Euthanasia

Euthanasia

1. Types

   • Voluntary
     • The patient asks a friend/ doctor to help them die painlessly with dignity
     • Also known as 'mercy killing' or 'assisted suicide'
   • Non- Voluntary
     • When a patient's life is ended because it is felt that to keep them alive is to make them suffer
     • Without consent of the patient (e.g. he/she is in a coma)
   • Active
     • The ending of a patient's life deliberately (e.g. fatal injection)
   • Passive
     • Withdrawing/ withholding medical treatment

2. Definitions

   • Quality of life: measurement of how fulfilled your life is
   • Self determination= the right to make decisions for oneself in life

3. UK law

   • Illegal in UK
   • Expections
     • Powerful painkiller, even if a secondary effect is the patient will die sooner
     • Withdrawal of medical treatment, if recovery is not possible
   • Legal in Netherlands and Switerland

4. Arguements for

   • Self dermination
   • Poor quality of life
   • Inhumane to allow them it suffer
   • People have the right to end their lives with dignity
   • Some people have no chance of survival
   • Their family are suffering by seeing them in pain

5. Arguments against

   • Some elerly and disabled might feel pressure to be euthanaised because they are a burden ti their families
   • Harold Shipman murdered over 250 people in England- making it legal could lead to similar advances
   • Normal people could abuse the euthanasia if they wanted inheritamce
   • Unhappy or depressed people may take the option of Euthanasia instead of getting help

6. Hospices

   • Care for medical, emotional, social and spiritual needs
   • Allow people to die with dignity
   • If enough spaces for those who wished to you there, euthanasia would not be needed