Author/Editor		Trontelj, Jože
Title		Bolnikove pravice v zadnjem obdobju življenja
Translated title		Human rights of the therminaly ill
Type		članek
Source		In: Klemenc D, Kvas A, Pahor M, et al, editors. Zdravstvena nega v luči etike. Ljubljana: Društvo medicinskih sester in zdravstvenih tehnikov,
Publication year		2003
Volume		str. 175-87
Language		slo
Abstract		Most ethical systems observe the sanetity of human life and regard the preservation of human life as morally supreme. However, the views on personal autonomy are ehanging, and many people would like to acquire a new liberty, to die at the time and in the way they choose by themselves. ln the recent years, the idea of euthanasia upon request and the right to physician assisted suicide have become a subject of heated public debate, triggered by the well known movements in several countries which try ro make "merey killing" socially and legally acceptable, particularly after the passing of the euthanasia laws in the Netherlands and in Belgium. Public media took up the debate also in Slovenia, and requests started to appear in the sociery to legalise euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide as one of the human rights. Indeed, human rights and dignity are often seriously violated in the rerminal stages of people's lives. lnstead of legalising euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, much can be done to relieve the loss of personal autonomy, the pain and suffering which are the main reasons behind the requests to legalise euthanasia. The Slovene National Medical Ethics Committee (1997) published a statement, which argues against euthanasia and physician assisted suicide and gives medical doctors advice on end-of-life medical decisions. The Recommendation 1418 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (1999) calls for improved palliative care and better understanding and responding to the needs of the terminally ill and the dying.
Descriptors		TERMINALLY ILL PATIENT ADVOCACY EUTHANASIA SUICIDE, ASSISTED TERMINAL CARE ETHICS COMMITTEES SLOVENIA EUROPE