Infant Suffering Debate Summary

In this essay I will analyze James Rachel’s Smith and Jones case for active and passive euthanasia. I will additionally give an ethical reasoning for why I either agreed or disagreed with his opinion. I will furthermore show how he lures our attention to the dissimilarities amongst his view of killing and allowing someone to die. I will also refine my propositions and reaction of this case in the issue of active and passive euthanasia. Defending Rachel’s case I will argue why I sided with him for his moral argument.

The laws are presented to the reader as a way of stepping stones, allowing the reader to progress from one to another. The stepping stones become the progression of the argument of the progressive country that the Netherlands is in regard to physician assisted suicide and for the possibility of Canada to evolve into the same. The author does this because the legal system in Canada is currently being evaluated to eliminate the inherent risks associated with active euthanasia/physician assisted suicide. The author strengthens her position by citing a distinguished philosophy professor in bioethics, further highlighted that the article is printed in the Penn Bioethics Journal. She is directly speaking to her audience through an individual that is credible, and one of the

I do believe that neonatal euthanasia performed under the strict conditions described by Verhagen is morally permissible. What provides the morality is that it’s providing an end to horrendous, unbearable suffering with no hope of long term survival while still ensuring criteria are in place to qualify the right to the decision and an appropriate review board acting to either support or deny the request for euthanasia. I question the far less morality of not having such a right.

SUMMARY: Paul J. van der Maas in the article, “Euthanasia, Physician-Assisted Suicide, and Other Medical Practices Involving the End of Life in the Netherlands, 1990-1995”, published in the New England Journal of Medicine addresses the topic of the physician-assisted suicide and argues that euthanasia has not yet developed a concrete reason as to whether it should take place or not. Maas supports his claim first by the Toulmin model, second by logos, and finally by pathos. The author’s overall purpose is to explain that there is no concrete reason yet behind the need for euthanasia and proves that the majority of people agree with its existence, despite not having all the evidence of its effects. Maas exemplifies a stern tone in order to appeal

This article begins by referencing an incident of a 74-year-old woman in the Netherlands whom requested euthanasia for her chronic dementia. The author (Lane) explains how euthanasia is so commonplace in the Netherlands and how they use subjective criteria such as “"unbearable suffering," "due care" and, fuzziest of all, especially in cases of dementia or mental illness, a ‘voluntary, well-considered request’”. The author goes on to explain how the current euthanasia laws are problematic and “In some cases, physicians knowingly pushed the limits of [the] law”. The author goes on to conclude that if euthanasia were to be expanded beyond what it is now, the impaired patient’s ability to consent would become doubtful or null. The legislation in

Over the course of time, selective infanticide has been heavily debated and surrounded by much controversy. Harriet Johnson’s piece “Unspeakable Conversations” navigates through the discourse between Johnson and selective infanticide advocate Peter Singer. Real world applications of the social and medical model of disability are embedded all throughout Johnson’s personal account of her encounters with Singer, causing audiences to think of these models in ways other than textbook applications. The work written by Johnson was published very recently, and it is evident that the controversy surrounding selective infanticide at the time of its publication is still present today. Johnson’s piece on selective infanticide offers a stance on the matter that should not be ignored because it is coming from someone disabled. Further analyzation of the text provided will support this claim.

On the other hand, with the baby girl’s case, the mother ultimately chose assisted suicide as she wished to stop nourishment and refused permission for surgery. The issue here violates the Baby Doe Law, which regardless of the parents’ wishes, sets specific guidelines for treatment of disabled newborns. Since the baby is not competent due to her age, the issue of informed consent is hard to deal with. This also deals with the issue of deciding for others because the mother must give informed consent and decide based off the well-being of her baby. This is another case of vulnerable population because the patient is a ten-month-old baby, and disabled as well. This means the child must not be neglected and be properly spoken for because she cannot speak for herself. Both cases have issues that overlap with each other and need to be broken down more to be understood properly.

