With new medical advances in technology, there has been a push from the legal, medical and political communities to re-examine the policies of end-of-life-care. End-of-life-care (EOLC) is a term that refers to not only a patient’s final hours of life, but also the medical care of individuals with terminal illnesses or conditions that have become advanced and incurable. For the purpose of this paper, I will be referring to physician-assisted death and active euthanasia as forms of end-of-care. The Politics of End-of –Life-Care: Active Euthanasia and Physician-assisted Death examines the political disjuncture between the evidence presented in favour of active euthanasia (AE), physician-assisted death (PAD) and the current practice of refusing to grant AE and PAD legal status in Canada. It will examine the political dynamics underlying the disjuncture using political pressure groups, constructivism, rational choice, institutionalism and structuralism. There is empirical evidence that demonstrates support for the legalization of AE and PAD. Sixty-seven percent of Canadians support AE /PAD and 80 percent support allowing physicians to assist in AE and PAD (Angus Reid 2012) however, Parliament has not legalized AE/PAD and the CMA has not sanctioned AE /PAD. The two sides of the debate have clearly communicated their arguments. The arguments on each side are strong and have merit. Conversely, the arguments against AE and PAD appear to hold more weight with institutions than with the public. This thesis examines a number of different reasons for why AE/PAD remains illegal in Canada despite society’s widespread support for AE/PAD. The results of the research found no one method explains the disjuncture between the evidence presented in favour of active euthanasia and the current practice of refusing to grant it legal status. However, discursive institutionalism does help elites to generate and communicate the discourse of AE and PAD. It also explains how discourse can also occur from the bottom which results in a new discourse. For example, physicians, politicians, and the public who have deviated from the accepted discourse on AE and PAD can help to create a new discourse regarding AE and PAD policies.

The thesis deals with legalization of active euthanasia, its main impacts for the whole society, potential abuse and some basic concerns of specialist of various profession related to euthanasia. The thesis is focused on the medical, economic, legal and religious point of view of euthanasia and defines crucial approaches of the defenders and defendant of euthanasia. Special emphasis is on the attitude of doctors, whose opinions on legalization of active euthanasia vary. The thesis denies legalization of active euthanasia as a good solution for patients which are incurable ill or dying, calls attention to keeping the right to live in current form and disagrees with the economical argument that euthanasia is cheap and fast solution for complicated situation of the health service.

Bakgrund: Eutanasi är ett ämne som är väl omdebatterat i världen och betyder egentligen hjälp till en smärtfri död, men används idag som synonym till dödshjälp. Aktiv dödshjälp innebär att läkaren förskriver ett läkemedel med syfte att avsluta en patients liv. Läkarassisterat självmord innebär att patienten själv tar läkemedlet medan aktiv dödshjälp innebär att sjukvården hjälper till att avsluta patientens liv. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva sjuksköterskors inställning till eutanasi och de faktorer som beskrivs ligga bakom dessa inställningar, samt att beskriva undersökningsgrupperna i de valda artiklarna. Metod: Författarna gjorde en deskriptiv litteraturstudie. Artiklar har sökts fram i sökmotorn PubMed med en femårsbegränsning. Totalt 11 artiklar bearbetades och sammanställdes i kategorier för att besvara frågeställningarna. Resultat: Resultatet visade att sjuksköterskors inställning till eutanasi är en komplex fråga som kan vara beroende av olika faktorer som vilket land de arbetar i och vilka patientgrupper de arbetar med. Majoriteten av deltagarna i studierna var kvinnor i olika åldrar med olika lång arbetslivserfarenhet som sjuksköterska. Resultatet i föreliggande litteraturstudie presenteras utifrån tre huvudrubriker med utgångspunkt i frågeställningarna; Sjuksköterskors inställning till eutanasi, Bidragande faktorer till sjuksköterskornas inställning till eutanasi, samt den metodologiska aspekten undersökningsgrupper. Slutsats: Föreliggande litteraturstudie visar att sjuksköterskors inställning till eutanasi kan vara högst individuell och beroende av många faktorer. Att man som sjuksköterska kan komma i kontakt med dessa frågor är ett faktum, oavsett var och med vilka patienter man arbetar. Med mer erfarenhet och kunskap om ämnet kan sjuksköterskan känna sig tryggare i bemötandet med den döende patienten och dennes anhöriga. / Background: Euthanasia is a well-discussed subject all around the world and means help to a painless death. Active euthanasia means that a doctor prescribes a drug intended to end a patients’ life. Physician-assisted suicide means that the patient takes the drug themselves, while active euthanasia involves medical help to end the patient’s life. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe nurses’ attitudes towards euthanasia and the factors described underlie these attitudes, as well as to describe the study groups in the included articles. Method: The authors conducted a descriptive literature review. The articles were found in the search engine PubMed with a five-year limit. A total of 11 articles were processed and summarized into categories to answer the research questions. Findings: The results showed that nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia is a complex issue which may be dependent on several factors such as which country they work in and which patient groups they work with. Most participants in the studies were women of different age and different experience as a nurse. The result of the present literature review form three main headings, based on the issues; nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia, contributing factors to the nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia, as well as the methodological aspect - study groups. Conclusion: The present literature review shows that nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia can be very individual and depend on many factors. It is a fact that nurses may come in contact with these issues, no matter where and with what kind of patients they work. With more experience and knowledge of the subject, the nurse may feel safer in facing the dying patients and their relatives.

