Did you know Colorado allows Euthanasia? Where do you stand?

There are some people that believe that euthanasia is ethically wrong because it is considered to be a form of suicide. Meanwhile, there are others that believe that euthanasia can be a good thing because it allows people to die with dignity and without pain. Ultimately, I believe that the decision of whether or not to support euthanasia is a personal one.

With the controversies of this ethical topic, comes the discovery of several types of euthanasia by philosophers and ethicists. There is active euthanasia (killing patients via active means of lethal dose injection), passive euthanasia (withholding patient care till death), voluntary euthanasia (with the consent of patients), involuntary euthanasia (without the consent of patients), self-administered euthanasia (patient administering means of death), other-administered euthanasia (patient family administers means of death) and others (MU School of Medicine, n.d). Other philosophers group them into mercy killing (active, involuntary, and other-administered euthanasia) and physician-assisted suicide (active and voluntary).

The practice of Euthanasia remains tricky today. Peter Singer, the Australian philosopher, argued in his book Practical Ethics that “If there is no intrinsic difference between killing and allowing to die, active euthanasia [performed by a physician] should also be accepted as humane and proper under certain circumstances” (Hentoff, 1999). Singer believes that active euthanasia should only be performed when there is a clear and present danger to the patient's life, when the patient has made a clear and informed decision to end their life, and when there is no reasonable alternative available.

It all should depend on the governing laws of the state or country where Euthanasia is allowed. There really isn’t a right or wrong with this subject because states that allow physician-assisted suicide enforces primary care providers to make sure the patient is terminally ill, can administer the lethal dose themselves, and is in the right mind to understand what they are doing and make decisions. 

It comes down to living and dying with dignity as well as giving patients the chance to make decisions of their own. People have the right to die with dignity such as Daniel Eduardo Ostropolsky who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This terminal neurodegenerative progressive disease is horrible and Ostropolsky described his pain as crumbling where everything is failing (Linares et.al., 2021). People with such terminal illnesses, losing all motor skills do not want to leave their loved ones with the memory of them suffering as when the right protocols are followed, they should be given the right to choose to die with dignity where their loved one last memory is not of them been insufferable.

So far 8 states in the United States including the District of Columbia allow physician-assisted suicide via a mandate by state law while a mandate by court ruling is required for Montana and California (CNN, 2022). 

However, several activists also share their concern about how legalizing euthanasia could result in a “slippery slope” phenomenon where numerous non-voluntary euthanasia may take place (Annadurai et.al., 2014). Do you see this happening? What do you think about euthanasia? Should it be legalized? Should it be ethical?

CITATION:

Euthanasia. Euthanasia - MU School of Medicine. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2022, from https://medicine.missouri.edu/centers-institutes-labs/health-ethics/faq/euthanasia#:~:text=Active%20euthanasia%3A%20killing%20a%20patient,a%20ventilator%20or%20feeding%20tube. 

Hentoff, N. (1999, September 11). A professor who argues for infanticide. The Washington Post. Retrieved November 28, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1999/09/11/a-professor-who-argues-for-infanticide/cce7dc81-3775-4ef6-bfea-74cd795fc43f/ 

Linares, A., & Telemundo, N. (2021, October 21). These people want to die. will their countries allow euthanasia? NBCNews.com. Retrieved November 28, 2022, from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/people-want-die-will-countries-allow-euthanasia-rcna3307 

CNN. (2022, May 26). Physician-Assisted Suicide Fast Facts. CNN. Retrieved November 28, 2022, from https://www.cnn.com/2014/11/26/us/physician-assisted-suicide-fast-facts/index.html 

Annadurai, K., Danasekaran, R., & Mani, G. (2014). 'Euthanasia: right to die with dignity'. Journal of family medicine and primary care, 3(4), 477–478. https://doi.org/10.4103/2249-4863.148161