Legalization of Euthanasia Legalization of Euthanasia
Palliative care and pain management have made so much progress in the last 40
Palliative care and pain management have made so much progress in the last 40 years.years. But does this help reduce the number of people requesting euthanasia? It may, but is not But does this help reduce the number of people requesting euthanasia? It may, but is not aa big deal as Boisvert
big deal as Boisvert says in “Euthanasia says in “Euthanasia Debate Reignited”: Debate Reignited”: “Pain is not the pri“Pain is not the primary reasonmary reason to request euthanasia. Often, pain ranks 4
to request euthanasia. Often, pain ranks 4thth, 5, 5thth or lower”.or lower”. Webster Dictionary definesWebster Dictionary defines Euthanasia or mercy killing is the act or method of causing death painlessly, so as to e Euthanasia or mercy killing is the act or method of causing death painlessly, so as to e ndnd suffering of people dying of incurable, painful disease.The word euthanasia comes from the suffering of people dying of incurable, painful disease.The word euthanasia comes from the Greek
Greek ευθανασίαευθανασία that means good death, but euthanasia is not only that. that means good death, but euthanasia is not only that. Euthanasia is the artEuthanasia is the art of causing death painlessly, so as to end suffering: advocate by some as
of causing death painlessly, so as to end suffering: advocate by some as way to deal withway to deal with persons dying of incurable painful disease such as
persons dying of incurable painful disease such as cancer, aids, and other disease that makecancer, aids, and other disease that make people dependent to treatment or to other peopl
people dependent to treatment or to other people, because they become disable to do certaine, because they become disable to do certain activities by their own. It is only considered euthanasia when a physician applies a drug or activities by their own. It is only considered euthanasia when a physician applies a drug or takes out a treatment to a patient to cause a non painful death.
takes out a treatment to a patient to cause a non painful death. When the physician justWhen the physician just provides the drugs or information and the patie
provides the drugs or information and the patient performs the actions his dead is considerednt performs the actions his dead is considered assisted suicide not euthanasia. The term can also be divided in active and
assisted suicide not euthanasia. The term can also be divided in active and passivepassive
euthanasia. Active is when a treatment is applied to cause the death of the patient and passive euthanasia. Active is when a treatment is applied to cause the death of the patient and passive is when a treatment is removed from a patient to cause death.
is when a treatment is removed from a patient to cause death. Although Euthanasia isAlthough Euthanasia is illegal in most of the United States, it
alive then they should have the right die, but not as a suicide, for people that really need it and the final decision should be made by the patient and the family.
Why only family and the patient? This is an easy question to answer ; doctors’ work is to try to preserve life not to end it. Euthanasia is a medical affair, but doctors don’t have to be involved in it directly. They don’t have to see euthanasia as a treatment for any illness, but
they still have to provide information about the patient illness, condition, and treatments available, so the family and patient can make a decision. Also, a psycho logist, a doctor (different than the one watching the patient), and an expert in theme should be designed to authorize or deny it depending on the patient condition. That way people will not think about it as a way of suicide, and will keep depressed people from asking for euthanasia.
Experts like who? An organization can be made for helping people in bad health that wants euthanasia. Like the Life End Information Forum Physicians in Euthanasia in
Belgium. LEIF is an organization in Belgium that helps people in their request for euthanasia providing them with information and gives them advice, help form this organization is also provided to the physicians (Wesemael, 2009). A person from the organization should be
designed in every case of somebody soliciting euthanasia to give information and help to the patient, doctors, and family. This person should also be involved in accepting or not
accepting euthanasia to be applied on a patient.
People request euthanasia for different reasons; pain is one of them but is not the most important because of the improvement in palliative care. Palliative care is very important in
the euthanasia theme. It can be defined as Randal, F.,and Downie, R. S do I their book The Philosophy of Palliative Care: Critique and Reconstruction:
Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the
prevention and relief off suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.
