Sterbehilfe: Welche Argumente zählen? Eine Befragung unter Marburger Jura- Medizin- und Theologie-Studierenden

The discussion on the new law on "criminal liability for the commercial promotion of suicide" of 06.11.2015 made it clear that euthanasia and its moral as well as legal admissibility, continues to attract social interest and trigger a controversial discourse. From a scientific point of view, many studies have so far focused mainly on the general attitude regarding the legalization of active euthanasia and (physician) assisted suicide. The present doctoral thesis analyzed the moral evaluation of euthanasia in a collective of law , theology and medical students by means of case vignettes describing in each case the procedure of a doctor in the context of euthanasia. In addition, general attitudes and personality traits (authoritarianism, conservatism, religiosity and selfefficacy) as well as the arguments usually cited in the theoretical euthanasia debate were examined for their influence on this moral assessment. Despite the well-known restriction that it is not possible to conclude ethical assumptions on the basis of empirical results, this procedure provided important indications as to the influence of the various arguments. Thus, it was found that the students of all disciplines largely rated active euthanasia and (physician) assisted suicide in the context of the described case vignettes as morally inadmissible - contrary to previous studies, which showed rather positive attitudes regarding a possible legalization of euthanasia in various groups. It may be presumed that by the use of case vignettes the situations in which euthanasia was performed became more vivid and less abstract for the students, thus making their decision regarding the moral assessment of euthanasia more restrictive. This effect should be taken into account in further investigations on euthanasia. 6. Diskussion 101 Furthermore, it could be shown that of the arguments in this study, which have been widely cited in the euthanasia debate, such as the prohibition of killing, respect for patient autonomy and slippery slope concerns, some were particularly relevant for the moral approval or rejection of (physician) assisted suicide and / or active euthanasia by the students and in this regard more influential than general attitudes or personality traits. In line with the theoretical debate on euthanasia, the prohibition of killing and patient autonomy in particular played a major role in the moral assessment of euthanasia. The medical students also seemed to give palliative medicine a greater importance in matters of end-of-life-care, although their importance as an "alternative" to euthanasia is repeatedly emphasized in public debate. The slippery slope argument, which is controversially discussed in public seemed to have only a minor influence on the evaluation of the students. Whereas a rarely cited argument in the theoretical debate of euthanasia, namely the possible burden for doctors who perform or accompany euthanasia had a major impact. Therefore, this argument should be given more consideration in the theoretical debate. Overall, the influence of the arguments used in the theoretical discussion on euthanasia for the moral evaluation of euthanasia in different groups of students was examined and demonstrated for the first time in this dissertation.