Judging lives: autonomy, dignity and human well-being in cases of voluntary assisted suicide in a South African context
Date
2017
Authors
Fasser, Eron
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Abstract
In this thesis I explore the issue of voluntary assisted suicide in a South African
constitutional context through the tri-coloured normative prism of autonomy, dignity
and human well-being. I will focus on the way South Africa, as a secular society, ought
to engage with this highly emotive issue in light of the socio-legal framework in which
we are embedded and which framework carries with it profound normative
implications.
I divide the discussion into two broad sections. In the first section I articulate, from an
ethical standpoint, what I take to be the strongest positive case for South African
society to permit voluntary assisted suicide. I argue that by permitting voluntary
assisted suicide South African society would be giving proper expression to (i)
individual autonomy (ii) human dignity, and (iii) human well-being.
In articulating the positive case I also analyse the triumvirate concepts of individual
autonomy, dignity and human well-being as well as their relationship to each other. I
argue that individual autonomy is an essential component of a good human life, that is
to say, a worthwhile life and that to speak of a dignified life is, in turn, to speak of the
sort of life that is worthy of respect, reverence and honour.
I then turn to an examination of two of the principal ethical arguments against the
moral permissibility of voluntary assisted suicide in the literature, namely (i) the
Sanctity of Life Argument, and (ii) the Social Harm Argument.
I argue that neither argument is sufficiently persuasive to rebut the positive case in
favour of voluntary assisted suicide. However, certain critical considerations are raised
that do speak to the need for effective oversight and regulation of such a practice in
South African society.
Accordingly, I advance the view that, in light of the failure of these two principal
arguments (and in the absence of any stronger arguments) voluntary assisted suicide
ought to be permitted in South Africa subject to uniform, public and specifiable
oversight criteria applicable to each individual who wishes to end his life with the
assistance of another.
In the second section, I describe the South African legal standpoint on voluntary
assisted suicide in light of (i) the normative underpinnings of the Constitution of the
Republic of South Africa, 1996 (and in particular the Bill of Rights) and (ii) the present
legal status of voluntary assisted suicide, taking into account both the common law and
the South African Law Commission Report on Euthanasia and Artificial Preservation of
Life, 1998.
This analysis involves an examination of (i) the recent decision of Stransham-Ford v
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services & Others1 handed down on 4 May 2015 in
which the North Gauteng High Court granted, for the first time in South African legal
history, an application allowing a terminally ill man the right to die and to be actively
assisted to do so by a consenting physician; as well as (ii) the subsequent Supreme Court
of Appeal decision in The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services & Others v Estate
Late Stransham Ford2 that overturned the original decision.
I argue that the best way to understand the socio-legal framework in which we find
ourselves is as a social contract that ‘instantiates’ or ‘gives expression to’ a rights-based
ethic, which in turn protects vital human interests. I argue further that this
constitutional legal framework is capable of tracking and incorporating the positive
ethical case for voluntary assisted suicide admirably.
Finally, I posit that the quickest and most effective way to implement a permissive policy
for voluntary assisted suicide is through the development of the common law. In the
process, I tentatively suggest what appropriate safeguards and oversight of voluntary
assisted suicide might look like, the practical implementation of which would allow
South African society – specifically through the judicial branch of government - to more
sagaciously and compassionately judge lives.
Description
Master’s thesis submitted to Faculty of Humanities in partial fulfilment of
Master of Arts: Applied Ethics for Professionals
University of the Witwatersrand Department of Philosophy, 2017
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Citation
Fasser, Eron (2017) Judging lives: autonomy, dignity and human well-being in cases of voluntary assisted suicide in a South African context, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <https://hdl.handle.net/10539/24525>