Brief Summary Of Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide
Euthanasia – Summary
General information
Euthanasia is the act of consciously ending a person’s life because of terrible suffering that can be caused by incurable cancer. The word itself comes from Greek and means “good death” which describes its procedure pretty well. Assisted suicide means to assist or encourage another person who has already decided to commit suicide. Seen from the legal position, both of these acts are illegal under English law. Depending on the circumstances, the maximum penalty for euthanasia can be up to life imprisonment. Assisted suicide is punishable by up to 14 years’ imprisonment.
Types of euthanasia
There are different ways to classify types of euthanasia. Firstly, active euthanasia can be distinguished from …show more content…
The ethical argument says that people should have the right to control their own body and choose when and how they want to die. The pragmatic argument is that forms of passive euthanasia already exist but they simply are not named as such. An example of this would be palliative sedation where people, who are experiencing extreme suffering, are put to sleep using sedative medication. Therefore, euthanasia and assisted suicide might as well be legalized by society even though opponents state various reasons against these …show more content…
Additionally, a good palliative care unit helps to regard death as a normal process and family members are supported by accomplished psychologists during the patient’s illness and afterwards, in bereavement. The system of palliative care would rather say “kill the pain” instead of “kill the patient”, as Dr Richard Hillier, chairman of the Association for Palliative Care, explained the way in which palliative care specialists dealt with death. But still, the Millennium Debate of the Age stated that they contended to let individuals be the ones to choose for their own how they want eventually end their
General information
Euthanasia is the act of consciously ending a person’s life because of terrible suffering that can be caused by incurable cancer. The word itself comes from Greek and means “good death” which describes its procedure pretty well. Assisted suicide means to assist or encourage another person who has already decided to commit suicide. Seen from the legal position, both of these acts are illegal under English law. Depending on the circumstances, the maximum penalty for euthanasia can be up to life imprisonment. Assisted suicide is punishable by up to 14 years’ imprisonment.
Types of euthanasia
There are different ways to classify types of euthanasia. Firstly, active euthanasia can be distinguished from …show more content…
The ethical argument says that people should have the right to control their own body and choose when and how they want to die. The pragmatic argument is that forms of passive euthanasia already exist but they simply are not named as such. An example of this would be palliative sedation where people, who are experiencing extreme suffering, are put to sleep using sedative medication. Therefore, euthanasia and assisted suicide might as well be legalized by society even though opponents state various reasons against these …show more content…
Additionally, a good palliative care unit helps to regard death as a normal process and family members are supported by accomplished psychologists during the patient’s illness and afterwards, in bereavement. The system of palliative care would rather say “kill the pain” instead of “kill the patient”, as Dr Richard Hillier, chairman of the Association for Palliative Care, explained the way in which palliative care specialists dealt with death. But still, the Millennium Debate of the Age stated that they contended to let individuals be the ones to choose for their own how they want eventually end their