The Anscombe Bioethics Centre has commissioned a series of Briefing Papers on euthanasia and assisted suicide, with the aim of informing Catholics and wider public debate in various jurisdictions concerning proposals for introducing assisted suicide into medical practice via legal frameworks. These papers clarify the issues at stake in the social, political, and medical discussion, examining the effects of legalising physician involvement in assisting a patient to end their own life, or directly causing their death.
Other material relating to euthanasia and assisted suicide, including a Guide to the latest evidence which we are currently revising, can be found on our Resources page.
1. Defining the Terms of the Debate: Euthanasia and Euphemism
Prof. David Albert Jones
Director, Anscombe Bioethics Centre
Prof. David Albert Jones
Director, Anscombe Bioethics Centre
2. Voluntary Euthanasia & Physician-assisted Suicide: The Two ‘Slippery Slope’ Arguments
[Minor Revision, January 2022]
Prof. John Keown
Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Christian Ethics in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics
[Minor Revision, January 2022]
Prof. John Keown
Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Christian Ethics in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics
3. First, Do No Harm: How Canadian Law Allows for Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide for Patients with Psychiatric Disorders
Dr Mark Komrad
Clinical Psychiatrist, John Hopkins Hospital
Dr Mark Komrad
Clinical Psychiatrist, John Hopkins Hospital
4. Position Paper of the Abrahamic Monotheistic Religions on Matters Concerning the End of Life (28 October 2019)
Pontifical Academy for Life
Pontifical Academy for Life
5. Dignity in Living: Addressing Euthanasia by Affirming Patient Personhood in Dementia
Dr Pia Matthews
Senior Lecturer at St Mary’s University, Twickenham and Director of Studies at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh
Governor, Anscombe Bioethics Centre
Dr Pia Matthews
Senior Lecturer at St Mary’s University, Twickenham and Director of Studies at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh
Governor, Anscombe Bioethics Centre
6. Euthanasia Case Studies from Belgium: Concerns About Legislation and Hope for Palliative Care
Prof. Benoit Beuselinck
Professor of Medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven / Louvain in Belgium
Prof. Benoit Beuselinck
Professor of Medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven / Louvain in Belgium
7. The Principle of Autonomy – Does it Support the Legalisation of Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide?
Dr Xavier Symons
Adjunct Lecturer at the Institute of Ethics and Society of the University of Notre Dame Australia in Sydney; Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Plunkett Centre for Ethics of the Australian Catholic University
Dr Xavier Symons
Adjunct Lecturer at the Institute of Ethics and Society of the University of Notre Dame Australia in Sydney; Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Plunkett Centre for Ethics of the Australian Catholic University