Bakgrund: Dödshjälp är ett ämne som börjar åskådliggöras i större omfattning i media och skapar debatter runt om i världen. För att begripa vad detta innefattar för sjuksköterskor så är det nödvändigt att kartlägga vilka förhållningssätt som råder och vilka aspekter som bör bejakas i framtiden. Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva sjuksköterskors förhållningssätt till dödshjälp. Metod: En litteraturöversikt med tio vetenskapliga artiklar, både kvantitativ och kvalitativ design. Det användes två databaser, Cinahl Complete och PubMed. Studierna kvalitetsgranskades grundligt och kategoriserades efter likheter och skillnader. Resultat: I resultatet redovisas fem olika huvudteman; Sjuksköterskans profession (1), förhållningssättet till patientens autonomi (2), lidandet (3), religion (4) och arbetsmiljön (5). Slutsats: Resultatet i denna litteraturstudie påvisar att dödshjälp innefattar många faktorer; främst hur sjuksköterskor förhåller sig till detta inom professionen, religiösa yttringar, värdet kring patienters autonomi, sjuksköterskors arbetsmiljö och både psykiskt och fysiskt lidande. Detta ämne berör hela samhället och etik är en aspekt som dominerar fullständigt. / Background: Euthanasia is a topic that is beginning to be increasingly addressed in debates and the media worldwide. To understand what the subject means for nurses, it is important to find out what their attitudes are and what aspects need to be addressed in the future. Aim: The purpose of this study is to describe nurses' attitudes to euthanasia. Method: A literature review with ten scientific articles, both quantitative and qualitative design. Two databases were used, Cinahl Complete and PubMed. The studies were thoroughly quality examined and categorized according to similarities and differences. Results: The result presents five different main themes; The nurse's profession (1), the relationship to the patient's autonomy (2), suffering (3), religion (4) and the work environment (5). Conclusion: The results of this literature study demonstrate that euthanasia involves many factors; mainly how nurses relate to this in the profession, religious expressions, the value of patients 'autonomy, nurses' work environment and both mental and physical suffering. This topic affects the whole of society and ethics is an aspect that completely dominates.

This thesis defends an individual's moral right to be aided in dying by a physician (that is, voluntary active euthanasia, or VAE), but departs significantly from the view in its favor generally accepted in the bioethics literature. The prevailing view appeals to both respect for an individual's autonomy and promotion of an individual's well-being as necessary conditions for a right to VAE, so as to justify the right only for those suffering grave illnesses and/or disabilities. The author argues that such a view is logically untenable; one or another aspect must be given up. Since invoking the premise that certain individuals would be better off dead necessarily relies on controversial assumptions about both the value of life and the nature and value of death, about which reasonable people disagree, it is the justification from an individual's best interest which must be excluded in a liberal society. The author endorses a self-determination justification for the right to VAE, but rejects understanding this in terms of respecting personal autonomy, instead making the case for a right to VAE grounded in self-ownership. The author's main conclusion is that the right to VAE is a general right applying to all competent adults, not only those suffering grave illnesses or disabilities, or those whose choice for VAE is an exercise of autonomy. Moreover, by analyzing the basis of physician authority over prescription medicine and how this can be justified to a society of self-owners, she maintains that individuals have not only the right to choose VAE without state interference, but also the right to be provided VAE by doctors. Nevertheless, both rights are compatible with reasonable limitations to protect both the interests of VAE seekers and the rights of others.

The subject of the following dissertation, as the title states, is to explore legal and ethical aspects of the protection of human life and its dignity. Its aim is not merely to attempt to map the present legal situation regarding the protection of human life in the legal system of the Czech Republic, but also to outline some philosophical and anthropological implications which could have considerable influence on the practical consequences of some legal measures, including general aspects of the protection of human life and the legal regulation of two areas of study chosen by the author, namely assisted reproduction and euthanasia. In this sense the following work does not simply describe the various philosophical- anthropological conceptions in a neutral way, but offers to the reader a possible model which, in the view of the author, best corresponds to the degree of protection that human life and dignity can claim in early and terminal phases, taking a neoscholastic and personalistic view of man and his ontological status, in order to try to deduce from this model ethical implications both in a general sense and in relation to the two above-mentioned areas of application. The aim of the work is thus not only to describe the degree of protection of human life de lege lata, but also by making comparisons...