title: Physician assisted death and hard choices.
abstract: We argue that after the passage of a physician assisted death law some inequities in the health care system which prevent people from getting the medical care they need will become reasons for choosing assisted death. This raises the issue of whether there is compelling moral reason to change those inequities after the passage of an assisted death law. We argue that the passage of an assisted death law will not create additional moral reasons for eliminating inequities simply because they become motives for someone to opt for assisted death. We also argue that it is not feasible to eliminate these reasons for opting for assisted death by granting a right to health care because of an intractable scarcity of medical resources.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Duluth 55812.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Mayo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gunderson
mesh_terms: D002755:Choice Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D005065:Euthanasia; D033101:Euthanasia, Active, Voluntary; D006801:Humans; D010819:Physician's Role; D040841:Resource Allocation; D012935:Social Justice; D012945:Social Values; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D017236:Suicide, Assisted; D035862:Vulnerable Populations