Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Extended Table of Contents -- List of Figures And Tables -- Acknowledgements -- Glossary -- Prologue: The Netherlands And The Dutch -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- 1.1 What this book is about and for whom it is intended -- 1.2 The definition of 'euthanasia' and of other 'medical behavior that shortens life' (MBSL) -- 1.3 A sketch of the current legal situation -- 1.4 Criticisms from abroad and the Dutch reaction -- Intermezzo: The Dutch Health Care System And The Care of The Ter.'Vilnally Ill -- A. The Dutch health-care system -- B. Institutions for health care and care of the elderly -- C. Health-care professionals -- Chapter 2: Legal Change 1945-1997 -- 2.1 1945-1970: How room for public debate became available -- 2.2 1970-1982: The early stages of public debate -- 2.3 1982-1986: The breakthrough -- 2.3.1 The justification of necessity and the 'requirements of careful practice' -- 2.3.2 The definition of euthanasia and initial proposals for legislation -- 2.4 1986-1997: Efforts to codify emerging practice in legislation -- broadening the subject of debate -- 2.5 Concluding remarks on the process of legal change -- Chapter 3: The Current Legal Situation -- 3.1 A summary of current law concerning medical behavior that shortens life -- 3.1.1 'Normal medical practice', the 'medical exception' and a 'natural death' -- 3.1.2 The concept 'medical behavior that shortens life' (MBSL) -- 3.1.3 Euthanasia -- 3.1.4 Euthanasia versus assistance with suicide -- 3.2 The reporting procedure -- 3.3 The CAL and NVK reports: law in statu nascendi -- 3.3.1 The legitimacy of decisions to shorten life in the absence of a competent request -- 3.3.2 Severely defective newborn babies (and late abortion) -- 3.3.3 Coma (PVS) patients -- 3.3.4 'Help in dying' -- 3.3.5 Assessment of the approach of the CAL and NVK reports.

3.4 The demented elderly -- 3.5 Euthanasia in the absence of somatic suffering -- 3.5.1 Persons whose suffering is due to a psychiatric disorder -- 3.5.2 The legal horizon: assistance with suicide by the 11011-'sick' and the nOI1-'suffering' -- 3.6 Conclusion -- Chapter 4: The Terms of Debate Since 1982 -- 4.1 Distinguishing euthanasia from other MBSL -- 4.1.1 Killing versus letting die -- 4.1.2 Intentionally shortening life -- 4.1.3 Conclusion -- 4.2 The most important arguments since 1982 -- 4.2.1 The principle of autonomy -- 4.2.2 The principle of beneficence -- 4.2.3 The principle of the sanctity of life -- 4.2.4 The slippery-slope argument -- 4.2.5 Control arguments -- 4.3 A fundamental difference of opinion? -- 4.3.1 The nature of a question of legal policy -- 4.3.2 A quest for common ground -- 4.3.3 The appeal to tolerance -- 4.3.4 Respect for life -- 4.3.5 Conclusion -- Chapter 5: What Is Known About Medical Practice And Its Regulation? -- 5.1 Public opinion concerning euthanasia and other MBSL -- 5.2 The first national survey: euthanasia by GPs and nursing-home doctors -- 5.3 Two major national surveys of MBSL -- 5.3.1 Euthanasia and other MBSL: frequencies, circumstances and characteristics -- 5.3.2 Termination of life without an explicit request -- 5.3.3 Severely defective newborn babies (and late abortion) -- 5.3.4 Psychiatric patients and patients with a psychiatric disorder -- 5.3.5 The control system and its operation in practice -- 5.4 Other recent research -- 5.4.1 Communication between doctor and patient -- 5.4.2 The euthanasia policy of hospitals and nursing homes -- 5.4.3 The role of pharmacists -- 5.4.4 Institutionalized, mentally handicapped patients -- 5.5 Summary and conclusions -- Chapter 6: Euthanasia And Other Medical Behavior That Shortens Life As A Problem of Regulation -- 6.1 Criteria for a control system.

6.1.1 What are the objectives of legal control? -- 6.1.2 What should we expect of a regulatory regime? -- 6.2 Criminal law is the problem, not the solution -- 6.2.1 The regulatory situation recapitulated -- 6.2.2 The intrinsic unsuitability of criminal law -- 6.2.3 The impossibility of enforcing criminal prohibitions -- 6.2.4 Control in the context of criminal enforcement offers the doctor insufficient legal security -- 6.2.5 Can tinkering with the reporting procedure improve the effectiveness of criminal enforcement? -- 6.2.6 Would 'legalizing' euthanasia help? -- 6.2.7 A final verdict on criminal enforcement of legal requirements concerning MBSL -- 6.3 Decriminalization and the prospects of non-criminal enforcement -- 6.3.1 Legalization, decriminalization, and the 'medical exception' -- 6.3.2 A system of decriminalized enforcement -- 6.3.3 A uniform regulatory regime for all MBSL? -- 6.4 Conclusion -- Chapter 7: Two Reflections on The Significance of The Dutch Experience -- 7.1 Whither leads the slippery slope? -- 7.2 Is euthanasia law exportable? -- Appendix I: Some Relevant Legal Documents -- A. Articles 40, 228(1), 255, 287, 289, 293, 294 and 307 of the Criminal Code -- B. The amendment to the Law on the Disposal of Corpses and the Order in Council pursuant to the law -- C. Some legislative proposals -- 1 The proposal of the State Commission on Euthanasia (1985) -- 2 The proposal of Wessel-Tuinstra (1984-1986) -- 3 The proposal of the Dutch Association for Voluntary Euthanasia (1996) -- Appendix 1I: Three Leading Cases -- 1 Schoonheim (Supreme Court 1984) -- 2 Chabot (Supreme Court 1994) -- 3 Kadijk (Court of Appeals, Leeuwarden, 1996) -- Literature -- Index.