Pros And Cons Of Passive Euthanasia

Active and passive euthanasia has been a controversial topic for many decades. Medicine has become so advanced, even the most ill patients can be kept alive by artificial means. Active euthanasia is a deliberate action taken to end a person’s life, such as lethal dose of medication (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). Passive euthanasia is allowing a person to die by not intervening or stopping a treatment that is keeping them alive (Garrard, 2014). There are three main arguments within this issue; Firstly, in the healthcare setting, it is morally accepted to allow a patient to die but purposely killing a patient is not (Garrard, 2014). Secondly, some people believe there is no moral difference between passive and active euthanasia.

For instance, if a doctor gave an overdose of medication or gave a lethal injection this would be considered an active euthanasia. Passive Euthanasia is withholding something needed for life. Examples of this might be taking someone off of a feeding tube or life support and letting them die on their own.

Passive euthanasia can be defined as letting the patient die. The doctor takes the patient off their treatment and let the disease run through until they die. Active euthanasia is not legal today, and leans more toward killing the patient. The patient is ready to die so the doctor gives a lethal injection to speed up the process. Physician assisted suicide is almost a combination

Active versus passive euthanasia are two different, albeit arguably similar, ways in which an individual is helped to die. Passive euthanasia involves withholding life-saving medical treatment or removal from life

The World Health Organization (WHO) Centre for Health Development (2004) explains that the term euthanasia comes from the Greek word for “good death”. The modern definition for euthanasia, according to the WHO, is “a deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of either painlessly putting to death or failing to prevent death from natural causes in cases of terminal illness or irreversible coma of another person” (WHO, 2004, p. 25). There are two types of euthanasia: active and passive. Active euthanasia involves an action that directly causes another’s death and can be voluntary or involuntary (Leming & Dickinson, 2016). Passive euthanasia involves the withholding of treatment from a terminally ill patient with the intended consequence of hastening death; this can involve refraining from nutrition, hydration, cardiopulmonary resuscitation or potentially life-saving

Within the scope of euthanasia are passive and active euthanasia. Passive euthanasia occurs when a patient refuses access to medical care or treatments, as is allowed by their freedom to legally choose whatever treatment they wish to receive or withhold (Stoyles et al 683). However, their decision to withhold from receiving treatments may result in a hastening of their death. Passive euthanasia is legal in the United States (Stoyles et al 683). However active euthanasia is illegal and is often misconstrued as being identical to physician-assisted suicide. Despite similarities, they are different in technical terms. Both euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide have the same intent and end result. However in euthanasia, the doctor is responsible for administering the lethal injection or other agent of death. In physician assisted suicide, the physician prescribes the patient a lethal injection which the patient will themselves administer (Boudreau et al 2). In both cases, the patient consents to the treatment, but only physician-assisted suicide is legal in certain states within the United States.

The difference between active and passive euthanasia is, active euthanasia is where a physician or a medical professional gives someone a lethal injection. Passive euthanasia is where either the doctors don't do something that keeps someone alive, or they stop doing something that is keeping them alive.

The above-mentioned types of Euthanasia can be further divided into two more major parts: Active and Passive Euthanasia. The hastening of the death of a person by active procedures such as deliberately overdosing on a medicine is known as Active Euthanasia. On the other hand, Passive Euthanasia is when death to a patient is brought by an omission. It is when the treatment necessary for the continuance of life is brought to an end. For example, ventilators or life support

Assisted suicide must not be confused with euthanasia. There are two forms of euthanasia, passive and active. Active euthanasia is similar to assisted suicide in that it requires lethal substances to cause death in a patient. But, euthanasia differs from assisted suicide through passive euthanasia. Passive euthanasia entails the death of a person from the withdrawal of treatments necessary for the continuance of life. In the United States, passive euthanasia is legal.

The differentiation of passive and active euthanasia is by the basis of the act and the intent of person and paitent. The act of passive euthansisa is defined as withholding treatment that is keeping the paitent alive, therefore allowing the paitent to die. Whereas, active euthanasia is to take direct measures to end the paitents life.

One of the highly controversial topics in today’s society is the idea that euthanasia has many effects on the world’s stance on whether someone should be allowed to die on their own terms. Euthanasia can end the suffering of those who need it, but may have long term effects on people outside of the patient. People do not have a right to euthanasia because it is viewed as unethical, may have negative emotional effects, and is currently illegal in the world.

Currently, there exists two different kinds of euthanasia: passive and active.  Passive euthanasia is when a physician withholds life saving measures or lets a person die naturally.  For example, when a son decides to take his mother off a life-support machine and this leads to her death, it would be considered passive euthanasia.  On the other hand, active euthanasia occurs when a person causes the death of an individual who is terminally ill.  An instance of this is when an individual proceeds to give a dying patient a lethal injection.  Thus, physician assisted suicide is a form of active euthanasia where the physician is the person that facilitates the death of an individual.

According to Webster’s dictionary the term euthanasia Is defined as, “ the act or practice of killing someone who is very sick or injured in order to prevent any more suffering.” Now then there are two primary types of euthanasia according to Rachel’s. We have Passive Euthanasia in which the physician does nothing to bring about the death of the patient. By this physician doing nothing, ceasing treatment, the patient dies of the illness he already was diagnosed with. The patient dies of natural causes. The doctor is therefore letting the patient die. Then we have Active Euthanasia were the physician does something to bring about the death of the patient. The physician gives the terminally ill patient a lethal injection therefore now making the doctor the

First of all, it is inevitable that the argument “euthanasia being morally permissible” is relevant to the philosophical theory “Utilitarianism” which generally fixates on increasing happiness and decreasing misery to an

Some believe that euthanasia should be ethically viewed similarly to suicide because of the idea of choosing to end one’s own life, which is considered unethical. However, some oppose this belief, and believe