There is evidence from outside the UK to show that physicians’ religious beliefs influence their decision making at the end of life. This UK study explores the belief system of consultants, nurse key workers & specialist registrars & their attitudes to decisions which commonly must be taken when caring for individuals who are dying. Results showed that consultants’ religion & belief systems differed from those of nurses & the population they served. Consultants & nurses had statistically significant differences in their attitudes to common end of life decisions with consultants more likely to continue hydration & not withdraw treatment. Nurses were more sympathetic to the idea of PAS for unbearable suffering. This study shows the variability in belief system and attitudes to end of life decision making both within and between clinical groups. The personal belief system of consultants was not shown to affect their overall attitudes to withdrawing life-sustaining treatment or PAS.
There is no justification for a claim that Christianity must oppose the assisted death of a person who has made their own decision to die, provided that such a person can convince others that their desire to die is fully considered. I will make this argument given two conditions: first that the person is capable of making an educated decision, and second that their end-of-life experience includes full access to both pastoral and medical care.
The extent to which people should be able to have some control over how and when they die is a hugely contentious issue. In 2006, the House of Lords blocked Lord Joffe’s bill that would have allowed terminally ill people in certain circumstance to be helped to die. Yet there is little robust and impartial evidence about the attitudes of people in Britain towards these issues. To find out more about what people think, the 2005 British Social Attitudes survey included a set of questions about attitudes to assisted dying and end of life care.
In de liturgisch-pastorale praktijk wordt men geconfronteerd met de vraag in hoeverre sacramentenbediening en kerkelijke uitvaartplechtigheden mogelijk zijn in geval van euthanasie en suïcide. Deze vragen hebben niet alleen betrekking op degene die zelf om euthanasie vraagt of op wie suïcide pleegt, maar ook op omstaanders die hebben ingestemd, resp. medewerking verleend. De Nederlandse bisschoppen hebben in oktober 2005 de brochure "Pastoraat rond het verzoek om euthanasie of hulp bij suïcide. Een handreiking voor studie en bezinning" uitgegeven. Daarin geven zij naast een aantal overwegingen bijgaande liturgisch-pastorale richtlijnen.
“A physician makes an effective referral when he or she takes positive action to ensure the patient is connected in a timely manner to another physician, health-care provider, or agency who is non-objecting, accessible and available to the patient,”