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Article: Suicide and Assisted Suicide, Ethical Aspects
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Aging
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SUICIDE AND ASSISTED SUICIDE, ETHICAL ASPECTS
Contemporary exploration of the ethical issues concerning suicide and assisted suicide has focused almost exclusively on a single form of suicide: physician-assisted suicide in terminal illness. Ethical issues concerning suicide in old age
, independent of illness, are rarely if ever openly
discussed. This entry first examines the debate over physician-assisted suicide in the public arena as a preamble to its central task, and then explores the ethical issues concerning suicide and assisted suicide in old age.
The public
debate over physician-assisted suicide
The 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s saw the emergence of what is known as the ...