Euthanasia: An introduction

Euthanasia

Euthanasia: An introduction

Christianity

Christian attitudes to euthanasia (Part 1): Introduction, Roman Catholic teaching
Christian attitudes to euthanasia (Part 2): Church of England and other Christian views
Christian attitudes to euthanasia (Appendix): Letter to the House of Lords Select Committee (2004)

Worksheets

Attitudes to euthanasia

Applied ethics

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Information: This article gives a brief review of issues surrounding euthanasia. A version of this article was originally published on the website www.faithnet.org.uk.

Introduction

I'm not afraid of death. I'm afraid of life... I'm afraid of living and not being able to take care of myself. (Russell Parsons - Man inks recipe for cremation on his arm)

If asked, most people would probably want to live to a ripe old age, and then die painlessly in their sleep. Unfortunately, this is not the reality most people face. Some people will die after a long struggle with a painful disease. Others will find that their body deteriorates to such a degree, that they wish they were dead. Those who can might choose to end their suffering, by committing suicide. However others might find that despite wishing to end their life, they are physically incapable of doing so, and as such will need the assistance of someone else to do so. It is with these latter cases that the debate about euthanasia is chiefly concerned.

The word euthanasia is linked to the Greek words for good (eu), and death (thanatos). Euthanasia is therefore associated with the idea of wanting to die free from suffering, or to have a good death.

Key terms

Although euthanasia is concerned with ending life well, what this specifically involves is set out in law and moral studies in several different ways:

Active Euthanasia: To be active means to be involved with, or to participate in something. In the case of active euthanasia, this is when some brings about the death of another person by say giving them a lethal injection, or increasing the dosage of medication they were on to speed up (or induce) death.
Passive Euthanasia: To be passive is withhold from being directly involved with something, or not to participate in any active sense. In terms of of passive euthanasia, this is when someone deliberately withholds or withdraws medication, which would help a patient to live longer (thus resulting in the patient's death taking place sooner).

In his book Practical Ethics(1999), Peter Singer argues that passive euthanasia is actually a form of active euthanasia. He puts forward the idea that although people might think there is a difference between passive and active euthanasia, that there really is not. For instance, whether someone deliberately administers a lethal dose of medicine, or withdraws or withholds medication, these actions are performed with the same intention - to end the life of someone! This means that all forms of euthanasia should be classed as active, and that it is wrong to legalise one form whilst outlawing the other.

Voluntary Euthanasia: When euthanasia is performed following at the request of someone.
Non-voluntary Euthanasia: Ending the life of someone who may no longer be capable of telling those around them that they want to die. Non-voluntary euthanasia is performed, because it is believed this person would not want to continue living in the state they are in (E.g. If they were in a coma, or had brain damage).

Something to think about: What is the difference between euthanasia and suicide, if any?

Living will: Specific directives set out by a patient prior to a course of treatment about what they want to happen to them, should they become unable to give their consent later on due to incapacity (i.e. if they went into a coma). At this time they would also appoint someone known as a power of attorney, to make decisions about their healthcare. Living wills try to pre-empt some of the moral and legal issues surrounding cases involving non-voluntary euthanasia (E.g. Terri Schiavo).

The law on euthanasia in the UK

Prior to the Suicide Act of 1961, it was a crime in the UK to commit suicide. Anyone who attempted and failed, could be prosecuted and imprisoned.

The law on euthanasia in the UK does not allow anyone to take the life of another person to end their suffering, or to assist them to do so. If anyone is found doing this, they can be imprisoned for up to 14 years. However, although it is illegal to actively end the life of another person, in reality doctors in the UK regularly practice a form of 'passive euthanasia' when they turn off life-support machines in cases where there is 'nothing more they can do'.

Something to think about: Is administering medication to someone, intended to relieve their suffering but will have the side-effect of causing them to die, a form of active or passive euthanasia, or none of these?

The law on euthanasia in Holland

Although Holland is in the European Union (as is the UK), it has quite different laws on euthanasia to most other member countries. Legalised euthanasia is allowed in the Netherlands as a last resort if:

The patient is in unbearable pain, with no improvement in sight,
The patient has voluntary requested euthanasia on more than one occasion,
The patient is aware of their condition and options,
At least two doctors agree that these conditions are present,
That euthanasia is carried out in a medically appropriate manner, and
That the patient is at least 12 years old.

