2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Death, Bioehics and Autonomie

Research Project

Project/Area Number	23530134
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Research Field	New fields of law
Research Institution	Fukuoka Institute of Technology
Principal Investigator	OKAWARA Yoshio 福岡工業大学, 社会環境学部, 教授 (70341469)
Project Period (FY)	2011 – 2013
Keywords	生命の終期
Research Abstract	This study aims to observe and analyze the au courant legislative scene, paticulally on End-of-life care and voluntary euthanasia in France. Legalization advocates argue that individual self-determination and the well-being of seriously ill people justify permitting active euthanasia and assisted suicide. Legalization opponents argue that differences in intent, causation, and act versus omission furnish compelling moral grounds for retaining legal rules against active euthanasia and assisted suicide. Opponents also stress several potential negative consequences of legalization i.e. so-called slippery slope problems. In considering the justifications for laws prohibiting active euthanasia and assisted suicide, judge-made laws have discussed national interests in protesting life and preventing suicide. From my observations so far, it does not seem that their accounts are not persuasive and they support too much national control over individual freedom.