This chapter investigates euthanasia and assisted dying from the interconnected perspectives of vulnerability, disability bias, and healthcare distributive justice. People with disabilities are often depicted as being vulnerable by nature, a perception that is supported by medicalized and deficit-based models that undermine autonomy and strengthen paternalism. This chapter relies on relational interpretations of vulnerability and the CRPD framework, stressing that vulnerability comes from social, structural, and environmental interactions, not from a person’s impairment. The chapter provides a thorough examination of medical futility, DNRs, and end-of-life choices, and highlights difficulties faced by disabled patients, including differing interpretations, cultural differences, and disagreements over power levels. The debates about resource distribution, such as triage criteria and ventilator shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ethical limits of QALYs, structural inequities that have always been faced by disabled people, particularly in times of crisis, are discussed. In general, the chapter brings together legal, ethical, and clinical aspects to demonstrate how end-of-life practices can either perpetuate or eliminate discrimination and calls for the establishment of safeguards that will support the principles of autonomy, equity, and inclusive justice.

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Euthanasia, End-of-Life Ethics, and Disability Bias

  • Anu Shibi Anilkumar,
  • Ramakrishnan Veerabathiran

摘要

This chapter investigates euthanasia and assisted dying from the interconnected perspectives of vulnerability, disability bias, and healthcare distributive justice. People with disabilities are often depicted as being vulnerable by nature, a perception that is supported by medicalized and deficit-based models that undermine autonomy and strengthen paternalism. This chapter relies on relational interpretations of vulnerability and the CRPD framework, stressing that vulnerability comes from social, structural, and environmental interactions, not from a person’s impairment. The chapter provides a thorough examination of medical futility, DNRs, and end-of-life choices, and highlights difficulties faced by disabled patients, including differing interpretations, cultural differences, and disagreements over power levels. The debates about resource distribution, such as triage criteria and ventilator shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ethical limits of QALYs, structural inequities that have always been faced by disabled people, particularly in times of crisis, are discussed. In general, the chapter brings together legal, ethical, and clinical aspects to demonstrate how end-of-life practices can either perpetuate or eliminate discrimination and calls for the establishment of safeguards that will support the principles of autonomy, equity, and inclusive justice.