Moral Difference Between Active Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide

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Letting a patient die and killing him or her are two morally different actions. Many bioethics scholars have presented diverse arguments on the choice of death of a patient. Some intellectuals believe that there is a moral difference between active and passive euthanasia while others hold the exact opposite opinion that they are all the same. In my opinion, killing a patient is different from letting him or her die. The objective of this philosophy paper is to challenge James Rachels’ thesis and present an appropriate counter argument on the two types of euthanasia.
Rachels' argument holds that there is no moral difference between active and passive euthanasia. The medical scholar is completely against the conventional doctrine that the American …show more content…

Firstly, I do not agree with the fact that there is no moral difference between letting a patient die and committing murder as alleged by the scholar. Suffocating a patient with a pillow with the intention of killing him or her is a very brutal and inhumane act that cannot, by any means, be compared to disconnecting a respirator from a patient to end their suffering. I believe that it is high time all medical practitioners knew that there is a moral difference between murdering a patient and letting him or her to die as per the wish. Doctors should be aware that it is ethically right to respect a patient's autonomy, in this case, to end his or her suffering by stopping medication or disconnecting a feeding …show more content…

Moreover, some believe that medical practitioners and other human beings have no right to decide when a person ought to die. On the other hand, the practice is rebuked by many people since it can open grounds for murder, where a doctor or anyone may commit the act and then claim to have practiced passive euthanasia on the victim. Such concerns, as explicated by Rachels, explain why the practice may not be accepted anytime soon among doctors. On the other hand, I totally disagree with the proposition that links euthanasia to killing since passive patient-directed dying is always carried out with proper regulation to avoid malicious or selfish intentions with regard to the issue at hand. I think that doctors have a moral duty to accomplish the wishes of their patients, including end-of-life decisions. In my view, patients have a right to be in charge of their lives and die as per their wish. Besides, contrary to Rachels’ opinion, I believe that every human has a moral duty to control his or her body and thus should be allowed to decide the nature of his or her death. A patient may request passive euthanasia to end his or her long-suffering (Palmer, Moral Problems in Medicine, 51). As a doctor, it would be prudent to stop any further life-sustaining medical

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