The reasons for people making this request are many like, the progressive loss of autonomy that is when the patient starts losing the ability to do simple things like going to the bathroom by themselves, or the ability moving (Boisvert, 2009). Depression is another cause of people
requesting it, but this people shouldn’t be accepted to do it, instead help should be provided for their depression.
When talking about euthanasia people also talks about dignity. Why dignity? People argues that when a patient start losing autonomy and gains dependence, their start losing their dignity. People fear losing control of their circumstances of their lives; they think that if they can have control of their own death they would be able to retain most of their dignity (Manning, 1998). Dignity as dictoniary.com defines is the bearing, conduct, or speech indicative of self-respect or appreciation of the formality or gravity of an occasion or
situation. When people start losing control of their lives, because of an illness most of them star losing this self-respect, but not because of their own decision. They start losing the self
respect so they can continue with their lives, because they would have to get used to things that they have never done before like: asking for help to use the bathroom, allow people to see them in bad conditions and more other thing. There are people that do not like to be in that situation and they don’t want to get any further, so they start thinking about euthanasia. People in this condition should be allowed to decide when to end their lives to conserve their dignity. But giving people control of this decision is not easy, because it open the door for people that are only looking for suicide.
Killing and letting die is a very controversial issue in the euthanasia theme; this
involves passive and active euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is when doctors stop the treatment given to a patient to cause death and active euthanasia is when so me drug is given to the patient to cause death. These two types of euthanasia can be considered the same because both involve a decision as A. C. Grayling said in a BMJ editorial (2005), he stated:
Lawyers and doctors distinguish between withholding and withdrawing treatment with death as the result, and giving treatment that causes death. The first is
considered to be permissible in law and ethics, the second is not. But in fact there is no difference between them; for withholding treatment is an act, based on a
decision, just as giving treatment is an act, based on a decision.
Both types should be legalized since the final effect is the same, and it can take the suffering from people, and it also gives people a decent dead.
There are many different opinions surrounding the theme. There is also people that is in pro of passive euthanasia, but don’t agree with active euthanasia, because they consider it as murdering. Like Fiona Randall, and Robert Silcock say in their book The Philosophy of Palliative Care: Critique and Reconstruction (2006):
Allowing death to occur (letting die) has to be permitted when the burdens and risks of life-prolonging treatments clearly outweigh its benefits, or wh en the provision of life-prolonging treatment so alters the terminal phase of the illness that a more
distressing course occurs. At the same time society needs to maintain its prohibition against killing (murder) in order to protect their members.
In their book they also talk about the actual legal situation, and how allowing to die is not a crime, but active euthanasia is.
Euthanasia has always been a confusing theme with many legal problems. Euthanasia has been legalized in some states of the Unites States, but is still illegal in most of them due to the different opinions that surround it.
One of the problems that slow the legalization process is the confusion between the different terms used. Many people confuse Euthanasia with assisted suicide, but they are not the same. “The main difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide is that in assisted suicide the patient is in complete control of the process that leads to death, because he/she is the person who performs the act of suicide. The other person simply helps.” (Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide). A person that confuses these two terms sees euthanasia as a bad thing and
refuses legalization laws. Euthanasia can also be divided in many different types in different categories; by the character of patient’s consent: in this category euthanasia can be divided in voluntary, nonvoluntary, and involuntary. Drexel university web sites define each type,
voluntary is when the patient agrees and haves knowledge about it, nonvoluntary is when there is not knowledge about the patient opinion, and involuntary is when the patient refuses it but it occurs anyways; and the other category is when is divided by the means used to cause death: in this category euthanasia can be divided in passive, and active. If people start analyzing them individually it would be easier to make laws that legalize it.
