I kid you not. Despite the merits of the more considered arguments for assisted suicide or active euthanasia, several writers raise serious doubts about the legitimacy of redrawing the line. In clinical settings, it is often difficult to determine the true wishes of supposedly competent patients. They sometimes say one thing but communicate the opposite non-verbally. Their desire to live or die may fluctuate.
Several writers predict untoward effects on the medical profession.
Even the most humane and conscientious physician psychologically needs protection against himself and his weaknesses. Rosenblum observes that adherence to the consensus is the Archimedean point of trust that has made possible a judicious balancing of interests in this ethically diverse and contested domain. A clear understanding that the law would not allow doctors to actively kill their patients made it possible to debate under what circumstances physicians could allow their patients to die. Introducing the concept of physician-assisted killing would upset the entire set of assumptions upon which the rules for allowing withdrawal of treatment are based. Regardless of where you stand, reading this volume of essays will sharpen and deepen your understanding.