Opinion of physicians and the general population on the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide
In some countries, particularly Spain, one of the arguments used to justify the legalization of euthanasia is that there is a strong social demand for it. To try to ascertain the truth of this statement, we review different surveys of physicians and the general public, to determine their opinion on...
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2021 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir |
| Repositorio: | RIUCV. Repositorio de la Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:riucv.ucv.es:20.500.12466/3147 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12466/3147 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Euthanasia Assisted suicide Euthanasia in minors Involuntary euthanasia Mental disorders Intellectual disabilities Eutanasia Suicidio asistido Eutanasia en menores Eutanasia involuntaria Trastornos mentales Discapacidad intelectual 32 Ciencias Médicas 71 Ética |
| Sumario: | In some countries, particularly Spain, one of the arguments used to justify the legalization of euthanasia is that there is a strong social demand for it. To try to ascertain the truth of this statement, we review different surveys of physicians and the general public, to determine their opinion on whether or not to legalize this practice. We found that the percentage of respondents who approve this practice varies widely from one country to another, with some countries in which approval is close to 80% and others in which it fails to reach even 40%. It has been suggested that this may be because the questions included in the various surveys differ greatly, since not all use the word “euthanasia” directly, replacing it with words or phrases of similar meaning. Thus, some respondents may not quite identify them with euthanasia. We conclude that, in the vast majority of countries, there does not seem to be an objective social demand to justify the legalization of euthanasia. |
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