Abstract

As end-of-life care has increased in scope and proficiency, there has also arisen an approach that seeks to end suffering not by treating the patient, but by allowing him to actively end his own life. Offered as a merciful action that brings to a close the suffering of the patient, this option is justified as a natural exercise of his autonomy as a person. As long as his decision is not coerced, then the person has the authority to end the life that belongs to him. This view of the person grants the individual an almost boundless scope of action and raises freedom above all other goods of the person. If freedom is elevated to the status of an absolute, then one can say that its authentic exercise has no limits. Paradoxically, this view of freedom actually constrains the person, who becomes a victim of freedom itself.