Dignified Exit: A Critical Evaluation of the Place of Euthanasia under Kenyan Law

Abstract

This paper claims that the limitation of the right to life as provided for under Kenyan law does not consider euthanasia as one way of limiting the right to life. Those opposed to the legalization of euthanasia have argued that legalizing euthanasia would see the death of nobility of medical practice and potentially expose vulnerable patients to abuse by those that care for them. However, scholars such as Ronald Dworkin argue that euthanasia is the most logical and benevolent option for terminally ill patients in cases where a patient is competent to make that decision without state intervention.3 In support of this, Dworkin argues that there exists nothing as personal as the physical and psychological suffering of an individual in the final moments of life.

Although in various forms, euthanasia has been practiced for centuries, the re-emergence of the debate is partly the result of growing interest in human rights and awareness that modern medical science has created. Therefore, the timing of death that was once solely a matter of fate is increasingly becoming a matter of human choice.6 This leaves euthanasia as a topic of increasingly intense debate not just in Kenya but all over the globe.

This paper critically analyses the place of euthanasia under Kenyan Law and in so doing it will interrogate the existing law in relation to the subject in question and the loopholes that require legal fixing. This paper will then conclude by providing reflection for further research.