The Controversy Between Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide

Controversy The controversy addressed in this paper is the debate surrounding the legality Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, predominantly in Canada. A sensitive and conflictual topic for many, the debate on euthanasia has been ever growing since it is conflictual with the preservation of human life and its effect on many individuals surrounding the procedure.

Description

Euthanasia, sometimes referred to as active euthanasia, is the ending of another person’s life in order to relieve suffering and at the request of the patient, is carried out by a physician through the use of lethal injection (Boudreau & Somerville, 2014). Assisted Suicide is aiding someone in the ending of his or her own life (Boudreau & Somerville, 2014). This is often

1895). These actions were praised due because the ended individuals suffering. In India, euthanasia was accepted for a while after the 18th century BC, where individuals would “achieve liberation through self-willed death (Lowy, 1993, p. 1896). Three religious including Hindu, Buddhism, and Jain all had ways of incorporating euthanasia into their religions and began to compete for “easier ways to achieve this goal”, leading to the abuse of euthanasia, and in later centuries it became illegal (Lowy, 1993). Although contemplated in ancient times, the issue of euthanasia and suicide only surfaced for debate in the 1970’s (CBC, 2012) where a series of court cases allowed for an individual who was “mentally competent” the ability to refuse medical intervention (CBC,

16). Both these laws allow physicians to legally perform euthanasia or assisted suicide as long as conditions are followed including prior examination of the patient by at least two medical experts, and the case being analyzed by both the medical legal and ethical experts afterwards (Barbuzzi, 2014). This ensures that no “ethical breaches” have been made during the procedure, therefore ensuring the autonomy of the individual (Barbuzzi, 2014, p. 16). In Belgium, euthanasia is allowed and practiced since 2002, when euthanasia is requested due to unbearable pain, but assisted-suicide still remains illegal and there is no set way to administer the lethal dose. The opposite for Oregon, Washington and Montana, where assisted-suicide is allowed and euthanasia is not (Gibson, 2012). In Oregon, assisted suicide became legal in 1996, where patients who had 6 months or less to live can request a life ending prescription and in Germany and Switzerland the drug must be taken without any help of a physician or family member (The Guardian,