Another cause of legalization problems is the involvement of death in the theme. People have always seen death as something bad, but for people who are not in very good health, dying wouldn’t be a bad thing. That’s why euthanasia comes from the words good death. Some movements are against euthanasia arguing that sudden death is not always the best death and that family members recover faster from the loss of a family member when he
or she have passed an extended period of illness as William F. May explains in Rising to the Occasion of our Death(1990), “ Psychiatrist have observed that those who lose a loved one accidentally have a more difficult time recovering from the loss than those who have suffered through an extended period of illness before the death.”
There are also many opposing opinions in this theme. Some of the opinions have contradicting ideas even in their own point of view. Religious people view killing somebody as a bad thing, but holding somebody from dying is against god too. Some other people think
about active and passive euthanasia at the same, like A.C. Grayling, but it would be easier to make laws if is divided in types.
Analyzing pros and cons of euthanasia should also be done like in Canada. In Canada a one year exercise has been launched to compare the pros and cons of permitting physician assisted death. A panel has been made with people with knowledge of the theme, this people will focus on legal issues, and it will also canvas the international landscape evaluating other countries experiences. The report will be done in a year and will include information about why people are taking the decision for euthanasia (Kondro, 2009). This would help people decide between being in favor or not in the legalization of euthanasia, also would help people that already have a position to see the others point of view.
Law makers have to be careful in when making laws, because legalization of euthanasia does not mean that doctors should stop trying to save lives. So decision in this theme should not be made by basing an opinion in hard cases or personal experiences as W. F. May says in Rising to the Occasion of our Death(1990) “ hard cases do not always make good laws or wise social policies. Regularized mercy killing would too quickly relieve the community of its obligation to provide good care.” He also explains how laws don’t always protect in rare circumstances, and that actually it shouldn’t be expected too. These laws
should include some points that specify who is allowed to and who is not as Dr. Asisclo J Villagómez Ortiz explains in a Mexican magazine named: Revista de la Asociación
medicine and intensive therapy , 21 (pp 116-118). He gives five points that need to be considered before euthanasia. The first point says that it haves to be a patient that is dying, the second one says that the reason should be mercy because of the inability of ending his suffering, the third point says the intention should be to end life faster, the fourth point says that is should be solicited by the patient, and the fifth and last ones says that the patient shouldn’t hide any suicide feelings behind his illness.
In conclusion, euthanasia should be legalized and both types should be treated the same so people suffering can be ended without causing more pain. Law makers should start dividing euthanasia into the different type and analyze them so a different law can be made for each. That way the law would fit correctly and this also help opinions to take a majority. The legalization laws should include some clauses that make it safer and impossible to reach for those who don’t really need it.
Reference
Boisvert, M. (2009) Euthanasia Debate Reignited. Canadian Medical association Journal Letters. Retrieved January 19, 2010, from EBSCO Academic Search Elite.
Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide. Retrieved February 11, 2010, from http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~cp28/euth1.htm
Kondro, W. (2009) Royal Society Panel to Stud Society Panel to Stud y Physician-Assisted Death. Canadian Medical Assosiation Journal, 181 (12). Retrieved January 21, 2010 from EBSCO Academic Search Premier database.
Manning , M.(1998). Euthanasia And Physician-assisted Suicide: Killing or Caring [Elecectronic version].Mahaw, New Jersey: Paulist Press
May, W(1990). Rising to the Occasion of Our Dead. In T. Crusius & C. Channell (Eds.), The arms of Argument, (pp. 45-47). Boston: Mc Graw Hill.
Randal, F.,& Downie, R. S.(2006). The Phylosophy of Palliative Care: Critique and Reconstruction [Electronic version]. New York: Oxford University Press.
Villagómez, A.(July- September 2007) Eutanasia[Electronic version]. Revista de la
Asociación Mexicana de Medicina Crítica y TERAPIA INTENSIVA, 21 (pp 116-118)
Wesemael, Y .V. et al.(2009, December) Role and involvement of Life End Information Forum Physicians in Euthanasia and Other End-of-Life Decisions in Flanders
