EUTHANASIA

What is Euthanasia? 

Euthanasia is the process of painlessly helping a terminally ill person to die. Known also as assisted suicide or mercy killing, euthanasia is illegal for humans in the United States. Generally, euthanasia is performed by lethal injection, using the same drugs as those on death row are executed. Types of Euthanasia    Passive euthanasia Active euthanasia Assisted euthanasia Passive euthanasia  "Passive euthanasia" is usually defined as withdrawing medical treatment with the deliberate intention of causing the patient's death.   For example, if a patient requires kidney dialysis to survive, and the doctors disconnect the dialysis machine, the patient will presumably die fairly soon.    Perhaps the classic example of passive euthanasia is a "do not resuscitate order".    Normally if a patient has a heart attack or similar sudden interruption in life functions, medical staff will attempt to revive them. If they make no such effort but simply stand and watch as the patient dies, this is passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia

      The active acceleration of a “good” death use of drugs etc, whether by oneself or with the aid of a doctor

      Active euthanasia is often very controversial due to the fact that a doctor or other medical professional must actively make an effort to end the life of a patient.

      This is typically done for a patient who repeatedly requests the end of his or her life.

      Most doctors who perform active euthanasia will only perform it on someone who is suffering from an illness that has greatly reduced his or her quality of life and which has no foreseeable treatment.

• Assisted euthanasia

 

o   Voluntary euthanasia is the act of ending a life painlessly or allowing a person to die by withholding medical measures.

o   The phrase 'physician assisted suicide/dying' is often used. This refers to when a doctor prescribes a medication which the patient will take with the end result being their death.

o   As the law currently stands in the UK assisted dying is not allowed in any form. In May 2006 a bill which would have allowed terminally ill people to be helped to die was blocked.

o   There are only 3 countries and 1 US state where assisted suicide is legal - these are Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium and Oregon in the US.

o   Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide are highly controversial topics that have been fiercely debated for many years and have been front page news many times in recent years. The most recent and well known case was that of Diane Pretty in 2003.

Conclusion

Euthanasia is a matter of continuing controversy, a tinderbox for debate, an issue on which positions range widely and include enthusiastic advocacy of euthanasia, guarded acceptance of euthanasia, outright rejection of euthanasia, and vehement condemnation of euthanasia, equating it with murder, genocide, or worse. But who knows? Euthanasia is an area in which honest people may still differ.