Although it ruled that there is no constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide, the Court in effect supported the medical principle of “double effect,” a centuries-old moral principle holding that an action having two effects — a good one that is intended and a harmful one that is foreseen — is permissible if the actor intends only the good effect..
參考譯文
盡管法院裁決憲法沒有賦予醫(yī)生幫助病人自殺的權(quán)利,然而法院實際上支持的是醫(yī)療界的“雙重效應(yīng)”原則,這個存在了幾個世紀歷史的道德原則認為,如果某種行為具有雙重效果,希望達到的良好效果和可以預(yù)見的不良后果,如者想達到好的效果,這個行為就是允許的。