[Intention to kill--the deciding criterion between allowed and prohibited assisted euthanasia].
The difference between the allowed and forbidden euthanasia is--on account of the dominant opinion--the criterion of acting and forbearance. It is not punishable to let a terminally ill patient die, but it is punishable to kill a patient on purpose. This distinctive mark is not forcible, because the acting is similar to the forbearance, when the actor has a guaranter's obligation--this is always the case between a doctor and his patient--and it is questionable, if the stopping of apparatuses for support of life is a kind of acting or forbearance. To overcome this dilemma, the author proposes to establish the distinctive mark of "intention to kill" in the law. Then the euthanasia is a punishable act if the actor or the person, who forbears, practices euthanasia with the intention to kill the patient. The euthanasia is not punishable, however, if the euthanasia overwhelms the blockade of dying or softens the pains.
Rilinger
L
L
Fachkommission Medizin-Ethik-Recht des Bundesarbeitskreises Christlich-Demokratischer Juristen (BACDJ), Bonn, Deutschland. rabsr@t-online.de
D001317:Austria; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005065:Euthanasia / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005066:Euthanasia, Passive / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005858:Germany; D006708:Homicide / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*