BIOETHICS POSITION PAPER

Bioethics Position Paper



Society should allow terminally ill people the right to practice Euthanasia.

The concept of Euthanasia is not that new in the ethics of medicine and has been applied and subject to legislations and laws for quite some time. It is defined as the intentional proceeding of the person towards death for the good of that person. In most of the situations, euthanasia is performed due to the reason that it is requested by the person and is performed on the willingness of the concerned individual. However, there are conditions where the individual is not permitted to make such a request of ending his life. It generally happens that the individual who prefers to undergo is normally in the condition of terminal illness. In my opinion, the people should be allowed to practice Euthanasia in terminal illness, and I strongly support this view.

In all the developed countries, the advances in the field of medicine allow artificial life, sometimes for years, and the people plunge into a deep coma which is mostly irreversible. Moreover, the evolution of mentalities and the priority given to respect for the individual will lead some to claim the right to decide for themselves the moment of their death. In such cases, the initiatives in favor of euthanasia are multiplied (Merino, 2011: 21). In fact, euthanasia can cover several forms:

Active euthanasia, that is to say, the deliberate administration of lethal substances with the intent to cause death, at the request of the patient who wants to die, or without his consent, a decision of a relative or the medical profession;

Assisted suicide, the patient performs the act itself mortal, guided by a third party who has previously provided information and / or resources to commit suicide;

Indirect euthanasia, that is to say analgesics whose second and unsought consequence is death;

Passive euthanasia is the denial or discontinuation of treatment necessary to sustain life.

The current society follows the principles of a democratically free social structure; it implements the government of the people, established by the people and working for the people. Every individual in the society is allowed full freedom of action and speech. One of the crafters of democratic doctrine, John Stuart Mill, supported the law that if the power is required to be exercised over a citizen of the civilized society in opposition to his willingness, then the only purpose should be to prevent any damage or harm from being caused to other people. In order to do so, the individual's own betterment, either in a moral or physical way, is not an adequate reason (Harris, 2000: 13). Thus, according to these views, the democratic societies may formulate laws to prevent robbery and murder, but should not make legislations to ban religious rituals, sex before marriage, or the application of voluntary euthanasia. This is those individuals who are terminally ill and want to undergo euthanasia for they are not threatening anyone else in a physical or moral manner.

It is strange to consider that any individuals' action ...