{"id":214,"date":"2013-04-29T12:16:33","date_gmt":"2013-04-29T11:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=214"},"modified":"2013-04-29T12:16:33","modified_gmt":"2013-04-29T11:16:33","slug":"when-should-life-end-euthanasia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=214","title":{"rendered":"When should life end – euthanasia?"},"content":{"rendered":"

“The word euthanasia is derived from two classical Greek words, eu meaning \u201cgood\u201d and thanatos, meaning \u201cdeath\u201d; thus, the term literally means \u201cgood death.\u201d The word refers to the process by which people\u2019s deaths are intentionally brought about by themselves or others, sometimes for generally commendable ends such as the relief of pain and suffering. In other words, while some people use the term euthanasia only when one person is killed by another (i.e., \u201cmercy killing\u201d), the term is broad enough to also encompass suicide and assisted suicide as well as the withholding of life-sustaining care with the intention of ending a person\u2019s life.” (Basic Questions on Suicide and Euthanasia \u2013 are they ever right? Gary p. Stewart, William R.Cutrer et al, Kregel, Grand Rapids 1998)<\/p>\n

ACTIVE and PASSIVE euthanasia
\nACTIVE EUTHANASIA \u2013 an active effort of the person or another person to end their own life. So in the end the person dies not of a disease or an injury but by a process they have introduced e.g. administering a lethal drug.
\nPASSIVE EUTHANASIA \u2013 withdrawing or withholding or refusing treatment which would prolong life e.g. switching off a respirator or deciding not to resuscitate. This is allowing a death which could be avoidable with that treatment, but not introducing a new cause of death.
\nIn either case EUTHANASIA always involves an INTENTION to bring death, whether by the person themselves or another person or both.<\/p>\n

DIRECT or INDIRECT EUTHANASIA
\nIn DIRECT EUTHANASIA the person themselves carries out their wish to die. In INDIRECT EUTHANASIA another person performs the specific act which ends the patient\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

INVOLUNTARY, VOLUNTARY and NON-VOLUNTARY
\nVOLUNTARY EUTHANASIA is when the patient themselves chooses that their life should end.
\nINVOLUNTARY EUTHANASIA is when the patient\u2019s life is brought to an end against their expressed wishes.
\nNON-VOLUNTARY EUTHANASIA is when the patient is not in a position to express a wish to live or die. They may be in a coma or in a state of senility so that they cannot express their wishes. Equally another person may choose not to try to establish the patient\u2019s wishes \u2013 that would still be described as non-voluntary euthanasia.
\nWhether euthanasia is voluntary, involuntary or non-voluntary depends on the WISHES of the patient.<\/p>\n

Society and the law usually call EUTHANASIA which is active, direct and voluntary by the label SUICIDE. Attempted suicide is no longer against criminal law. Different philosophies and religions take differing views on whether suicide is immoral or sinful, or not.<\/p>\n

Society and the law usually call EUTHANASIA which is active and non-voluntary by the label MURDER. Leaving aside situations such as soldiers in combat and questions of the death penalty, it is universally agreed that intentionally causing somebody to die against their wishes is wrong.<\/p>\n

Difficult questions around euthanasia include the following.
\n1.\tIs there a moral difference between allowing death by withholding treatment and causing death by a specific act?
\n2.\tIf a terminally ill patient is given pain-killing medication at such a high dose that it actually ends their life, some would justify that action by \u201cthe doctrine of double effect\u201d. The acceptable intention was to remove pain, the (foreseeable and inevitable) side effect was to end life. Do we think that this \u201cdoctrine of double effect\u201d is acceptable?
\n3.\tIs it acceptable for a doctor, who has sworn an oath to \u201cdo no harm\u201d to ever do anything which actively causes a patient to die e.g. physician-assisted suicide (advocated in USA by among others Jack Kevorkian)?
\n4.\tDoes any individual, including one suffering from continual pain or extreme disability, have a \u201cright to die\u201d?
\n5.\tIf after a long and fulfilled life a person is facing massively reduced quality of life or continuous extreme pain, and they indicate an unambiguous wish to end their life, should that be supported?
\n6.\tIf UK society were to make it legal (as it is in Netherlands or Switzerland) for a person to be given help to \u201cdeath with dignity\u201d, who should make the decision about when that time has come (e.g. doctors, courts?)
\n7.\tWould any change in the law to allow a person \u201cthe right to die\u201d not be the thin edge of the wedge to causing death on grounds such as the \u201cthe treatment is too expensive\u201d or \u201cto spare the suffering of the relatives\u201d? How could we then protect the rights of aging or incapable individuals when others (society or family) judge that their on-going care is becoming too expensive? In other words, how can we ensure that a \u201cright to die\u201d never becomes \u201can obligation to die\u201d?<\/p>\n

Key issues in the debate:<\/p>\n

Personhood \u2013 is somebody in a terminal coma still a \u201cperson\u201d?
\nThe right to choose \u2013 note the overlap with debates on abortion
\nQuality of life\u201d \u2013 a life worth living;
\nUtilitarian concerns \u2013 bringing about the greatest good
\n\u201cYou shall not commit murder\u201d (Exodus 20:13) and the sanctity of life
\n\u201cWhere there\u2019s life there\u2019s hope!\u201d\t<\/p>\n

I have a further paper “Outlines of a Discussion” which I am happy to send by email.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The word euthanasia is derived from two classical Greek words, eu meaning \u201cgood\u201d and thanatos, meaning \u201cdeath\u201d; thus, the term literally means \u201cgood death.\u201d…<\/span><\/p>\n

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