Fetal welfare is about preserving unborn life from destruction. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and even former New York Gov. George Pataki, who unlike the other two accepts the constitutional right to abortion. Pataki proposed “defund[ing] Planned Parenthood” among other limits on fetal tissue research because “we have the right to protect” human “life inside the womb,” “and I think we should protect [it].” (Stem Cell Research: Medical Miracle or Moral Morass?). The Supreme Court has since Roe v. Wade held that, while fetuses are not constitutional persons with rights of their own, the state still has a legitimate interest in protecting “the life of the fetus that may become a child.” (Maternal-Fetal Welfare Committee) This concern for

This essay will aim to focus on the arguments that author, James Rachel’s presents in his article, Active and Passive Euthanasia,” In his article Rachel’s argues that both passive and active euthanasia are morally permissible and the doctors that is supported by the American Medical Association(AMA) is believed to be unsound. In this paper I will offer a thorough analysis of Rachel’s essay then so offer a critique in opposition of his arguments. In conclusion I will refute these oppositions claims by defending Rachel’s argument, and showing why I believe his claims that both active and passive euthanasia are morally permissible, to be effective.

The idea that euthanasia and assisted suicide should only be practiced if a patient has a terminal condition has never been accepted in the Netherlands.(Griffiths) Under both the previous guidelines and the new law in the Netherlands, unbearable suffering of either a physical or mental nature has been the factor that qualifies one for induced death.(For) It appears that not even the prerequisite of subjective unbearable suffering will be maintained for much longer. Discussion now centers on whether assisted suicide should be available to elderly people who are healthy but "tired of life." Dutch Minister of Justice Els Borst has said, "I am not against it if it can be carefully controlled so that only those people of advanced age who are tired of life can use it."(Oostven)

Sometimes a baby who seems healthy passes away during sleep. No parent wants to wake up and find their infant not breathing. Sudden Infant Death disorder (SIDS) is one of the leading causes for death among newborn children one month to one year of age. Taking the lives of around 2,500 Infants every year in the United States. An extra 3,500 babies pass on every year from different reasons for sudden and surprising newborn child demise (SUID, or, suffocation). Sudden infant death is a tragic event for any parent or caregiver, and is no one's fault. SIDS can happen even when everything done right.

In the Merriam Webster dictionary, infanticide is a term described as the act of killing an infant. Other sources describe it as the act of killing one’s own child, or killing of a child less than 12 months old. Female infanticide is more common than the killing of male offspring. More often than not, it is the mother who does the killing.

Infant mortality is and has been an issue for a very long time. It can be defined as the rate of deaths that happen before a child’s first birthday (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). A consequence of infant mortality is the mental health of the family that must deal with the death of a child; when one loses a child very early it can be difficult to cope with and the parents might develop depression. There are several risk factors for infant mortality, including congenital abnormalities, being born preterm, having a low birth weight, and lower socioeconomic status of the child’s family. Furthermore, a problem such as this is contingent upon access to health care; third-world countries and impoverished areas might have little to no access to health care, therefore, increasing the risk of complications with a pregnancy. A mother must have prenatal care to support good health for the baby.

Then he moves to discussing differences between passive and active euthanasia. He argues against Commission that states that “seriously disabled infants should not have their lives sustained if their lives are likely to contain more suffering and frustrated desires than happiness and satisfactions”. (CMI, p.27) Nowell-Smith argues that passive euthanasia is still killing and it is probably more

Another option is to amend the current infanticide provision so that it no longer reads as a mental illness caused by the pregnancy/childbirth or lactation. Instead, a mental illness that appears “post childbirth” would incorporate men and remove pathologised ideas about women and their biology that predetermines them to be mentally ill and kill. Factors could be added to recognise that socio-economic deprivation acts as a catalyst for infanticide (Lambie, 2001). Such an amendment would retain the benefits the New Zealand provision has over the British legislation while demedicalising the offence.