Medical Care that Embodies Human Dignity at the End of Life

Abstract

Public debates and discussions concerning physician-assisted suicide have recently arisen in South Korea in response to proposals made in the National Assembly for new legislation governing this and other aspects of end-of-life medical care. Two contrasting positions can be discerned in these debates: one position views physician-assisted suicide as respecting patients’ autonomy and guaranteeing their right to a “death with dignity”; the other argues that physician-assisted suicide might be transformed into a “duty to die,” especially since dying care has not yet been well established in Korea. On this latter view, the expansion of hospice for end-of-life care should precede the introduction of physician-assisted suicide. The present article examines these two views in detail and explores the state of end-of-life medical care in Korea.