Holland has very strict laws on euthanasia. People cannot simply travel to Holland expecting doctors to euthanatise them ('suicide tourism'), if these conditions are not met in full.

'For the third year in a row, medical authorities in the Netherlands have reported an increase in the number of legal euthanasia cases. Regional Oversight Boards for Euthanasia showed doctors reported 1,933 cases in 2005, up from 1,886 in 2004 and 1,815 in 2003.' (Dutch Oversight Authorities find Euthanasia on the Rise, www.lifesite.net)

The law on euthanasia around the world

Apart from Holland, the only other countries to have legislation which openly legalises euthanasia are*:

Oregon (USA) (since l997, physician-assisted suicide only).
Switzerland (1941, physician and non-physician assisted suicide only).
Belgium (2002, permits 'euthanasia' but does not define the method.

In many countries there is no specific law dealing with the matter of assisted dying, and often cases are tried based on other established laws. For example, in 1979 Berit Hedeby was sentenced to a year's imprisonment for manslaughter in Sweden for helping a man with MS to die, even though Sweden had no specific laws on assisted dying.

Other than the UK, assisted dying is stated to be a specific crime in the following countries*:

Republic of Ireland
Italy
Canada
Hungary
New Zealand

*Source: www.assistedsuicide.org (2006)

Some well-known cases

In recent years there have been several high-profile cases which many people have used to argue that current laws pertaining to assisted suicide, should be changed:

Picture of Diane Pretty in the advanced stages of motor neurone disease

(UK) Diane Pretty had been suffering with Motor Neurone Disease from 1999, which had left her unable to move or communicate easily. She sought for the law outlawing assisted suicide in the UK to be changed, so that her husband would not be imprisoned for helping her end her life. The matter was debated in the High Court, and even taken to the European Court of Human Rights, but at each stage the proposed bill of amendment was defeated. Diane died in a hospice in May 2002, after falling into a coma due to breathing difficulties. (Read more)
(UK) 'Dr Anne Turner, from Bath, had a progressive and incurable degenerative disease called supranuclear palsy... She could no longer drive, take a bath unaided, and had difficulty feeding her cats. Her husband, a GP, had already suffered a lingering death from a similar illness... Following [a] failed bid to take her life, her children reluctantly accepted her decision to travel to Switzerland [so that she could be euthanatised]... She said she was angry that she was forced to go to Switzerland to end her life - but was convinced it was right thing to do.' (Read more)

In 2005, UK peer Lord Joffe proposed a bill which would enable, 'a competent adult who is suffering unbearably as a result of a terminal illness to receive medical assistance to die at his/her own considered and persistent request'. The bill was blocked by the House of Lords in May 2006 by 48 votes, but has been proposed again (with amendments) in November 2006 (Read more).

(USA) In 1990 Terri Schiavo collapsed in her home from a heart attack, went into a coma for ten weeks, and was diagnosed with Permanent Vegetative State (PVS). In 1998 her husband went to court to seek a ruling for her feeding tube to be removed. Terri's parents opposed this, and the ensuing legal debate was swept up by a tide of media, political and special interest-group attention (notably religious). After numerous appeals and court hearings in the USA (including the Supreme Court), Terri's feeding tube was removed in March 2005. She died on March 31, 2005 aged 41. (Read more)

Some arguments in favour of legalising euthanasia

People choose to drink and smoke (both of which cause harm to their bodies and can kill them), so why not allow people the choice as to how and when they want to die?
Some have said that they do not want to be an emotional and financial burden to their relatives, or society.
A person condemned to death is given a last request, why not people with a terminal disease?
Not all pain can be controlled by drugs.

When I am dying, I should like my life to be taken out under a general anesthetic, exactly as if it were a diseased appendix. But I shall not be allowed that privilege, because I have the ill-luck to be born a member of Homo-sapiens rather than, for example, [a dog or a cat]. (Dawkins R., The God Delusion, Houghton Mifflin, 2006 p.357 [Bracket mine])

Some arguments against legalising euthanasia

We do not know if someone will never recover from a 'terminal' illness.
People should be looked after, cared for, and helped through their last days, rather than be 'got rid of'.
Doctors are meant to do all in their power to preserve life, not end it!
Legalising euthanasia is giving people a license to murder.