Hill Bosscher Case Summary

In the case of Hilly Bosscher, the moral issue discussed is physician assisted suicide. In assisted suicide the physician provides the patient with the means to end his or her own life, and the patient does so by his or her own hand. In cases of euthanasia, the physician themselves administer the lethal dose or directly cause the death of the patient in accordance with his or her wishes (Weijer, Skelton & Brennan 146). Therefore, because Dr. Chabot only prescribed the sleeping medication and Mrs. Bosscher took it herself, the discussed situation is a case of physician assisted suicide.

2. In my opinion, Hilly Bosscher’s decision was not made autonomously. Ms. Bosscher is chronically ill, but her mental illness affects her mental capacities.

Freedman worries about the conceptual slippery slope associated with physician assisted suicide. Ultimately, he believes that allowing physician assisted suicide will lead to the approval of euthanasia (154). In many situations it is unclear how to deal with requested physician suicide, especially in cases where the patient has a physical disability. In such cases, it is difficult or impossible for a patient to self-administer the lethal dose of medication to end his or her own life. It therefore rules out physician assisted suicide, but denying the patient the right to end his or her own life as they choose is against the charter of rights and undermines his or her autonomy (155). Thus, the patient must resort to using complex technology, machinery, or other’s cooperation to end his or her life. The issue is further complicated because the machinery and technology that would be used by patients to end his or her own life would most likely be produced by the collaboration of doctors. In this sense, it is like the doctor is aiding physically in the ending of a patient’s life (154). This is where it becomes difficult to draw a line between physician assisted suicide and euthanasia. It also follows, that the reasoning we would use to allow physician assisted suicide would also be the same criteria to allow

For example, the term ‘competence’ can be battled infinitely because competence exists on a spectrum. One person may be less competent than the next, but both deemed competent. Another person may come along even less competent, and it becomes difficult to categorize his or her competence with there only being the smallest difference from one person to the next (149). The Expert Panel suggests that there be a certain standard set in regard to competence, as was done with a driver’s license. Although competence may not differ from a teenager at the age of 16 and a teenager at the age of 15 years and 364 days, there is a rule put in place to discount any ambiguities (149). If this same practice is put into use in the context of physician assisted suicide and euthanasia, a line can be drawn to prevent undesirable consequences stemming from a philosophical