International Perspectives on End-of-Life Law Reform

Addresses the vexed question of how and why reform of end-of-life law occurs, drawing on ten international case studies.

This interdisciplinary analysis will appeal to those in the fields of law, health and medicine, bioethics, regulation and political science, as well as those working in parliaments and government bodies with responsibility for reform, non-government organisations, advocacy groups and civil society groups engaged in reform debates.Much has been written about whether end-of-life law should change and what that law should be. However, the barriers and facilitators of such changes – law reform perspectives – have been virtually ignored. Why do so many attempts to change the law fail but others are successful? International Perspectives on End-of-Life Law Reform aims to address this question by drawing on ten case studies of end-of-life law reform from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia. Written by leading end-of-life scholars, the book's chapters blend perspectives from law, medicine, bioethics and sociology to examine sustained reform efforts to permit assisted dying and change the law about withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment. Findings from this book shed light not only on changing end-of-life law, but provide insight more generally into how and why law reform succeeds in complex and controversial social policy areas.