First, voluntary euthanasia refers to mercy killing that takes place with the explicit and voluntary consent of the patient, either verbally or in a written document such as a living will. Second, non-voluntary euthanasia refers to the mercy killing of a patient who is unconscious, comatose, or otherwise unable to explicitly make his intentions known. (Downing 1969) In these cases it is often family members who make the request. It is important not to confuse non-voluntary mercy killing with involuntary mercy killing. The latter would be done against the wishes of the patient and would clearly count as murder.
“Dogs do not have many advantages over people, but one of them is extremely important: euthanasia is not forbidden by law in their case; animals have the right to a merciful death.” ― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being One of the most controversial topics that is being debated today, both morally and legally, is assisted suicide, sometimes known as active euthanasia. Assisted suicide is the act of directly intervening in order to end the life of a terminally ill patient (i.e. administering a large amount of sleeping pills). The word "euthanasia", comes from Latin "eu" for "good" and "thanatos" for "death" (OCRT 1). Many people in this country are existing in a "living death", suffering on a day to day basis.
It is important to differentiate between the various terms used in discussing euthanasia. Passive Euthanasia refers to removing some form of life support which allows nature to take its course. Forms of life support include: removing life support machines, stopping medical procedures and medications, stopping food and water, or not delivering cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Active Euthanasia refers to causing the death of a person through a direct action, in response to a request from the person. Physician Assisted Suicide refers to a physician supplying information and/or the means of committing suicide to a person, so that he/she can easily end his/her own life.
Doctor-Assisted Suicide Suicide is the act or instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally especially if that person is of sound mind. Euthanasia is the act or practice of killing individuals who are hopelessly sick or injured for reasons of mercy. Doctor-assisted suicide is a term used to describe the act of a doctor or physician providing direct or indirect means of assisting someone in taking their own life. There are 2 types of euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is withholding life-sustaining treatment either before or after it has been initiated.
Physician assisted suicide/dying (PAD) is it good or bad? PAD is referred to when physician provides patients who are terminally ill with prescriptions of a lethal dose of medication, upon the patient’s request, which the patient intends to use to end their own life (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2011); another option that is close to physician assisted suicide is Euthanasia. Euthanasia is the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2011). Physician assisted suicide / dying, is different from Euthanasia, the main difference on how the act is performed on ending the patient’s life. Physician assisted suicide the patient is the one who self-administers the lethal injection.
483-485. Larue, Gerald A. Euthanasia and Religion: A Survey of the Attitudes of World Religions to the Right-to-Die. Los Angeles: The Hemlock Society. 1985. Rachels, James.
How does one let a patient or a family member breathe but not live? The practice of euthanasia or assisted suicide is “the painless killing of a patient suffering an incurable disease or a irreversible coma” (OxfordDictionaries). Euthanasia has many other names such as assisted suicide, physician-assisted suicide, and sometimes even “mercy killing”(“Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide”). To “pull the cord” when a patient is under coma or life support is called passive euthanasia. When a doctor directly guides a patient (with their consent) to end his or her life by lethal injection, this ethic is called voluntary or as active euthanasia.
Euthanasia today can be described as a physician or others ‘killing’ of a suffering patient in attempt to accelerate death and relieve pain. In the game of life and death: life is the most obvious answer one would think. However, this is not always the case. Euthanasia or assisted suicide is an extremely controversial topic of today. It has the minds of society wondering if death solves some of the most extreme medical problems.
I believe that there is a huge problem with this drug, and it is death. We cannot determine the future things may get better and the last day will come for everyone when it’s the right time for it. The first problem with euthanasia is that it is morally incorrect for someone to kill another person even if they ask for it. As a person I feel that it is wrong to kill someone; yes in wars we do it all the time but even if a lot of people do that it still doesn’t mean it’s right. Many have mentioned that in there scripts they believe that we can’t control our life.
Ed. David L. Bender. St. Paul: Greenhaven Press, 1981. 23-26 Jussim Daniel. “The Right to Die Issue.” Euthanasia.