CANCELLED: Non-Voluntary Euthanasia: Examining Beneficence Arguments

Dr Jonas-Sébastien Beaudry is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law and Institute for Health and Social Policy at McGill University. He has taught in the areas of health and disability law, jurisprudence, applied ethics as well as international and domestic human rights. His recent research has focused on health policies, bioethics and theories of autonomy and equality rights. He is the founder and convenor of McGill’s Disability Working Group. He has advised disability organisations on strategic litigations since 2015, and been consulted by the Quebec Bar, the federal Department of Justice, and the Senate on health policies and equality issues.

Abstract

I offer a principled objection to arguments in favour of legalizing non-voluntary euthanasia on the basis of the principle of beneficence. The objection is that the status of death as a benefit to people who cannot formulate a desire to die is more problematic than pain management care. I ground this objection on epistemic and political arguments.