Euthanasia,+when+is+it+permissible?+-+EJLee

Running Head: Is Euthanasia ever permissible?

Euthanasia, when is it permissible? Eun Jie Lee Escuela Internacional Sampedrana

Abstract Euthanasia is defined as “a good and easy death…to the situation when a doctor induces the death with a lethal injection, of a patient who is suffering unbearably…” (Medterms, 1998) While some euthanasia is carried out because the patient requested for it, some other cases of euthanasia is carried out without the patient’s consent. Should both cases be legalized? Euthanasia has been almost impossible to gain universal law accordance because of the difference in each society’s ethical and moral values or meanings and also because euthanasia raises many moral questions. Some moral questions raised regarding euthanasia includes: “Is it ever right for another person to end the life of a terminally ill patient who is in severe pain or enduring other suffering? If euthanasia is sometimes right, under what circumstances is it right?” (BBC UK, n.d.) Should those people’s lives with unbearable pain assisted to an end so that they can die peacefully? Or should physicians should keep them alive and struggle to find new cures or control over the pain? Is euthanasia ever permissible?

. John Blend has lain in persistent vegetative state for three years. There is no hope for improvement and his family is tired and hopeless. Should Blend’s life be ended by an assisted suicide, or euthanasia? Whether or not euthanasia is the right thing to do or not have been raising questions throughout history. Euthanasia is defined as the “intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his/her alleged benefit”. (Anonymous, n.d) Euthanasia is classified into four types: voluntary, involuntary, passive and active. Voluntary euthanasia is when “the patient requests that action be taken to end his/her life, with a full knowledge that this will lead to his death”. (Anonymous, 2001) Involuntary euthanasia is when “the patient's life is ended without the patient's knowledge and consent when he/she is too sick and weak to be aware of what is happening or to take any action on his own behalf”.(Anonymous, 2001) Passive euthanasia is usually “withdrawing medical treatment with the deliberate intention of causing the patient’s death”. (Anonymous, 2001) Lastly, active euthanasia is “taking specific steps to cause patient’s death, such as injecting poison, overdose of painkillers or sleeping pills”.(Anonymous, 2001) So when is euthanasia permissible? Euthanasia is permissible if and only if, the patient himself/herself told beforehand that they do not wish to be resuscitated. In other words, only voluntary euthanasia is permissible, whether it is passive or active
 * Euthanasia, when is it permissible?**

Back again to the previous question, John Blend’s life or any other patient’s life should not be ended unless he/she has signed the DNR (“Do Not Resuscitate”) document earlier in their life. “A DNR order on a patient's file means that a doctor is not required to resuscitate a patient if their heart stops and is designed to prevent unnecessary suffering”. (BBC, n.d.) Only the patient has the right for their own body. How can the patient’s family or guardian make sure if the patient truly wants to die or not? No human can be forced to give up his/her body autonomy. The Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the United Nations’ General Assembly declares that "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”. (UN General Assembly, 1948) All men have the right to life and liberty. Patients are men. Therefore, patients have the right to life and liberty. So as the right to life, no one but the patient could choose to live or not. Thus the patient’s family, guardian and even the doctors should assist the patient with the best attention rather than choosing to intentionally kill him/her simply because there is no hope on recovering.

Involuntary euthanasia is not permissible because it is a technical murder and abuse. Murder is the cold-blood termination of another’s life or “the crime of intentionally killing somebody”. (Compact Oxford English Dictionary, 2006) Involuntary euthanasia consists of ending a patient's life without the patient's knowledge and consent. The patient is unable to communicate because he/she is too sick and weak to be aware of what’s happening. So despite the patient’s will, his/her life is terminated by the legal guardian’s decision. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the United Nations’ General Assembly also declares that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” in the article 5. (UN General Assembly, 1948) How can we make sure if the patient is not screaming, kicking and begging for life? Any intentional killing is a murder; since involuntary euthanasia in consent with the patient’s will, it is an inhumane murder, abuse and torture.

There is a slippery slope phenomenon concerning euthanasia. Slippery slope phenomenon argues that “doing something once, starts a society down a slippery slope towards disaster”. (Paquette, 2003).According to this phenomenon, permitting any action to end a person’s life would make it easier the next euthanasia and the next, and soon euthanasia will become a habit, which will lead to many other deaths. Doctors could accidentally choose involuntary euthanasia by habit, accident or misdiagnosis, when in reality the patient’s health could be improved. Or in worst cases, physicians could end up encouraging medical homicides, just like the famous Dr. Death, Jack Kevorkian. He “photographed the eyes of dying patients… he began to advertise his services as a physician offering 'death counseling'… Kevorkian helped over 130 people to die. Kevorkian believed that helping people was not enough, and actually killed Thomas Youk, filmed himself doing so and showed the film on 60 Minutes.”(Anonymous, 2008) Kevorkian was sentenced to eight years in prison for a second-degree murder. Any other guardians, including family or doctors should not be given the right to decide the patient’s death. Not only because the guardian’s will could contain personal feelings but also because doing so could habituate doctors to encourage euthanasia because it is “convenient” for them.

Some advocates of euthanasia argue that involuntary euthanasia is the right thing to do. These people argue that if the patient is terminally ill, he/she would not want to be brought back to pain. These advocated also claim “when CPR is done, and done right the majority of the time ribs are bruised and broken. So not only with the terminal patient be in pain from whatever disease they have, they will have this pain on top of that”. (Tara Cellars, 2008) Well, who knows if miracle could exist and the patient will be cured afterwards? We can’t just assume that the patient will be brought back to the same pain as before. “The medical advances may find either cure or new ways to manage pain if a patient is kept alive long enough”. (Paquette, 2003) The CPR pains? Doctors are trying to do their best, so the patients should bore the pain. Euthanasia activists also argue that it is okay to allow someone to die at the end of their life without hurting them. But when this “ending of life” is involuntary, how can we make sure that we are not hurting the patients? Only the patient himself/herself will know if the ending of his/her life is truly “helping them” or hurting them. Others, including the philosopher James Rachels, argue that “there's no moral difference between the two forms of euthanasia because both have the same intent and consequence: the death of a human being.” (Paquette, 2003) Well, voluntary euthanasia’s case is different. In a voluntary euthanasia, the patient signed a legal document that he/she does not want to be resuscitated in any circumstance. The patient is in accordance with his/her death, so it is not a murder since it was their own choice.

Involuntary euthanasia is a technical murder, since it is not in consent with the patient’s will, so it must not be permitted. Euthanasia should be permissible only when it is voluntary because nobody but the patient himself/herself has the right to their own body. Any other person do not have the right to kill or control the life of others. Thus, euthanasia should be legalized only for those cases when the patient has signed the DNR document prior in his/her life.

**References** Anonymous, (n.d.). //Euthanasia definitions//. Retrieved from [] Anonymous, (2001, November 21). //Types of Euthanasia//. Retrieved from [] Anonymous, (2008). //Case studies of Euthanasia//. Retrieved from [] BBC, (n.d.). //DNR - do not resuscitate//. Retrieved from [] BBC UK, (n.d.). //Ethics guide - euthanasia.// Retrieved from [] Cellars, T. (2008, January 23). //Why I am pro-euthanasia//. Retrieved from [] Medterms, (1998, November 13). //Definition of euthanasia//. Retrieved from [] Murder, (2006). //Compact Oxford English Dictionary//. Oxford. Retrieved from [] Paquette, P. (2003). //Philosophy: questions and theories//. Toronto: Mc. Graw Hill. UN General Assembly, (1948, December 10). //The Universal declaration of human rights//. Retrieved from []