Unbreakable Vows

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 165730

Neri:
> Quoting the relevant part:
> 
> "Right to Die
> 
> The law concerning whether a person has the right to die is unclear.
> You have a right to refuse or stop treatment at any time, even if this
> means that you may die. However, it is illegal for a doctor to omit or
> carry out treatment with the specific intention of inducing or
> hastening death."
> 
> They don't say what the doctor would be charged with. However, note
> that this website is concerned with patients' rights, not with
> doctors' rights.

Pippin:
Well, yes. The doctor must cease treatment at your request, but
if he does it because he specifically  wants to kill you, it's a crime.

 If there was any doubt, the doctor would presumably consult 
the ethics committee of the hospital, or turn the care of the patient 
over  to someone else.  But there's no time for Snape to do that on 
the Tower. Anyway, Dumbledore *is* the ethics committee of the 
Wizarding World, the epitome of goodness according to JKR. 
It's highly unlikely that his last request was for Snape to do
something that JKR thinks is morally wrong.

We may be discussing a cultural difference; Israeli patient rights
stipulate that the gravely ill patient must be treated even if he
refuses it. 

http://www.patients-rights.org/212e.htm


OTOH,  in America if  you want your feeding tube or your respirator
removed, the doctor has to do it, or turn your care over to someone
who will comply with your wish. The issue only seems debatable
when the patient is unconscious or for some other reason 
considered unable to make decisions regarding care.

Pippin