Euthanasia can be described as the act of deliberately ending a person's life to relieve suffering. It come from two greek terms; eu- “good”, and thanatos “death”. Euthanasia is different from assisted suicide, which is the act of deliberately assisting another person to kill themselves. If a relative of a person with a terminal illness obtained strong sedatives, knowing the person intended to use them to kill themselves, the relative may be considered to be assisting suicide. Euthanasia can be classified as:
voluntary euthanasia: where a person makes a conscious decision to die and asks for help to do so
non-voluntary euthanasia: where a person is unable to give their consent (for example, because they're in a coma) and another person takes the decision on their behalf, perhaps because the ill person previously expressed a wish for their life to be ended in such circumstances
Currently both euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in the UK, but there are strong ethical arguments for both sides of the debate.
On one hand, some would argue that human beings should have the right to be able to decide when and how they die (self-determination). This aligns with the ethical pillar of autonomy (every patient has the right to decide their medical treatment, of which euthanasia can be determined to be). However, a conflict between beneficence and non-maleficence then exists. It could be determined that euthanasia is what is best for the patient, but non-maleficence, or the idea that doctors should ‘do no harm’ goes against the idea of euthanasia. Finally, palliative care is expensive. The NHS is very stretched for resources, and looking at it from a purely utilitarian perspective, this may free up capital that could be spent on other patients. In 2006-07, primary cast trusts spent £245 million on palliative care.
However, it could be said that is euthanasia was legalised it would put too much power in the hands of doctors, and damage the trust between patient and doctor. Voluntary euthanasia could be the first step on a slippery slope that leads to involuntary euthanasia, where those who are undesirable or seen as a problem could be killed. Additionally, there could be issues in that relatives of patients may be punishing them towards euthanasia in order to inherit capital. Finally, proper palliative care is available which reduces or removes the need for people to be in pain.
Overall, I believe that despite the fact that euthanasia may be ethically justifiable, in practice it should not be legalised due to the practical difficulties that arise.
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