Legal provisions on medical aid in dying encode moral intuition
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
Rodríguez Hannikainen, Ivar Allan; Suárez, Jorge; Esparza Espericueta, José Luis; Menéndez Ferreras, Maite; Rodríguez Arias Vailhen, DavidEditorial
National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Materia
moral cognition euthanasia assisted suicide
Fecha
2024-10-08Referencia bibliográfica
I.R. Hannikainen, J. Suárez, L. Espericueta, M. Menéndez-Ferreras, D. Rodríguez-Arias, Legal provisions on medical aid in dying encode moral intuition, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 121 (42) e2406823121, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2406823121 (2024).
Patrocinador
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN/AEI10.13039/501100011033); European Social Fund; European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTRResumen
In recent decades, many jurisdictions have moved toward legalizing euthanasia and
assisted suicide, alongside a near-universal
increase in public acceptance of medical
aid in dying. Here, we draw on a comprehensive quantitative review of current laws
on assisted dying, experimental survey evidence, and four decades of time-series
data
to explore the relationship between these legislative transitions and change in moral
attitudes. Our analyses reveal that existing laws on medical aid in dying impose a common
set of eligibility restrictions, based on the patient’s age, decision-making
capacity,
prognosis, and the nature of their illness. Fulfillment of these eligibility criteria elevates
public moral approval of physician-assisted
death, equally in countries with (i.e., Spain)
and without (i.e., the United Kingdom) assisted dying laws. Finally, historical records
of public attitudes toward euthanasia across numerous countries uncovered anticipatory
growth in moral approval leading up to legalization, but no accelerated growth thereafter.
Taken together, our findings suggest that the enactment of medical aid in dying laws,
and their specific provisions, crystallize patterns in moral intuition.