The Nazi Analogy Muddles Our Thinking About Physician Aid-in-Dying in the US.

What has become known in bioethics as "the Nazi analogy" likens a change's potential to precipitate moral deterioration to Nazi atrocities of the mid-20th century. This analogy has been applied in physician aid-in-dying (PAD) deliberations by those fearful that a physician's role in enabling a patient's death is too similar to Nazi physicians' roles in systematic murders during the Holocaust. This article suggests the importance of carefully distinguishing between when the Nazi analogy is aptly applied and when its use is limited to urging great caution about abuse or inequity. © 2021 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

Citation

Holland M Kaplan. The Nazi Analogy Muddles Our Thinking About Physician Aid-in-Dying in the US. AMA journal of ethics. 2021 Jan 01;23(1):E78-81

Mesh Tags

PMID: 33554854

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