Euthanasia

Euthanasia
Euthanasia
(from the Greek εὐθανασία meaning "good death": εὖ, eu (well or good) +
θάνατος, thanatos (death)) refers to the practice of ending a life in a
manner which relieves pain and suffering. According to the House of
Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics, the precise definition of
euthanasia is "a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express
intention of ending a life, to relieve intractable suffering."[1]
Euthanasia
is categorized in different ways, which include voluntary,
non-voluntary, or involuntary and active or passive. Euthanasia is
usually used to refer to active euthanasia, and in this sense,
euthanasia is usually considered to be criminal homicide, but voluntary,
passive euthanasia is widely non-criminal.
The controversy
surrounding euthanasia centers around a two-pronged argument by
opponents which characterizes euthanasia as either voluntary "suicides",
or as involuntary murders. (Hence, opponents argue that a broad policy
of "euthanasia" is tantamount to eugenics). Much hinges on whether a
particular death was considered an "easy", "painless", or "happy" one,
or whether it was a "wrongful death". Proponents typically consider a
death that increased suffering to be "wrongful", while opponents
typically consider any deliberate death as "wrongful". "Euthanasia's"
original meaning introduced the idea of a "rightful death" beyond that
only found in natural deaths.
Euthanasia is the most active area of research in contemporary bioethics.[2]

Etymology
Like
other terms borrowed from history, the "euthanasia" has had different
meanings depending on usage. The first apparent usage of the term
"euthanasia" belongs to the historian Suetonius who described how the
Emperor Augustus, "dying quickly and without suffering in the arms of
his wife, Livia, experienced the 'euthanasia' he had wished for." [3]
The word "euthanasia" was first used in a medical context by Francis
Bacon in the 17th century, to refer to an easy, painless, happy death,
during which it was a "physician's responsibility to alleviate the
'physical sufferings' of the body." Bacon referred to an "outward
euthanasia"—the term "outward" he used to distinguish from a spiritual
concept—the euthanasia "which regards the preparation of the soul." [4]
In
current parlance it has come to mean different but related things
depending on philosophy and political persuasion: Opponents to
euthanasia and assisted suicide, refer to an "active causation of a
patient's death by a physician".[citation needed] Proponents instead
refer to palliative care and easing of suffering.[citation needed]
Classification of euthanasia
Euthanasia
may be classified according to whether a person gives informed consent
into three types: voluntary, non-voluntary and involuntary.[5][6]
There
is a debate within the medical and bioethics literature about whether
or not the non-voluntary (and by extension, involuntary) killing of
patients can be regarded as euthanasia, irrespective of intent or the
patient's circumstances. In the definitions offered by Beauchamp &
Davidson and, later, by Wreen, consent on the part of the patient was
not considered to be one of their criteria.[7][8] However, others see
consent as essential. For example, in a discussion of euthanasia
presented in 2003 by the European Association of Palliative Care (EPAC)
Ethics Task Force, the authors offered the unambiguous statement:
“
Medicalized killing of a person without the person's consent, whether
nonvoluntary (where the person in unable to consent) or involuntary
(against the person's will) is not euthanasia: it is murder. Hence,
euthanasia can be voluntary only.[9]
”
Voluntary euthanasia
Main article: Voluntary euthanasia
Euthanasia
conducted with the consent of the patient is termed voluntary
euthanasia. Voluntary euthanasia is legal in Belgium, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Switzerland, and the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington.
When the patient brings about his or her own death with the assistance
of a physician, the term assisted suicide is often used instead.
Non-voluntary euthanasia
Main article: Non-voluntary euthanasia
Euthanasia
conducted where the consent of the patient is unavailable is termed
non-voluntary euthanasia. Examples include child euthanasia, which is
illegal worldwide but decriminalised under certain specific
circumstances in the Netherlands under the Groningen Protocol.
Involuntary euthanasia
Main article: Involuntary euthanasia
Euthanasia conducted against the will of the patient is termed involuntary euthanasia.
Procedural decision
Voluntary,
non-voluntary and involuntary euthanasia can all be further divided
into passive or active variants.[10] A number of authors consider these
terms to be misleading and unhelpful.[1]
Passive euthanasia
Passive euthanasia entails the withholding of common treatments, such as antibiotics, necessary for the continuance of life.[1]
Active euthanasia
Active euthanasia entails the use of lethal substances or forces to kill and is the most controversial means.
Legal status


Map of the legality of euthanasia.
Main article: Legality of euthanasia
West's
Encyclopedia of American Law states that "a 'mercy killing' or
euthanasia is generally considered to be a criminal homicide"[11] and is
normally used as a synonym of homicide committed at a request made by
the patient.[12]
The judicial sense of the term "homicide" includes
any intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life,
even to relieve intractable suffering.[12][13][14] Not all homicide is
unlawful.[15] Two designations of homicide that carry no criminal
punishment are justifiable and excusable homicide.[15] In most countries
this is not the status of euthanasia. The term "euthanasia" is usually
confined to the active variety; the University of Washington website
states that "euthanasia generally means that the physician would act
directly, for instance by giving a lethal injection, to end the
patient's life".[16] Physician-assisted suicide is thus not classified
as euthanasia by the US State of Oregon, where it is legal under the
Oregon Death with Dignity Act, and despite its name, it is not legally
classified as suicide either.[17] Unlike physician-assisted suicide,
withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatments with patient
consent (voluntary) is almost unanimously considered, at least in the
United States, to be legal.[16] The use of pain medication in order to
relieve suffering, even if it hastens death, has been held as legal in
several court decisions.[16]
Some governments around the world have
legalized voluntary euthanasia but generally it remains as a criminal
homicide. In the Netherlands and Belgium, where euthanasia has been
legalized, it still remains homicide although it is not prosecuted and
not punishable if the perpetrator (the doctor) meets certain legal
exceptions.[18][19][20][21]
Physician sentiment
A survey in the
United States of more than 10,000 physicians came to the result that
approximately 16% of physicians would ever consider halting
life-sustaining therapy because the family demands it, even if believed
that it was premature. Approximately 55% would not, and for the
remaining 29%, it would depend on circumstances.[22]
This study also
stated that approx. 46% of physicians agree that physician-assisted
suicide should be allowed in some cases; 41% do not, and the remaining
14% think it depend