H. Hendin, ASSISTED SUICIDE, EUTHANASIA, AND SUICIDE-PREVENTION - THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE DUTCH EXPERIENCE, Suicide & life-threatening behavior, 25(1), 1995, pp. 193-204
What impact would legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia have
on our ability to treat suicidal patients and to prevent suicide? Inf
ormation from a study of the Dutch experience illustrates how legal sa
nction promotes a culture that transforms suicide into assisted suicid
e and euthanasia and encourages patients and doctors to see choosing d
eath as a preferred way of dealing with serious or terminal illness. T
he extension of the right to euthanasia to those who are not physicall
y ill further complicates the problem. So too does the tendency of doc
tors in such a culture to begin to feel that they can make decisions a
bout ending the life of competent terminally ill patients without cons
ulting the patient. ''Normalizing'' suicide as a medical option lays t
he groundwork for a society that turns euthanasia into a ''cure'' for
suicidal depression.