무의미한 연명치료와 헌법상 권리

Recently, the problem with the right to dignity is the interest things in our society. The issue erupted into Korean public consciousness on May 21, 2009, with the news that the Supreme Court upheld that the patient entered irrecoverable death stage and her intention for discontinuance of life-extending treatment can be inferred as an element for discontinuing life-extending treatment. In the United States, Oregon state enacted the Death with Dignity Act in 1994, and Washington state adopted the Natural Death Act in 2009. The former allows terminally ill adults seeking to end their life to request lethal doses of medication from medical physicians. The latter allows the adult persons have the fundamental right to control the decisions relating to the rendering of their own health care, including the decision to have life-sustaining treatment withhold or withdraw in instance of a terminal condition or permanent unconscious condition. Now there lively dispute of legal policy on the preconditions and concrete procedure of natural death act and dignity death act in the Korea National Assembly. Through the legislation of natural death act, we should prepare some circumstances to respect patient's autonomy on the right to die. We get good point of suggestion in the bill of the right to die with dignity or natural death.