EuthanasiaJean C. Ortiz Calderón

Wesley G. Rivera Ayende

Definition of Euthanasia

• The intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit.

Euthanasia

• There is no euthanasia unless the death is intentionally caused by what was done or not done. Thus, some medical actions that are often labeled "passive euthanasia" are no form of euthanasia, since the intention to take life is lacking.

• These acts include not commencing treatment that would not provide a benefit to the patient, withdrawing treatment that has been shown to be ineffective, too burdensome or is unwanted, and the giving of high doses of pain-killers that may endanger life, when they have been shown to be necessary. All those are part of good medical practice, endorsed by law, when they are properly carried out.

Professional Vocabulary• Euthanasia: the intentional killing by act or omission of a

dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit.

• Euthanasia by Action: Intentionally causing a person's death by

performing an action such as by giving a lethal injection.

• Euthanasia by Omission: Intentionally causing death by not

providing necessary and ordinary (usual and customary) care or

food and water.

• Assisted suicide: Someone provides an individual with the

information, guidance, and means to take his or her own life with

the intention that they will be used for this purpose.

• When it is a doctor who helps another person to kill themselves it is

called "physician assisted suicide."

Types of Euthanasia

Voluntary Euthanasia• The person wants to die and says so. This includes cases of:• Asking for help with dying• Refusing burdensome medical treatment• Asking for medical treatment to be stopped, or life support

machines to be switched off.• Refusing to eat• Simply deciding to die

Types of Euthanasia

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 (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

Types of Euthanasia

Involuntary Euthanasia• The person wants to live but is killed anyway. This is usually

murder but not always. Consider the following examples:• A soldier has their stomach blown open by a shell burst. They are

in great pain and screaming in agony. They beg the army doctor to save their life. The doctor knows that they will die in ten minutes whatever happens. As he has no painkilling drug with him he decides to spare the soldier further pain and shoots them dead.

Types of EuthanasiaActive Euthanasia• Active euthanasia occurs when the medical professionals, or another

person, deliberately do something that causes the patient to die.

Passive Euthanasia• 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.• Switch off life-support machines.• Disconnect a feeding tube.• Don't carry out a life-extending operation.• Don't give life-extending drugs.

Causes

• Unbearable pain as the reason for euthanasia

It is probably the major argument in favor of euthanasia is that the person involved is in great pain. Euthanasia advocates stress the cases of unbearable pain as reasons for euthanasia, but then they soon include a "drugged" state. I guess that is in case virtually no uncontrolled pain cases can be found - then they can say those people are drugged into a no-pain state but they need to be euthanatized from such a state because it is not dignified.

Causes

• Demanding a "right to commit suicide"

But what we are talking about is not giving a right to the person who is killed, but to the person who does the killing. In other words, euthanasia is not about the right to die. It's about the right to kill. Euthanasia is not about giving rights to the person who dies but, instead, is about changing the law and public policy so that doctors, relatives and others can directly and intentionally end another person's life.

Causes

• Should people be forced to stay alive?

No. And neither the law nor medical ethics requires that "everything be done" to keep a person alive. Insistence, against the patient's wishes, that death be postponed by every means available is contrary to law and practice. It would also be cruel and inhumane.

Effects

• On the Patient• The so-called “right to die” quickly becomes a duty to die because

of subtle or direct pressure.• Treatment denied to deserving patients based on so-called “quality

of life” decisions.• Loss of hope, self-worth, and trust in the physician and family can

lead to suicide

Effects

• On the Family• Provides an opportunity for a family with ulterior motives to

acquire financial gain.• Undermines family stability by taking away hope (Christian belief

and values are undermined).• A family’s perception of the patient’s worth is devalued; dividing a

family on life and death decisions.• Undermines family and patient control over medical treatment

decisions.

Effects

• On the Medical Community and Society• Killing becomes an option in medical treatment options.• Medical Caregivers change from healers and comforters to killers.

(They play God).• Physicians and hospitals lose the faith and the trust of the public.• As medical ethics decline there will be a progressive loss of

respect for all human life.• Suicide and murder become acceptable.• Economic pressures may lead to discrimination in medical

decision making against persons with disabilities, or those who are poor, weak, or defenseless.

Statistics

• The places in the World where Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide are legal are: • Sweden• Netherlands• Belgium• Luxembourg• Oregon and Washington.

Statistics

Brain death vs. Coma (and vegetative state)

Brain death: Jeffrey Alexander Santiago González in Puerto Rico

• A couple weeks ago the parents of this child found him unconscious after he fell from his bed. The hit severely wounded the brain of the kid and thus he was diagnosed with brain death. The circuit court determined that the boy should be disconnected since the medical costs ascended up to $80,000 USD.

Possible Solutions

• Pain management therapy.

• Valorization of life through the reinforcement of values.

• Psychological rehabilitation for the patient and his/her family.

• A law (or permit) similar to the one that allows people to donate their organs when they die.

Conclusion: Are you in favor or against of Euthanasia?

• Arguments for Euthanasia:• It provides a way to relieve extreme pain.• It provides a way of relief when a person's quality of life is low.• Frees up medical funds to help other people.• It is another case of freedom of choice.

• Arguments against Euthanasia:• Euthanasia devalues human life. With euthanasia no one’s life is being

saved, life is only taken.• Euthanasia can become a means of health care cost containment.• Euthanasia is voluntarily however the psychological and financial

pressures are overpowering.• There is a "slippery slope" effect that has occurred where euthanasia has

been first been legalized for only the terminally ill and later laws are changed to allow it for other people or to be done non-voluntarily.