Euthanasia in Australia

Euthanasia in Australia

Introduction

Definition

The tern euthanasia refers to a deliberate act by a person of putting himself or herself to death in a painless manner, the need for which arises from the fact that the person is suffering from incurable and terminal illness. Voluntary euthanasia is the related term which refers to the act of ending a person's life upon his or her request. Whereas the assisted suicide implies the act of deliberately putting oneself to death with the assistance of another person who typically helps the person being killed in terms of provision of knowledge, means or both in some cases.

Background

The paper aimed the exploring the ethical implications of current Australian laws related to euthanasia - both voluntary and assisted euthanasia. The paper will also discuss the position of those who are in favour of giving autonomy to the person on the issue of ending his or her life, arguing a person should have full control on every aspect of his or her life and that no other entity should exercise paternal control in this regard. Voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide is presently illegal in all regions of Australia. There haven been numerous unsuccessful attempts by mainly the human rights organizations to either legalise the act or introducing such legal provision that would prohibit criminalisation of those involved in assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia. The first of its kind in the history of modern world, the legislative assembly in the Northern Territory had legalised the by means of passing a legislation titled the “Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995” giving liberty and freedom to the people living the Northern Territory in the matters of deciding about voluntary or assisted euthanasia. Faced by opposition from the large portion of the society and religious community, the law was subsequently overridden by Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 by the Australian Federal Government.

Discussion

Ethical Implications

The suggestion from some human rights organisations that the law should authorise the act of euthanasia, raises ethical and religious issues as well as the constitutional status of such law. Euthanasia has several merits and demerits in terms of dealing with the ethical issues of voluntary euthanasia or assisting a person to end his or her life painlessly. As far as the opinion of the medical practitioners is concerned, some physicians are of the view that euthanasia is, to some extent, a logical choice for patients suffering from incurable diseases that also inflict unbearable pain or suffering. But majority of the healthcare professionals including physicians and nurses argue that it is against the fundamental duty of a healthcare professional to assist, in any way, a person willing to end his or her life as the basic duty of the healthcare professional is to do everything possible to preserve life.

The physicians and other professionals working the field of healthcare have several reasons in favour of the Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 prohibiting the act of killing oneself or euthanasia. One of those reasons, is the, as the ...