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Is Euthanasia Ethically Wrong

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According to Oxford Dictionaries, euthanasia is “the practice of killing without pain a person who is suffering from a disease that cannot be cured” (Oxford). It derives from the Greek words, ‘eu’ meaning ‘goodly or well’ and ‘thanatos’ meaning ‘death’. The major controversy, however, is whether euthanasia is more ethical than it is unethical.. Those who do not understand the proper definition, contradict the idea and believe that it is against humanity to take a person’s life without permission. The utilitarian ethical theory defines euthanasia by implying that the normative ethics of an act maximising total benefit and reducing suffering proves its validity and correctness (Scherer, Simon 53). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states …show more content…

It provides an abstract concept of a human’s three basic needs: competence, relatedness and autonomy. Competence is the need to be effective in dealing with environment, relatedness is the need to have close relationships with others and autonomy is the need to control the course of one’s life. Euthanasia is a direct root of individual autonomy that states that it is one’s choice to control their own life by making their own decision based on their natural inclination to behave in a certain way. It is important to distinguish between the positive and negative rights of self-determination regarding euthanasia. A positive right of self-determination implies that a person can demand to have euthanasia carried out, providing the criteria for being able to request euthanasia are met. This concludes that only under specific circumstances can euthanasia be carried out to release an individual of suffering. If the circumstances are not met, however, the situation is then no longer considered euthanasia. The Danish Council of Ethics believes that autonomy is “the individual's scope for shaping his or her life and imparting sense and meaning to it” and understands that “the way people die is of great importance to the individuals' overall perception of their existence” (Danish Council of Ethics). Euthanasia enthusiasts stress on the importance of self-determination because it promotes autonomy which is considered to be the most essential trait of human society. According to the Human Rights Declaration, people are entitled to “liberty” which nullifies any action that opposes to a person’s own control over events of critical significance to their identity and life

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Stage 1: Reflection Source Analysis Task: Euthanasia 1. Why is euthanasia an ethical issue? Euthanasia is an ethical issue as of the controversies involving the law and religion through their moral values and beliefs. As defined, euthanasia is the practice of a very ill patient ending his or her life in a painless matter, moreover associated with the terms, assisted suicide or merciful killing. Euthanasia is classified as a voluntary or involuntary act, regarding the proceeding the action with or without consent respectively.

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Autonomy is the key ethical aspect of euthanasia to proponents. This is simply a person’s freedom to lead their lives and have control over their own bodies as they wish, tying in with property of the body notions in a manner that conveys an ailing body should still be the property of an individual with a right to decide their own fate. The definitive disavowal of admiration for an individual is denying them appreciation for their perspectives. The respect is especially vital when it concerns personal and intimate matters, including when to die. Those who are against euthanasia argue that there are other principles that need to be weighed amongst it.

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The word euthanasia originated from the Greeks early 17th century Eu meaning (good) and Thanatosis meaning (death) the word means "Good Death, or a "Gentle and Easy Death”. Many interesting topics are brought upon worldwide, but one of the most controversial topics is the legalization of euthanasia. The definition of euthanasia nowadays is the act of painlessly ending a person’s life from a painful and incurable disease. Many terminally ill patients who unfortunately do not have the privilege to recover from their deadly disease wish to practice euthanasia or physician assisted suicide to alleviate their suffering but, in some countries the law prohibits doctors from doing so leaving them with no choice but to continue living a painful life.

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Euthanasia is the “act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way” (Webster, 2018). Euthanasia is generally for people who have an incurable illness, nevertheless there are other ways euthanasia can be done. This is through passive or active ways of euthanasia which either can be involuntary, voluntary and nonvoluntary. As exemplified passive is described as allowing a person to die and active is slowly allowing a person to die by taking pain killers (Erickson & Bowers, 2012). These two ways of allowing euthanasia is different in each country and each state especially in Australia.

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Euthanasia: Ethical Dilemmas and Possible Solutions Euthanasia is defined by The Merriam-Webster dictionary as, “the act or practice of killing someone who is very sick or injured in order to prevent any more suffering (n.d.). This is a very controversial topic as ethical dilemmas are present when the possible contemplation of euthanasia exists. There are ethical dilemmas involved with a decision that involves allowing someone else to die. Ethical problems usually do not have a simple answer or often lead to an indisputable solution. Different views on the matter may provide potentially different outcomes.

