Reflections on the Right to die (IN: Suicidology: Essays in Honor of Edwin S. Shneidman, edited by A A Leenaars)

Euthanasia is reviewed from both legal and medical perspectives. The author seeks to demonstrate that patients who seek the right to die are generally only seeking a means to end their pain or dependence on others. The author argues that it is especially important to distinguish the theoretical exercise of the right to die from the clinical understanding of how powerful the desire to live really is in people if they are mentally well. (37 refs.)