EUTHANASIA

What does the word mean?

Euthanasia

From the Greek meaning……

EUTHA= ‘Easy’ (sometimes translated as ‘good’)

NASIA= ‘Death

EUTHANASIA IS ABOUT VALUING LIFE – Put in order whose life you think is MOST IMPORTANT to save

If a decision can’t be made – who should

decide?

1. A lawyer2. A doctor

3. A religious official4. A politician

STARTER ACTIVITY

• 80 year old man• 12 year old girl• 40 year old Army Sgt.• Pregnant woman• Stephen Hawking• Nicki Minaj• Barack Obama• 28 year old with terminal

cancer• Buddhist Monk

A French woman with an incurable facial cancer lost a court case seeking euthanasia. Former schoolteacher Chantal Sebire, a

mother of three, had asked a court to allow doctors to help her die. Ms Sebire's cancer had left her blind, disfigured and suffering intense pain. Appealing on French television for the right to die, Ms Sebire said she could no longer see properly, taste or smell. She described how children ran away from her in the street.

Do you think voluntary euthanasia

is right in this situation?

• Jot down your answer•Now discuss in pairs/3s

Case Studies - Voluntary Euthanasia

Case Studies - Voluntary Euthanasia

A 23-year-old who played rugby for England as a

teenager committed suicide in a Swiss euthanasia clinic

after having become paralysed from the chest

down in a training accident. Daniel James felt his body had become a "prison" and lived in "fear and loathing"

of his daily life. James' parents, Mark and Julie, said that their son had been "an

intelligent young man of sound mind" and "not

prepared to live what he felt was a second-class

existence". James was a talented player who seemed destined for a professional

career

Do you think voluntary

euthanasia is right in this situation?

• Jot down your answer in your book (1 minute)

DISCUSS in pairs…

• 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 there are no painkilling drugs the doctor decides to spare the soldier further pain

and shoots them dead

Is euthanasia right in this circumstance? Explain your answer

Case Studies - Involuntary Euthanasia

A woman who is terminally ill is being nursed at home by her

husband. Her pain is controlled by morphine received through a

motorised syringe driver. After her death from a massive dose of the

drug, the Crown Prosecution Service decide to prosecute him

for murder

What are your feelings on this?

A consultant rheumatologist from Winchester made huge headlines when he was convicted of attempted murder, but

given a 12 month suspended sentence. His ‘crime’ had been to give a terminally ill,

elderly woman a lethal injection of potassium chloride. She had requested this, and her decision had been fully supported

by her two sons.

Do you think it was right that he was convicted of attempted

murder?

ALTERNATIVES TO EUTHANASIA

PALLIATIVE CARE – means caring for people by controlling their pain with drug treatments and offering personal support

The hospice movement provides all of the medical and emotional facilities needed to ease the suffering of a dying patient

Some believe that this should be the only acceptable way to deal with terminally ill patients

PRO-EUTHANASIA – CASE STUDYJack KevorkianRetired American doctor Jack

Kevorkian speaks to the press after being charged by police for his role in assisting a suicide. Kevorkian had been acquitted three times in United States courts in trials resulting from his involvement in assisted suicides, but was convicted in April 1999 after a video showing the death of a terminally ill man who had consented to Kevorkian's intervention was televised. Despite being sentenced to 10 to 25 years for murder under Michigan state law, Kevorkian remains an outspoken advocate of physician-assisted suicide

INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH

Research the following and make notes, ensure you reference your sources

1. What is the current UK law on euthanasia?

2. In What countries is euthanasia legal?

3. RESEARCH THE FOLLOWING NAMES IN RELATION OT EUTHANASIA:

Terry Schiavo (Involuntary euthanasia)

Reginald Crew (Voluntary euthanasia)

Michael Caine

Charlotte Wyatt

Tony Bland

Dignitas

Dr Ann Turner

Terry Prachett

4. What are the proposed changes to the current law on euthanasia