Do you have the right to die?Why or why not?

Euthanasia

• Act or practice of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from painful and incurable disease or incapacitating physical disorder or allowing them to die by withholding treatment or withdrawing artificial life-support measures.

What’s the difference???

• Passive Euthanasia• Voluntary Active Euthanasia• Non-voluntary Euthanasia • Physician Assisted Suicide• Suicide

Passive Euthanasia

• Passive euthanasia is an alternative name for withdrawal of treatment - the doctor withholds life-sustaining treatment. Passive euthanasia occurs when the patient dies because the medical professionals either don't do something necessary to keep the patient alive, or when they stop doing something that is keeping the patient alive. The doctor may switch off life-support machines, disconnect a feeding tube, not carry out a life-extending operation don't give life-extending drugs

Voluntary Active Euthanasia

• Those instances of euthanasia in which a clearly competent person makes a voluntary and enduring request to be helped to die.

Non-voluntary Euthanasia

The person cannot make a decision or cannot make their wishes known. This includes cases where the person is in a coma, the person is too young (e.g. a very young baby), the person is senile, the person is mentally retarded to a very severe extent, the person is severely brain damaged, the person is mentally disturbed in such a way that they should be protected from themselves.

Physician Assisted Suicide

• The voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian• Most well know figure in the right to die

movement in the U.S. • Assisted in the suicides of 130 people• Was prosecuted and sent to prison for 10-25

years for his role in assisted suicide. (He only served 7).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQmyo6EvUY8

Suicide

• the process of purposely ending one's own life.

Euthanasia in America

Death with Dignity Act (Oregon)• To request a prescription for lethal medications, the

Death with Dignity Act requires that a patient must be:– An adult (18 years of age or older),– A resident of Oregon, [see Oregon's definition of

"resident" in the Editor's Note below]– Capable (defined as able to make and communicate

health care decisions), and– Diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death

within six months.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPfe3rCcUeQ

60 Minutes

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAHey2LjA6c

• PA woman charged with helping father die.

60 minutes

• http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/a-doctor-reflects-on-death-and-dignity/

• Doctor who opposes death with dignity.

Belgium

• http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26181615

Pro/Con Argument

Pro• Ends pains and suffering• We should have the right

to die• Die with dignity• Reduces health care cost• Frees up doctors and

nurses time• Vital organs can be saved• Prevents messy suicide

Con• Violates doctors’

Hippocratic oath• Demeans the values of

human life• Most religions prohibit

suicide• Gov’t or insurance

pressure to end life• Miracles cures

Peer Discussion• Should euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide be

legal?• Are the economic pressures in the health care

system too great to safely legalize euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide?

• Would legalizing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide destroy patient trust in the medical profession?

• Should euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide only be allowed for the terminally ill?