header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
09 May 2019 / Charles Foster
Categories: Features , Human rights
printer mail-detail

Euthanasia, Ethics & Public Policy: An argument against legislation (Second Edition)

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
“A meticulous, highly readable, and profoundly disturbing examination of the merits of the slippery slope arguments”
  • Author: John Keown
  • Publisher: Cambridge University Press
  • ISBN: 9781107337909
  • Pages: 558
  • RRP: £31.99

Debates about ‘assisted dying’ (AD) (a sloppy, pejorative, but ubiquitous euphemism) always have two phases. First, there are the arguments of principle. The proponents of AD used to major on pain and suffering. It is immoral, they said, not to allow suffering to be terminated, even if that means death. One wouldn’t withhold such a mercy from your dog: why would you withhold it from your grandmother? With advances in palliative care, the rhetoric has changed, and the emphasis is now on autonomy: it’s my life: why shouldn’t I be able to end it when and in the circumstances I choose? Their opponents respond that intentional killing is always wrong, and that any derogation from that principle will be widely, deeply, and damagingly repercussive.

Then come arguments about the practicability of restricting AD to

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Kennedys—Milan Devani

Kennedys—Milan Devani

Chief information officer appointment strengthens technology leadership

Maguire Family Law—Hannah Barlow & Sophie Hughes

Maguire Family Law—Hannah Barlow & Sophie Hughes

Firm strengthens Wilmslow team with two solicitor appointments

DWF—Ian Plumley

DWF—Ian Plumley

Londoninsurance and reinsurance practice announces partner appointment

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Tightening the screws on JCT terminations
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
NLJ this week: Old rules, fresh warnings in employment law
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
NLJ this week: The rise of the ‘ChatGPT client’ rattles the profession
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
NLJ this week: Surrogacy children caught in succession gap
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
NLJ this week: Online safety law at a crossroads
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll