Death with Dignity: The Legal Dilemmas of Euthanasia
Death with Dignity: The Legal Dilemmas of Euthanasia

Summary/Abstract: Death with dignity is very often equated with euthanasia and assisted suicide, which are regulated as prohibited acts in articles 150 and 151 of the Polish Penal Code Act of 6 June 1997. However, the media discussion between supporters and opponents of legalization of euthanasia, which is heating up especially when there are cases of terminally ill people who publicly demand the right to a dignified death without pain and suffering, which would entail the decriminalization of euthanasia and assisted sicide in national law. In the European Union, there are no uniform solutions in this respect and each of the member countries can adapt its internal legislation to its own legal regulations. The article points to the definitions and types of death as a legal and medical event, an analysis of existing legal regulations in Polish law related to euthanasia and its variants including assisted suicide. Additionally, it clarifies important legal doubts related to the existence of the right to a death with dignity as a normative category resulting from the Constitution and a cautious approach of the direction of changes in law in this area in the nearest future – proposing the adoption of a specific legal model due to the approach to the legalization of euthanasia within the European Union and changes in views on euthanasia in the opinion and public awareness in recent times.

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