Euthanasia Is Not The Active Death Of A Patient

The origins of the word ‘Euthanasia’ are Greek and translate to ‘easy death’. The definition of Euthanasia or 'dignified suicide' is the act of which one gets injected with a substance that will peacefully kill them. It's not euthanasia to give a drug in order to eliminate immediate pain, even though the drug causes the patient to die sooner. This is because the doctor wanted to relieve the pain, not to kill the patient. This is known as the Doctrine of Double effect.

Euthanasia, currently a very controversial topic of discussion throughout Australia. The question is “should euthanasia be legalised, and if so who is legible to be euthanised?” It is currently illegal in Australia to be euthanised, however 86% of the public agrees that euthanasia should be administered to people who are willing to if they are terminally ill, and a surprising 54% of practitioners agree also. Even though this is the case, why is it still illegal? What are the dangers of euthanasia if any, and where do we draw the line?

Euthanasia is argued to be defined as depriving of life or causing the death of a living being. A primary and controversial component to euthanasia is the idea that the physicians are acting in “God” like form. Christians are thought to believe that “thou shall not kill.” Christians believe that all human beings have been in created in God’s image and should be cherished in all circumstances. However, according to the article written by Ann-Marie Begley, she explains, “if only God can end a life, then clearly all instances of killing are wrong, including killing in war and self defense” (Begley 300). The only way this philosophy can be upheld is with complete pacifism in which most Christians would not agree with. The other argument opposing euthanasia is the concern about the perceived public role of the physician. The metaphorical stance of doctors seen around the country is that they are the ‘enemies of death.’ The fear is that the image would be eroded resulting in the lost of trust within the public. Ann-Marie Begley explains, “the trust does not rest with the cure and healing but with the compassion and a recognition that there comes a time when the healer has reached the limits of his or her ability” (Begley 303). The argument of depriving someone of life is also seen in equivalence to murder. Scholars also differentiate murder from euthanasia in that euthanasia there is no malice

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

Euthanasia, or voluntary assisted suicide, has been the subject of much moral, religious, philosophical, legal and human rights debate in Australia. Euthanasia is defined as the intentional act of terminating one’s life, who is suffering from an incurable illness or a terminal disease. This act requires explicit consent from the person who wishes to die and it must also be done out of concern and compassion for that person who is suffering. Several legislative attempts have been made to legalise euthanasia in parts of Australia. However, at the present time, it remains unlawful. With Euthanasia being illegal all across Australia it has forced our citizens overseas to unregulated medical centres in hope of having access to a

My next reason for why I believe that euthanasia should be legalised in Australia is because it’s our right to choose. Euthanasia would only be offered as an option to those who suffer from a terminal illness, the patient and their loved ones would be able to make their own decision and if any patient did not want to choose that option it would be their choice. Alternatively, if someone did want to choose the option of euthanasia then again it is completely their own choice how they choose to die.

There are many arguments both for and against euthanasia. Many faith groups within Christian, Muslim, Jewish and other religions believe that God gives life and therefore only God should take it away. Suicide would then be considered an interference of God's plan for that individual. Therefore, such groups argue that the patient should continue living and suffering until God decides otherwise. Some religious extremist groups take this idea to the extent that they will not seek medical treatment for any condition at all.

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

Active euthanasia is also known as voluntary euthanasia. It is deliberately taking the steps to terminate the life of another person. An argument is that medication is meant to help control pain and make an individual feel better, not end their life. Although this form can be either voluntary or involuntary, active euthanasia is considered murder in Canada.

Passive euthanasia is under the same circumstance but the doctor retain the treatment that would keep patient’s life on purpose to let the patient die. The intention of passive euthanasia is to reduce harm and suffering of the patient. From the article James Rachels gave a thought experiment with Smith and Jones. The "Smith and Jones" case was about Smith and Jones would be able to get an inheritance if their 6-year-old cousin wasn’t in the way. Both of them decide to try to kill the cousin by themself, so they will be able to receive the inheritance. In one situation, Smith went after his cousin when the cousin was taking a shower and he drowned him in the bath to make the death look accidental. In another situation, Jones went after his cousin when the cousin was taking a shower, but after Jones walked into

Euthanasia is a term that originated from the Greek language: eu meaning "good" and thanatos meaning "death". Generally, euthanasia implies the intentional termination of life that is initiated by a person who wishes to commit suicide. However, euthanasia has many meanings and as a result, has several terms that define and differentiate various types of euthanasia. For instance, passive euthanasia is altering a form of support thereby hastening the death of a person, i.e. removing life support or not delivering CPR. Causing the death of a person through a direct action and in response to the request of that person is considered active euthanasia. When information and/or the means are supplied by the physician to commit suicide, it is

Even though the word euthanasia can have several meanings throughout different dictionaries, there is only one origination of the word which is from the Greek word “eu” meaning good and “thanatos” meaning death; when combined together the word means good death. This meaning is the true meaning of the word,

Euthanasia is the Greek word meaning “good death”. Euthanasia is the act of assisting in ending one’s life, killing a person or an animal in a painless or minimally painful way.

This raises the question, is euthanasia murder? and in many Christian’s view is that if a life is taken away earlier than God planed then it is murder and therefore many Christian’s point of view on euthanasia is that it is wrong.

It’s safe to assume that when talking about death, everybody has at least once thought about how they want to go: painlessly and when they are ready. Nobody wants to die in a painful manner and nobody wants to die if they feel they have not lived a fulfilled life. When looking at the word’s Greek origins - 'eu ' and 'thanatos, ' which together mean 'a good death, ' the idea of euthanasia is quite appealing. So what exactly is it? Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. Also called assisted suicide or physician-assisted death/suicide (often times simply referred to as just PAD or PAS), this process helps terminally ill patients make the transition from painful life to painless death. But what is death when you have an illness that has seemingly already taken your life? According to the 31st edition of Dorland 's Illustrated Medical Dictionary, the medical definition of death is “the cessation of life; permanent cessation of all vital bodily functions.” For legal and medical purposes, death is “the irreversible cessation of all of the following: (1) total cerebral function, (2) spontaneous function of the respiratory system, and (3) spontaneous function of the circulatory system.” Based on these definitions, and knowing where euthanasia takes you, some people may be against PAS for religious reasons, for hope of a spontaneous recovery, or for the fear that doctors and families may give up