Purpose of a Living Will and the Morality of Euthanasia

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A living will is a legally binding document people create in advance that dictates their final wishes in time of their last counting days. With the living will, ill patients express what they want to happen to them if they were to become too sick to refuse or consent to medical treatments. Euthanasia, also called assisted suicide, or physician-assisted suicide, offers one of many options for terminal-ill patients or those with intractable pain. Many infer euthanasia as the action that brings about the end of a patient’s life because it has been decided they would be better off dead. Since euthanasia involves killing another person, voluntarily or not, a virtuous person considers euthanasia acceptable.
There are two main categories of euthanasia, voluntary (conducted with consent) and involuntary (conducted without consent). Also, we come upon two practical classifications of euthanasia: active (injecting lethal substance or forces used to end patient’s life) and passive (withholding of life-sustaining treatments) (Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, 2012). Therefore, I see four types of euthanasia: active voluntary euthanasia, where a patient makes a conscious decision to die; active involuntary euthanasia is when a lethal injection brings a patient to death without his or her consent; in passive voluntary euthanasia, the patient request the discontinuation of life-support measures; passive involuntary euthanasia encourages one person, such as family member, guardian, or a doctor, to take the decision on behalf of a terminal-ill patient who is unable to give their consent to suspend medical treatment that is necessary to maintain life (like turning off a life-support machine).
To be a virtuous person, as described our professor of P...

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...ered moral or immoral, one thing stands strong: the value of life over death. Life is hard, and even though euthanasia can be used as a mean to reduce suffering, it should never be used to take the easy way out of life. Another alternative to euthanasia is palliative care for patients that can relieve pain and provide comfort, along with an act of compassion. In all essence, we were born on this earth to live and not to exist.

References
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide . (2012, 01 08). Retrieved from NHS Choices. Your Health, Your Choices: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/euthanasiaandassistedsuicide/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Boss, Judith. (2012). Analyzing Moral Issues. Columbus, OH: Humanities & Social Sciences; 6th Edition.
Munns, Craig A. "The Morality of Euthanasia" Class lecture, Critical Thinking and Ethics, Miami-Dade College, Miami, Florida, January 30, 2014.

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