International Perspectives on End-of-Life Law Reform

Politics, Persuasion and Persistence

Ben P. White, Lindy Willmott

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781108489775
• eBook ISBN:
  9781108801188
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Medical Law
• Index: Law

Much has been written about whether end-of-life law should change and what that law should be. However, the barriers and facilitators of such changes – law reform perspectives – have been virtually ignored. Why do so many attempts to change the law fail but others are successful? International Perspectives on End-of-Life Law Reform aims to address this question by drawing on ten case studies of end-of-life law reform from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia. Written by leading end-of-life scholars, the book's chapters blend perspectives from law, medicine, bioethics and sociology to examine sustained reform efforts to permit assisted dying and change the law about withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment. Findings from this book shed light not only on changing end-of-life law, but provide insight more generally into how and why law reform succeeds in complex and controversial social policy areas.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Series information
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Contents
• Preface
• About the Editors
• List of Contributors
• Table of Cases
• Table of Statutes, Bills and Regulations
• 1 End-of-Life Law Reform: Context and Challenges
• 2 The Path from Rodriguez to Bill C-14 and Beyond: Lessons about MAiD Law Reform from Canada
• 3 The Extension of the Belgian Euthanasia Law to Minors in 2014
• 4 The Role of Scientific Evaluations of the Dutch Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedure) Act: Old Law, New Boundaries
• 5 The Challenging Path to Voluntary Assisted Dying Law Reform in Australia: Victoria as a Successful Case Study
• 6 Should Assisted Dying Require the Consent of a High Court Judge?
• 7 Aid in Dying in the United States: Past, Present and Future
• 8 The Medical Regulator as Law Reformer: Québec's Act Respecting End-of-Life Care
• 9 Extrajudicial Resolution of Medical Futility Disputes: Key Factors in Establishing and Dismantling the Texas Advance Directives Act
• 10 Challenging Mandatory Court Hearings for People in Vegetative and Minimally Conscious States: How to Change the Law
• 11 Withholding and Withdrawing Life-Prolonging Treatment and the Relevance of Patients' Wishes: Reforming the Mental Capacity Act 2005
• 12 International Perspectives on Reforming End-of-Life Law
• Index