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The fourth common Western argument in favor of euthanasia is the argument of self-determination. According to the precious Western value of autonomy, the individual must be free to decide on the things that matter much to him or her. As decisions relating to marriage, procreation, contraception, education, etc. The decision on how and when to die is one of the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime. Therefore we have the right to die; some even claim that it is a human right, a negative right (the corresponding obligation is non-intervention in suicide attempts) and a positive law (which is suicide correlative duty of care).

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Euthanasia is a term derived from the Greek words Eu meaning 'good' and Thanatos meaning 'death'. In modern society, Euthanasia means more than just a 'good death' and is a practise that involves intentionally ending ` a person's life to remove suffering. Euthanasia can be in either voluntary, non-voluntary, involuntary, passive or active forms. In most cases, it can be done on request from the patient or is implemented by doctors or relatives when a patient is unable to make a rational decision for themselves.

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Experts debate whether euthanasia should be a legal option for the terminally ill. As advocates say euthanasia should be an option to avoid needless pain, opponents argue that is morally wrong and violates the medical code. Euthanasia is one of the most controversial topics, and it has been a topic of concern among society. “Euthanasia is the act or practice of ending the life of a person suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable condition. Euthanasia differs from assisted suicide in that with euthanasia the doctor can provide and administer the drugs that are used to end a life, whereas with assisted suicide the doctor may only provide the drugs, not administer them”(“Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Timeline”).

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The topic of euthanasia has many complicated elements and moral perspectives surrounding it. By definition,

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The right to die is among the most widely debated controversies present in today’s society. It is a concept based upon the refusal of extensive medical procedures that would otherwise prolong the lives of terminally-ill patients. This form of suicide is carried out by means of voluntary euthanasia, prescribed by the doctor only when approval on behalf of the family has been received. Those who support this procedure reason that those in possession of the life at stake should be able to choose when to terminate it. Additionally, physician-assisted suicide provides an alternative to prolonged suffering and significantly lowers medical expenses.

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Euthanasia is the intentional killing of a person who has an incurable disease to stop suffering and pain. It has become an intense topic over time and is also a continuous question that comes up for patients and healthcare providers. Isaac Asimov once said, “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome”.

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I will identify many issues regarding Euthanasia through 65 year old Godelieva De Troyer’s case and apply two ethical theories to the dilemma at hand. I will argue for and against the topic of Euthanasia and what society sees it as. The first ethical theory will be Kantian ethics; the second will be utilitarianism, repeating the same arguments. I will conclude with a statement/evaluation on whether I believe Euthanasia is ethical or not and whether the doctor should be punished for assisting Tom Mortier’s mom’s euthanasia without having any experience on how to deal with mental health patients and also whether depressed patients such as Troyer who was physically healthy should be able to make the choice of wanting to end their life, or should they suffer in silence until one day they decide to commit suicide themselves. I can say this without any hesitation because if we were to look at the statistics, most cases of deep depression eventually lead to suicide.

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Many pro-euthanasia believers will use the autonomy argument and debate the opinion that patients should have the right to choose when and how to they want to die. In an article in the Houston Chronicle, Judge Reinhardt ruled on this topic by stating “a competent, terminally-ill adult, having lived nearly the full measure of his life, has a strong liberty interest in choosing a dignified and humane death… (De La Torre).” However, dignity cannot be measured by the level of pain or the speed in which the individual dies, because it is already a characteristic of a person’s worth as a human being (Middleton). Allowing a patient to live their life to the fullest until the very end is surely a more humane and dignified death then cutting that life short in fear of what it is coming through the practice of euthanasia. While death for these patients can be a sad ending, it does not have to condemn a person to a remaining life of sadness and negativity.

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Everyone has the right to choose to live or die. Death is part of life that can 't be avoided. This is a natural phenomenon in the process of life is birth, aging, illness and death. Euthanasia, in some words "Mercy Killing or Physician assisted Suicide. " Euthanasia is to help patients who despair and cannot be cured to die peacefully and to have free from suffering.

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INTRODUCTION Euthanasia alludes to the act of deliberately close a life keeping in mind the end goal to assuage torment and enduring. There are different euthanasia laws in each country. The British House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics defines euthanasia as "a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life, to relieve intractable suffering".[1] In the Netherlands, euthanasia is understood as "termination of life by a doctor at the request of a patient"". Euthanasia is sorted in diverse ways, which incorporate voluntary, non-voluntary, or automatic.

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