Dax Cowart was hospitalized after a gas explosion engulfed his car because he suffered stern burns. He was “burned so severely and [was] in so much pain that [he] did not want to live even the early moments following the explosion.” He repeatedly asked his doctors and family to end his agony. Dianne Pretty had a motor neuron disease that instigates a painful death. She wanted to have “a quick death without suffering, at home surrounded by [her] family.” 85-year old Mary Ormerod was starved of nutrients after she went into a coma. Her doctor and daughter made the decision to end her torment, however the doctor got suspended in doing so (BBC).
These and many other cases have occurred in medical history, and many more are bound to occur. This ending of the anguish is called euthanasia. In order for the ethical concerns of the issue to be discussed, euthanasia needs to be defined, and the different classes of it understood. The discussion itself has to be based on a method of reasoning and logic. One of the sources of ethical rationale, and probably the major method of reasoning in some parts of the world, is religion. Different religions differ in their view of euthanasia, some share similarities while others differ completely.
According to the book titled “Euthanasia: a Reference Handbook” by McDougall and Gorman, the Merriam Webster dictionary defines euthanasia as “ an easy death or mercy killing.” Suicide is also defined as “the act of killing oneself purposely” (McDougall, Gorman and Roberts). Thus, physician Assisted suicide is the act of taking one’s life with the aid of a doctor (McDougall, Gorman and Roberts). Euthanasia is a very disputable matter, some regard it as a human right while others deem it unethical. One of t...
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...ews of euthanasia. Following this similarity in views, can a global ethical law be formed? To answer this question further investigation into the viewpoint of these three religions on other ethical issues is required.
Works Cited
Alters, Sandra. Death and Dying: End-of-Life Controversies. Detroit: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2009.
Athar, Shahid and Hossam E. Fadel. ISLAMIC MEDICAL ETHICS: The IMANA Perspective. n.d.
BBC. BBC. 4 april 2011 .
Betzold, Michel (1993). Appointment with Doctor Death. Troy, MI: Momentum Books.
McDougall, Jennifer Fecio, Martha Gorman and Carolyn S. Roberts. Euthanasia: a Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2008.
Novak, David. The Sanctity Of Human Life. Washington D.C.: Georgetown UP, 2007.
Sachdina, Abdulaziz Abdulhussein. Islamic Biomedical Ethics: Principles and Application. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009.
Any discussion that pertains to the topic of euthanasia must first include a clear definition of the key terms and issues. With this in mind, it should be noted that euthanasia includes both what has been called physician-assisted "suicide" and voluntary active euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide involves providing lethal medication(s) available to the patient to be used at a time of the patient’s own choosing (Boudreau, p.2, 2014). Indifferently, voluntary active euthanasia involves the physician taking an active role in carrying out the patient’s request, and usually involves intravenous delivery of a lethal substance. Physician-assisted suicide is felt to be easier psychologically for the physician and patient than euthanasia because
The ones against euthanasia have an ethical formalism mind frame because they’re solely concerned is with rights as a hold society and not the individual right. The religious ,ethical framework might not provide a moral support system. Euthanasia deal with religious ethical framework is an touchy situation because religious it is a sin to commit suicide. The ethical dilemma of euthanasia deal with religious, ethical framework because it could break that religious golden rule. The People who against euthanasia would use the religious ethics framework by stating, the legalist position is God and nobody have a right to play god and determine
McDougall, Jennifer Fecio. Euthanasia : A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2008. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
Physician-assisted suicide is defined as a physician providing either equipment or medication, or to inform the patient of the most available means, for the purpose of assisting the patient to end his or her own life. The people’s opinion support PAS according to a poll given in 1998. The majority 33% of people agreed that Physician assisted suicide should be made legal in a variety of circumstances, and 32% agreed with making it legal in select cases. (Gallup)
Physician assisted suicide (PAS) is a very important issue. It is also important tounderstand the terms and distinction between the varying degrees to which a person can be involved in hastening the death of a terminally ill individual. Euthanasia, a word that is often associated with physician assisted suicide, means the act or practice of killing for reasons of mercy. Assisted suicide takes place when a dying person who wishes to precipitate death, requests help in carrying out the act. In euthanasia, the dying patients may or may not be aware of what is happening to them and may or may not have requested to die. In an assisted suicide, the terminally ill person wants to die and has specifically asked for help. Physician-assisted suicide occurs when the individual assisting in the suicide is a doctor rather than a friend or family member. Because doctors are the people most familiar with their patients’ medical condition and have knowledge of and access to the necessary means to cause certain death, terminally ill patients who have made
According to dictionary.com Physician assisted suicide is suicide by a patient facilitated by means or information as in a drug prescription or
To begin with, what is physician suicide? Physician assisted suicide is confused with euthanasia, and even though they fall under the same category these terminologies do differ. The definition
My claim: I argue in favor of the right to die. If someone is suffering from a terminal illness that is: 1) causing them great pain – the pain they are suffering outweighs their will to live (clarification below) 2) wants to commit suicide, and is of sound mind such that their wanting is reasonable. In this context, “sound mind” means the ability to logically reason and not act on impulses or emotions. 3) the pain cannot be reduced to the level where they no longer want to commit suicide, then they should have the right to commit suicide. It should not be considered wrong for someone to give that person the tools needed to commit suicide.
