Sanctity of Life

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the sanctity of life in terms of euthanasia, abortion, and the cost of expensive procedures. Psychological and subtle indirect consequences appear to be frequently underestimated by the advocates of a wider application of euthanasia. One feature of abortion is that there is no relation of trust between doctor and fetus. In this respect, the situation is comparable to the treatment of an irretrievably unconscious person, a completely demented person, a baby or, in some countries, a slave. In all these cases, the doctor feels chiefly accountable to whoever is in charge, whose interests need not coincide with those of the immediate object of attention. The chapter also discusses the cost of expensive procedures. Where the cost of treatment is borne by the patient, the limits are up to the patient. Nowadays, increasing importance attaches to the case where the cost falls on society. This problem is curiously intertwined with two others, namely, that of commission and omission and that of discrimination.