Directing citizens to create advance directives
This article describes the Swiss law on advance directives that was passed at the beginning of 2013 and led to more certainty about the legally binding character of such directives. However, for various reasons the drafting of advance directives is not yet widespread in Switzerland, and many resou...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW)
2018-05-01
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| Series: | Swiss Medical Weekly |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/2473 |
| _version_ | 1798003761901207552 |
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| author | Sophie Haesen David Shaw |
| author_facet | Sophie Haesen David Shaw |
| author_sort | Sophie Haesen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
This article describes the Swiss law on advance directives that was passed at the beginning of 2013 and led to more certainty about the legally binding character of such directives. However, for various reasons the drafting of advance directives is not yet widespread in Switzerland, and many resources might be put to better use if this became a common practice. A recent proposal by members of a political party to make the discussion, although not the actual drafting, of advance directives mandatory was rejected by the Swiss Federal Parliament, and the proposal was written off after having been pending for 2 years. We consider that the rejection of this proposal was not justified and that discussion of advance directives should become mandatory, so that individuals can fully assume their role as responsible citizens taking proactive decisions. The decision not to draft advance directives should be a deliberate one, marking a shift from the current “opt-in” approach to an “opt-out” scenario.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T12:13:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8c8fea62bd2c40808f91b88f13ed1bc0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-3997 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T12:13:02Z |
| publishDate | 2018-05-01 |
| publisher | SMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Swiss Medical Weekly |
| spelling | doaj.art-8c8fea62bd2c40808f91b88f13ed1bc02022-12-22T04:24:32ZengSMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW)Swiss Medical Weekly1424-39972018-05-01148192010.4414/smw.2018.14628Directing citizens to create advance directivesSophie Haesen0David Shaw1Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, SwitzerlandInstitute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Switzerland; The Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University, The Netherlands This article describes the Swiss law on advance directives that was passed at the beginning of 2013 and led to more certainty about the legally binding character of such directives. However, for various reasons the drafting of advance directives is not yet widespread in Switzerland, and many resources might be put to better use if this became a common practice. A recent proposal by members of a political party to make the discussion, although not the actual drafting, of advance directives mandatory was rejected by the Swiss Federal Parliament, and the proposal was written off after having been pending for 2 years. We consider that the rejection of this proposal was not justified and that discussion of advance directives should become mandatory, so that individuals can fully assume their role as responsible citizens taking proactive decisions. The decision not to draft advance directives should be a deliberate one, marking a shift from the current “opt-in” approach to an “opt-out” scenario. https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/2473advance directivesSwitzerlanddecision makingmandatory discussionopt-out approach |
| spellingShingle | Sophie Haesen David Shaw Directing citizens to create advance directives Swiss Medical Weekly advance directives Switzerland decision making mandatory discussion opt-out approach |
| title | Directing citizens to create advance directives |
| title_full | Directing citizens to create advance directives |
| title_fullStr | Directing citizens to create advance directives |
| title_full_unstemmed | Directing citizens to create advance directives |
| title_short | Directing citizens to create advance directives |
| title_sort | directing citizens to create advance directives |
| topic | advance directives Switzerland decision making mandatory discussion opt-out approach |
| url | https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/2473 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sophiehaesen directingcitizenstocreateadvancedirectives AT davidshaw directingcitizenstocreateadvancedirectives |