Medical Ethics: Euthanasia (Part 2)

Euthanasia Debate

Why it should be legalised?

1. Patient's best interest (Beneficence)

• Patient has a terminal illness or has an incurable fatal disease
• Without life support (active treatment) will die in a few days
• However if given life support, he/she can live for a few weeks
• No medication (antibiotics/ IV fluids) can stop the progression of the disease

In a case like this, is it really in the best interest of the patient to give him/her life-extending treatment or for him/her to die now? We need to consider whether or not the person's quality of life will be poor if given the life extending treatment.

If extending the person's life will also greatly decrease quality of life e.g. difficulty in breathing, then it will be in his/her best interest to die, due to the underlying fact that his/her quality of life is poor.

    2.  Respecting patient's wishes (Autonomy)

• E.g. Jehovah's Witness refusing life-saving blood transfusion
• Forcing treatment on a competent adult against the wishes of the patient would mean that the doctor is violating the person's rights. 

Arguments against euthanasia:

1. Killing is morally wrong
2. There might be a chance that the patient's condition will improve

For the first argument we can also point out that there is a distinct difference between killing (murder) and euthanasia. In the case of killing, the intention is for the patient to die whereas passive euthanasia, the main intention is to relieve pain. This means that although death may be foreseen, it is not the main intention.

Conclusion

The act of voluntary passive euthanasia should be legalised to the extend that there are strict regulations placed and the decision should be carefully made by both doctor and patient. 

It is the harm of death that makes killing a morally wrong thing to do and therefore, if it is the best interest for the patient to die (as they will suffer from increased pain), then mercy killing would no longer be a wrong but a morally right choice. 

Book used: Medical ethics (A very short introduction) - Tony Hope