Paper Topic:

Ethics-Euthanasia

Euthanasia

The right to choose

Kantian thinking emphasizes the autonomy of human beings . He believed that given the freedom to do so , human beings can effectively apply reason to arrive at decisions . Euthanasia is highly defensible on these grounds . We , as a society , have the duty to respect that right

For the good of society , however , a distinction must be drawn Participation of doctors and others in hastening death of another is not compatible with that persons rights . Knowingly or unknowingly , the helper is casting undue influence over the patient p

Euthanasia is an intensely human issue . As such , it generates passionate emotion and debate on both sides . The definition of euthanasia itself is not always agreed upon . Is it simply withdrawing medication ? Or , is it active participation in facilitating someone 's death . As a society , we have to ask ourselves the question , Should a person be forced to stay alive

Some forms of euthanasia are legal and some are not . We may think of it as an obscure , but as the number of people who die of chronic long-term diseases continues to rice many of us will be faced with this issue . Despite what the current law may say , Lisa Yount (2000 ) points out in Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia that the practice is already going on

Even though they seldom have an explicit right to do so , survey

after survey makes clear that , under certain circumstances physicians

regularly if clandestinely do assist death , just as surely as the have

throughout history (4

Attitudes about euthanasia vary from place to place and from era to era These differences have a lot to do with the fact there is not on common worldwide definition of the term . In general , euthanasia is classified into several different types . Knowing these types can help us draw a line as to what is ethical , moral and protective of individual rights

Types of Euthanasia

Passive euthanasia refers to removal of some form of life support . It may be to not perform CPR when a person goes in to cardiac arrest , or it may involve a patient removing themselves from life-extending medication . In some cases , a patient is given high doses of pain medication . This relieves pain , but it also may suppress breathing and hasten death . This is considered ethical behavior by most medical associations

Active euthanasia takes place when a physician or another caregiver takes direct action to cause the death of someone who is terminally ill The patient may be overdosed on sleeping pills , for example . In physician-assisted suicide , the doctor provides the patient with the means of committing suicide . The patient then starts the process that will lead to death

Involuntary euthanasia refers to the killing of a patient who is in a vegetative state or who is unable to make his wishes known . Involuntary euthanasia has also been performed on people who were aware and objecting to the process . The eugenics program in Nazi Germany is a notorious example . In this context , euthanasia...

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