Rutgers University (Newark) Legal Working Paper Series
Rutgers Law School (Newark) Faculty Papers
Deja Vu All Over Again: The False Dichotomy Between Sanctity of Life and Quality of Life
Abstract
A longstanding contention of 'right to life' activists is that a quality of life ethic in end-of-life decisionmaking undermines a sanctity of life ethic. A surrogate decision to reject life-sustaining medical intervention -- as in the case of a permanently unconscious patient -- supposedly delivers a symbolic message contravening the intrinsic value of all human life. This paper argues that quality of life judgments are the only way to avoid transforming human beings into prisoners of medical technology. Under appropriate standards and review, caregivers must be able to end artificial intervention rather than keep pumping fluids and gases into moribund, floundering patients.
Recommended Citation
Norman L. Cantor,
"Deja Vu All Over Again: The False Dichotomy Between Sanctity of Life and Quality of Life"
(April 2005).
Rutgers University (Newark) Legal Working Paper Series.
Rutgers Law School (Newark) Faculty Papers.
Working Paper 22.
http://law.bepress.com/rutgersnewarklwps/fp/art22
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