Abstract
https://ssrn.com/abstract=2286279
|
Pereira's Attack on Legalizing Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide: Smoke and Mirrors
Jocelyn Downie
Schulich School of Law & Faculty of Medicine
Kenneth Chambaere
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Jan L. Bernheim
VUB
2012
19(3) Current Oncology 133
Abstract:
In a paper published in Current Oncology, University
of Ottawa palliative care physician Jose Pereira states that the, “laws
and safeguards [in countries in which euthanasia or assisted suicide
have been legalized] are regularly ignored and transgressed in all the
jurisdictions, and that transgressions are not prosecuted.” He purports
to demonstrate that the safeguards and controls put in place in the
permissive jurisdictions are an “illusion.”
In the present paper, we expose problems with the evidence base provided and relied upon by Pereira. It should be noted that we provide only examples of each of the categories of mistakes made by Pereira. The original work contains more, but the examples given should suffice to demonstrate that Pereira’s conclusions are not supported by the evidence provided by him. We conclude that his paper should not be given any credence in the public policy debate about the legal status of assisted suicide and euthanasia in Canada and around the world.
In the present paper, we expose problems with the evidence base provided and relied upon by Pereira. It should be noted that we provide only examples of each of the categories of mistakes made by Pereira. The original work contains more, but the examples given should suffice to demonstrate that Pereira’s conclusions are not supported by the evidence provided by him. We conclude that his paper should not be given any credence in the public policy debate about the legal status of assisted suicide and euthanasia in Canada and around the world.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 6
Keywords: euthanasia, assisted suicide, slippery slopes, evidence, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada
Date posted: June 28, 2013
Suggested Citation
Contact Information
Jocelyn Downie (Contact Author) | |
Kenneth Chambaere | |
Jan L. Bernheim |
No comments:
Post a Comment