Euthanasia

Euthanasia

Introduction

Euthanasia (literally, “good death”) refers to several distinct forms of mercy killing, all involving action or inaction, undertaken for the sake of someone else and intended to cause that person's death. Active euthanasia involves administering lethal drugs, actively asphyxiating the patient, or killing the patient by other invasive means. Assisted suicide means helping patients end their own lives by supplying instructions, drugs, or other equipment. Passive euthanasia involves withholding or withdrawing medical treatment (Kuhse and Singer, 1993), respiratory assistance, nutrition, or water. Although there is no crime called “euthanasia,” each of these practices constitutes a criminal act under certain conditions. Euthanasia remains controversial among ethicists, medical professionals, and lawmakers, and the law in this area continues to evolve.

Literature Review

In the early 1990s, some western states began to entertain the idea of legalizing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. (Dworkin, 1994) In November 1991, by a margin of 8 percent, voters in Washington defeated a ballot measure called Initiative 119, which would have authorized voluntary active euthanasia by permitting physicians to administer lethal injections to terminally ill patients. The AMA Code of Ethics does not forbid a physician from prescribing treatments that are likely to result in death, so long as the doctor's intention is not to cause death but to achieve some other purpose for the patient, such as pain relief. The criminal law takes a similar position, distinguishing between intention and mere “knowledge” or “foresight.” For example, a doctor does not commit murder if he or she administers painkillers, even though death is likely to result, so long as the doctor does so for the purpose of relieving the patient's pain, rather than for the purpose of causing the patient's death. By contrast, when undertaken for the purpose of ending life, this same action constitutes active euthanasia, which the AMA vigorously opposes and which constitutes murder in every state. Consent of the patient is not a defense.

Assisted suicide, by definition, is undertaken for the purpose of bringing about death, and in all but six of the U.S. states, it constitutes the statutory or common law crime of assisting in a suicide or homicide. Again, consent of the patient is no defense. Withdrawing nutrition, hydration, or life support can also constitute a crime under certain conditions. As with active euthanasia, the question is whether the action is taken for the purpose of ending human life, or simply with the knowledge that death may result. If someone withholds or withdraws medical treatment, nutrition or hydration for the purpose of ending life, he or she commits murder, whereas an attending physician is legally permitted (and typically required) to withdraw treatment when the patient has so requested, because the doctor's purpose in doing so is not to kill the patient, but rather to obey the patient's legally binding instructions.

Case Study

Euthanasia raises many legal and constitutional issues. In the United States, the first major judicial decision concerning passive euthanasia was the famous 1976 case of Karen Quinlan. Quinlan, a young woman in a persistent vegetative state, had ...