Voluntary Euthanasia and the Common Law

Dr Margaret Otlowski is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Commerce and Law, University of Tasmania. She has acted as a consultant for various government working parties on issues relating to the ethics of health care. She has filled the position of Chair for the Tasmania Ethics Committee (Human Experimentation) since 1993.

Otlowski's command and manipulation of her sources, from the common law to the moral plane, across the deserts of causation and intention, and through the swamps of public policy, are a delight to read ... Otlowski's clear and consistent argument is that non-legalized, active voluntary euthanasia does more harm than would its legalized cousin. Her style is elegant, yet thoughtful and judicious. This book is a remarkable achievement; an invaluable contribution to an old debate where too frequently fiction takes the place of fact, where fable does the work of narrative, and where demons and panics abound and the stylistically straightforward is surrendered to the sesquipedalian. Into such a fabulous world the refreshing breeze of measured argument and analysis is always a welcome visitor, whether you like the nature of their calling card or not.

• Introduction ; Preface ; Euthanasia Under the Criminal Law ; Suicide and Assisted Suicide ; The Position in Practice: Doctors' Practices and the Law Applied ; The Euthanasia Debate ; The Changing Climate For Reform ; Moves Towards Reform ; The Netherlands ; Options for Reform ; Appendix: Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1996 ; Bibliography ; Index