Euthanasia
By: VV-K
What is Euthanasia?
 The word Euthanasia originates from the Greek
language: “eu” means good, and “thanatos” means
death
 Euthanasia: The practice of intentionally ending a life in
order to relieve pain and suffering
Types of Euthanasia
Voluntary, known as Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS)
 This is euthanasia conducted with consent
 A physician supplies information and/or the means of
committing suicide to a person
EX) Prescription for lethal pills or
supply of carbon monoxide gas)
Types of Euthanasia
Involuntary:
 This is euthanasia conducted without consent
 The killing of a person who has not explicitly requested
aid in dying
 Most often occurs in patients persistent in a vegetative
state, and will probably never recover consciousness
 Violates one’s natural desire to live
Types of Euthanasia
Passive:
 Hastening the death of a person by altering some form of
support and letting nature take its course
 Ex) Removing life support, stopping medical procedures,
medications, not delivering CPR
Types of Euthanasia
Active:
 This involves causing the death of a person through a direct
action, in response to a request from that person
 Lethal substances or forces are used to end the patients life
 Jack Kevorkian “Doctor Death” was imprisoned for “helping”
kill numerous people because they were in so much pain
 He was later sentenced in prison for 10-25 years
Options for terminal patients or those with
intractable suffering and pain, instead of
euthanasia.
Palliative care
 An approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their
families facing the problems associated with life-threatening
illnesses, through the prevention and relief of suffering
 The goal of palliative care is for patients and families to accept
dying as a normal process and how to cope with it
 Provides relief from pain, physically, and mentally
 Strives to offer a support system to help patients live their
remaining time as actively as they can to help families deal with
the illness of a loved one
Refusing Treatment
 In many countries a patient can refuse treatment that is
recommended by a doctor or some other health care
professional as long as they have been properly informed and
are of sound mind
 Some countries exclude people under the age of 18
 Nobody can give consent on behalf of an incompetent adult,
ex) Coma
 Doctors take into account the best interests of the patient
when deciding on treatment options
A patient’s best interests are based on:
 What the patient wanted when he/she was competent
 The patient’s general state of health
 The patient’s spiritual and religious beliefs
 Ex) The doctor may decide the best option for a patient who
is declared as clinically brain dead is to switch off lifesupport machines; equipment without which the patient
would die
 The doctor will discuss matters with the family, however
strict criteria must be met on the doctor’s final decision
A Living Will (Advance Directive)
 This is a legally binding document which anybody may draw
up in advance if they are concerned that perhaps they will be
unable to express their wishes at a later time
 In the advance directive the individual states what they want
to happen if they become too ill to be able to consent/refuse
medical treatment
Euthanasia History
 About 400 B.C. – The Hippocratic Oath: "I will give no
deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any
such counsel”
 14th through 20th Century English Common Law – For
over 700 years, the Anglo American common law
tradition has punished or otherwise disapproved of
both suicide and assisting suicide
 1939 – amid the turmoil of the outbreak of war Hitler
ordered widespread "mercy killing" of the sick and
disabled. Nazi euthanasia program to eliminate "life
unworthy of life" at first focused on newborns and very
young children. And expanded to older children and
adults
Where is Euthanasia Legal
 1998 U.S. state of Oregon legalizes assisted suicide
 2000 The Netherlands legalizes euthanasia
 2002 Belgium legalizes euthanasia
 2008 U.S. state of Washington legalizes assisted
suicide
Legalizing euthanasia has been a very well-discussed
topic of debate
For Euthanasia
Reasons for voluntary euthanasia:
 Freedom of Choice – The patient should be given the option to
make their own choice
 Quality of Life – Only the patient is really aware of what it is like
to experience the pain, those who have not experienced it can
not fully understand the effect it has on quality of life
 Dignity- every individual should be given the ability to die with
dignity
 Drain on resources - in virtually every country there is never
enough hospital space, so why not channel the resources of staff,
equipment, hospital beds and medications towards life-saving
treatments makes more sense; especially when these resources
are currently spent on terminal patients with intractable suffering
who wish to die
 Humane - it is more humane to allow a person with
intractable suffering to be allowed to choose to end
that suffering.
 Loved ones - it helps shorten the grief and suffering of
the patient's loved ones
 Prolongation of dying- if the dying process is
unpleasant, the patient should have the right to
reduce this unpleasantness
 Why should the patient be forced to
experience a slow death?
Against Euthanasia
Reasons against euthanasia
 The Doctor’s Role – doctors and other health care
professionals may have their role compromised
 They agreed to the Hippocratic Oath
 Moral religious argument – several religions see euthanasia as
a form of murder and morally unacceptable
 Competence – euthanasia is only voluntary if the patient is
mentally competent
 determining or defining competence is not
straightforward
 The patient might recover – against all odds, the
diagnosis might be wrong
 Palliative care – good palliative care makes euthanasia
unnecessary
The big question: How can it be regulated?
Euthanasia can not be properly regulated
Is It Ethical?
 Should terminally ill patients be given the right to commit
suicide?
 Suicide is a legal act available to all
 But a person who is terminally ill or in a hospital setting
may not be able option to free themselves from their
suffering
 People believe that because they not of “sound mind” they
cannot make this decision
 There are many religious, social, and moral aspects
involved – Very Controversial
Beliefs
 Many religions believe that it is immoral to deliberately end
your life
 They believe that you should be grateful for the life you have
not matter the circumstances
 Who is to say what a tolerable level of pain is?
 Is it physical pain? Mental?
 Many people argue that pain experienced by terminally ill
people can be controlled through proper management
 That there is no need for euthanasia
 Yet others believe that if you are suffering and wish to die
you should be able to do so
What If Euthanasia Is Legalized In
Canada?
 Will people feel pressure to use euthanasia?
 Some may feel obligated to end their life if something
happened to them
 The system of relieving “suffering” patients might be
unclear
 Although, keeping people alive with expensive treatments
and medications cost a lot of money
 Why waste keep someone alive if they no longer have or want
to continue living
 May influence elderly people to resort to euthanasia
 There are pros and cons to legalizing euthanasia
After all of the pros and cons, ethics,
and religious viewpoints:
Would you allow a loved one to be
relieved from their pain?
Or would you let nature take its
course?
Works Cited
Euthanasia. (2011). Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 1.
Nordqvist, Christian. (2010). What is Euthanasia. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/182951.php
Euthanasia: Killing The Dying. Retrieved from
http://www.actrtla.org.au/euth/euthanas.htm
ProCon. (2010). History of Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide. Retrieved from
http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000130
Right To Life. (2012). Where Is It Legal in The World. Retrieved from
http://www.wrtl.org/assistedsuicide/assistedsuicide/whereitislegalWorld.aspx
Kastenbaum, Robert. (2011). Euthanasia – Euthanasia : History, Controversy, Facts.
Retrieved from http://family.jrank.org/pages/468/Euthanasia.html
(2005). Euthanasia. Retrieved from
http://www.markville.ss.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/history/religion/EUTHANASIA.html