What is Euthanasia?
Uploaded by makemequeen on Jun 04, 2007
Euthanasia has become common to people thanks to how time and people have progressed – ranging from how people live and how they are treated for medical problems. Yet, we still dispute over whether euthanasia should be legalised or if it is just so immoral that it should be considered something that should never happen. Yet, how many people out there actually understands what euthanasia is and how many different ways it can be performed?
i) What is Euthanasia?
Euthanasia comes from the Greek words ‘eu’ and ‘thanatos’ which both mean ‘a good death’, however there are people that do not see euthanasia or ‘mercy killings’ the best way of dying even if you are terminally ill. It is considered suicide because you are deciding that you want to die, and the only difference between suicide and euthanasia is that euthanasia entails two or more people.
Voluntary euthanasia is when a failing patient expresses a desire for an easy and comfortable way to die instead of waiting for their inevitable death.
Involuntary euthanasia is the complete opposite, where instead of the patient requesting for himself, their consent is not sought because they are incapable of deciding for himself (e.g. coma) and their family or next of kin decides on whether they should live or die in consultation with the doctors.
Active euthanasia is when something is given to the patient to curtail his lifespan which usually means a doctor would provide fatal dosages of painkillers. However, this form of euthanasia is illegal since it is deemed murder and is not practised in the UK today.
Passive euthanasia is when instead of giving something to kill a dying patient; they decide to withdraw treatment even if the only resort is death, however it is illegal to take away the basic needs of the body (water, food, oxygen). This usually means that a life-support machine is turned off, but whether this is a form of mercy killings is still not very clear.
Indirect euthanasia is sometimes seen as the same as passive, however these two types of ‘mercy killings’ are very different. Whereas passive euthanasia is taking away something that is keeping them alive, indirect is giving pain relieving drugs that will numb the pain but ultimately will lead to death. This is practised today as a form of euthanasia by doctors told by the patients that they want to die an easy death.
ii) What Christian teachings might...