The Meaning of Suffering: Shaping Conceptualizations of Assisted-Death

Abstract

In recent years the right to die has emerged from the fringes as a global movement - locally tailored - advocating for patient access to medically assisted-death. Although proposed and actualized models of assisted-death vary in method and level of accessibility, a majority of right to die advocates are motivated by a belief that suffering can at times be “unnecessary”. Based on an overview of the anthropology of suffering and fieldwork in Quebec, Ontario, and Belgium, my research focuses on right to die advocates’ conceptualization of suffering in relation to assisted-death and on how their understanding suffering shapes their views on when assisteddeath should be permitted. I argue that those supporting assisted-death are brought in a form of solidarity through the belief that at times suffering is meaningless and devoid of deeper significance.