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Death Studies Volume 39, 2015 - Issue 3
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ARTICLES

Attitudes of Belgian Students of Medicine, Philosophy, and Law Toward Euthanasia and the Conditions for Its Acceptance

Marc RoelandsEnd-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University, Brussels, BelgiumCorrespondence[email protected]
,
Lieve Van den BlockEnd-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium
,
Sylvie GeurtsDepartment of General Practice and End-of-Life Care, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
,
Luc DeliensEnd-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium;Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
&
Joachim CohenEnd-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium
Pages 139-150 | Received 20 Feb 2013, Accepted 18 Apr 2014, Published online: 29 Jan 2015
 
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Abstract

Euthanasia is legal in Belgium if due care criteria are met, which is judged by committees including physicians, ethicists, and jurists. We examined whether students in these disciplines differ in how they judge euthanasia as an acceptable act. A cross-sectional, anonymous e-mail survey revealed that they have similar attitudes and accept its legalization. Therefore, joint decision-making of physicians, ethicists, and lawyers regarding euthanasia seems to have a common attitudinal base in Belgium. However, they differ to some extent regarding the conditions they put forward for euthanasia being acceptable. Philosophy of life (religion) was an independent predictor of these attitudes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to thank Jane Ruthven for proofreading and copy-editing the manuscript.

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