As patients come closer to the end of their lives, certain organs stop performing as well as they use to. People are unable to do simple tasks like putting on clothes, going to the restroom without assistance, eat on our own, and sometimes even breathe without the help of a machine. Needing to depend on someone for everything suddenly brings feelings of helplessness much like an infant feels. It is easy to see why some patients with terminal illnesses would seek any type of relief from this hardship, even if that relief is suicide. Euthanasia or assisted suicide is where a physician would give a patient an aid in dying. “Assisted suicide is a controversial medical and ethical issue based on the question of whether, in certain situations, Medical practioners should be allowed to help patients actively determine the time and circumstances of their death” (Lee). “Arguments for and against assisted suicide (sometimes called the “right to die” debate) are complicated by the fact that they come from very many different points of view: medical issues, ethical issues, legal issues, religious issues, and social issues all play a part in shaping people’s opinions on the subject” (Lee). Euthanasia should not be legalized because it is considered murder, it goes against physicians’ Hippocratic Oath, violates the Controlled
Whose life is it, anyway? Euthanasia is a word that means good death. Euthanasia normally implies that the act must be initiated by the person who wishes to commit suicide. But, some people define euthanasia to include both voluntary and involuntary termination of life. Physician assisted suicide is when a physician supplies information and/or the means of committing suicide (lethal dose of sleeping pills or carbon monoxide gas) to a person, so that they can easily terminate their own life.
Physician-assisted suicide refers to the physician acting indirectly in the death of the patient -- providing the means for death.
Assisted suicide (euthanasia) has come to be one of the most controversial topics of our time. Assisted suicide occurs when a physician facilitates a patient’s death by providing the necessary means or information to enable a patient to take away their life when facing a terminal illness. In many cases, it is carried out at the person 's request but there are times when they may be too ill and the decision is made by relatives, medics or, in some cases, the courts To some, it may be understandable, though tragic, that some patients in extreme hardship--such as those suffering from a terminal, painful, debilitating illness--may come to decide that death is preferable to life. Along with this controversy, come different religious views and opinions
The ethical debate regarding euthanasia dates back to ancient Greece and Rome. It was the Hippocratic School (c. 400B.C.) that eliminated the practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide from medical practice. Euthanasia in itself raises many ethical dilemmas – such as, is it ethical for a doctor to assist a terminally ill patient in ending his life? Under what circumstances, if any, is euthanasia considered ethically appropriate for a doctor? More so, euthanasia raises the argument of the different ideas that people have about the value of the human experience.
Because “culture…creates the context within which individuals experience life and comprehend moral meaning of illness, suffering, or death” (Blank, 2011), it is helpful to find answers to questions about euthanasia in culture, particularly in religion. The three monotheistic Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have developed clear positions regarding euthanasia. Despite individual variations, generally all three religions agree upon the intrinsic value and sacredness of life as a gift from God, upon the God’s authorship and sovereignty in the timing of life and death (it is in the hands of God), and upon the fact that the preservation of life is superior to that of quality of life no matter what the surrounding circumstances are. They also have a common permissive attitude toward interrupting the aggressive treatment and allowing the nature to take its course in situations when there is no hope for recovery, the patient experiences severe pain levels unrelieved by medications, and the patient’s level of functioning is very poor. The lethal dose of pain killers is forgiven only in situations when the clear intent was to relieve pain and not to cause death. Each religion advises the provision of holistic care to the patient including assessment for and treatment of depression and other psychological and social factors that might predispose the patient to lose hope and to wish his own death. A final thought about the mercy and compassion as intention behind performing euthanasia would be that expressed by Doerflinger (1995), “It is hard to imagine a stronger endorsement of the need for good care of the dying and better pain control. But this vision is inconsistent with the idea that we may sometimes end suffering by ending life.
Robert Matz; Daniel P. Sudmasy; Edward D. Pallegrino. "Euthanasia: Morals and Ethics." Archives of Internal Medicine 1999: p1815 Aug. 9, 1999 .