Type of Submission
Podium Presentation
Keywords
Suicide tourism, assisted suicide, societal attitudes, social action
Abstract
The number of people traveling to other locations, including Switzerland, or different U.S. states, for the sole purpose of receiving assisted-suicide is increasing. This phenomenon is known as suicide tourism. Switzerland is a major destination for recipients globally, as noted by Saskia Gauthier, Julian Mausbach, Thomas Reisch, and Christine Bartsch (2014) in the article, Suicide tourism: a pilot study on the Swiss phenomenon. The influx of recipients travelling to Switzerland for the purpose of committing suicide is largely due to the country’s lack of regulation in who might receive assisted-suicide. This issue is relevant in the United States, as Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, and New Mexico currently allow physician-assisted suicide. This presentation will introduce suicide tourism through the examination of research, case studies, and statistics. We propose to explore the reasons behind the shift in societal attitudes toward assisted suicide and examine the issue from secular and Christian worldviews, as well as a social work perspective. This includes studying legal and ethical questions based on the value of suffering, the inherent worth of a person, and the risk presented to vulnerable populations. Additionally, we will introduce alternatives to suicide and opportunities for social action.
Faculty Sponsor or Advisor’s Name
Deanna Throop
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center, Room 241
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-1-2015 2:20 PM
End Date
4-1-2015 2:40 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Suicide Tourism
Cedarville, OH
The number of people traveling to other locations, including Switzerland, or different U.S. states, for the sole purpose of receiving assisted-suicide is increasing. This phenomenon is known as suicide tourism. Switzerland is a major destination for recipients globally, as noted by Saskia Gauthier, Julian Mausbach, Thomas Reisch, and Christine Bartsch (2014) in the article, Suicide tourism: a pilot study on the Swiss phenomenon. The influx of recipients travelling to Switzerland for the purpose of committing suicide is largely due to the country’s lack of regulation in who might receive assisted-suicide. This issue is relevant in the United States, as Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, and New Mexico currently allow physician-assisted suicide. This presentation will introduce suicide tourism through the examination of research, case studies, and statistics. We propose to explore the reasons behind the shift in societal attitudes toward assisted suicide and examine the issue from secular and Christian worldviews, as well as a social work perspective. This includes studying legal and ethical questions based on the value of suffering, the inherent worth of a person, and the risk presented to vulnerable populations. Additionally, we will introduce alternatives to suicide and opportunities for social action.
