Morals and Moralism in the Debate Over Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

This article discusses the morality of physician-assisted suicide. The authors describe mainly negative reaction to the assisted suicide of Janet Adkins by Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Many physicians, lawyers & ethicists felt the case exemplified abuses which could be propogated by legalizing euthanasia. The authors disagree, asserting that laws could regulate & eliminate such abuses. They are against the medical profession’s “paternalistic & sometimes cruel insistence on life at any cost”. (VM)