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[Commentary on “Legislation concerning Physician-assisted Suicide in Korea”] The Right to Die with Dignity and Physician-assisted Suicide

  • Korean Journal of Medical Ethics
  • Abbr : 의료윤리
  • 2022, 25(4), pp.341-346
  • DOI : 10.35301/ksme.2022.25.4.341
  • Publisher : The Korean Society For Medical Ethics
  • Research Area : Medicine and Pharmacy > General Medicine
  • Received : November 24, 2022
  • Accepted : January 4, 2023
  • Published : December 31, 2022

Lee, Seok-Bae ORD ID 1

1단국대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

In a recent proposed amendment to Korea’s legislation governing decisions on life-sustaining treatment, physician-assisted suicide is characterized as a form of “death with dignity.” However, there is no legal right to suicide in South Korea and the idea that physician-assisted suicide is a permissible and dignified way of dying is based on a misunderstanding of the constitutional right of self-determination, which entails only a right to refuse unwanted medical care. This article ex-plains these misunderstandings concerning the concept of death with dignity and a patient’s right to self-determination and critically reviews the proposed legislation concerning physician-assisted suicide.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.