There is endless debate about the ethics of euthanasia. Yet even if one sets aside principled objections to the procedure, there are still contextual risks to introducing new medical interventions into a medical market-economy. We can never set aside the risk of a market takeover.

Writing in ABC Religion and Ethics this week, Daniel Fleming from St. Vincents Health Australia explores the risks of market forces undermining attempts to regulate euthanasia once it is introduced in a jurisdiction. Citing sources from Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel to Slovenian intellectual Slavoj Zizek, Fleming argues that once medical procedures are introduced into a particular social context, they face the threat of being governed by the ideology of that social context. And for free market economies, the ideology is capitalism:

Fleming continues:

These are uncomfortable considerations, but as the author observes, its a discussion that legislations considering euthanasia need to have.

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Should we worry about a euthanasia market-takeover? - BioEdge