Abstract

PADOVANI CANTON, Antonio Manuel  and  CLEMENTE RODRIGUEZ, María Elisa. Euthanasia and Legislation. Rev Ciencias Médicas [online]. 2008, vol.12, n.2, pp. 139-149. ISSN 1561-3194.

Concepts related to Euthanasia as Disthanasia and Ortothanasia are reviewed as well as the different types of Euthanasia, such as the Voluntary Euthanasia, the non Voluntary Euthanasia and the Involuntary Euthanasia, the Eugenesic Euthanasia. The different possibilities from the legal point of view are assessed; the Euthanasia may be regulated or not, the first type of Euthanasia may be regulated by penal rules. i.e., the regulation may be a typical delictive figure or to be within another legal type and in case of not penal regulation, it may be by administrative rules and in such case it may be treated of permissive regulations or not. These possibilities are valuated exposing how they are classified in the Cuban Penal Code and which is the authors´s criterion. The countries where the classification of Euthanasia has been treated or attained from different ways are exposed as well as the results of Holland's study before the decriminalization of Euthanasia and the behaviour in terminal patients in this year. Finally, the authors´s criterion about the legal regulation of Euthanasia is exposed.

Keywords : Euthanasia; Legislation and Jurisprudence; Medical Legislation; Ethics; Terminal Patient; Bioethics.

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