframe, such as six months. Popular and academic discourse about assisted suicide paradigmatically focuses on individuals with 'physical,' i.e., non-psychiatric medical conditions, such as cancer or AIDS. Here I defend analyses of the notions of unbearable suffering, futility, and terminality that imply that, regardless of which of these medical conditions is invoked, at least some individuals with severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses satisfy these conditions and ought to be classified as legally eligible for assisted suicide. The legal and moral case for a right to assisted suicide is therefore not in principle weaker for the severely psychiatrically disordered than for those with 'typical' terminal or futile medical conditions.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.ijlp.2013.06.011

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Authors
Cholbi, M. J.
Affiliations
California State Polytechnic University (US)
Corresponding author
Cholbi, Michael J.
Venue
International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2013-09
Volume
36
Issue
5-6
Pages
498-505
ISSN
0160-2527 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2042587273
Cited by
26
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 6
FWCI
3.06
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • International Journal of Law and Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics and bioethics in healthcare
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health, Medicine and Society
Keywords
assisted suicide, voluntary euthanasia, terminal illness, futility, unbearable suffering, severe and persistent mental illness, mental illness
MeSH terms
Mental Disorders, Humans, Morals, Terminal Care, United States, Suicide, Assisted, Medical Futility

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