What is Euthanasia?

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Akinwale Adejumo Candidate Number: 1004

Euthanasia Coursework

Paper 2 Christian Perspectives OCR 1930 Syllabus A

(Ai) What is Euthanasia?

The term traditionally has been used to refer to the hastening of a suffering person's death or "mercy killing" as some like to call it, it is also known as an “easy death”. In simpler terms it is the putting to death, by painless method, of a terminally ill or severely debilitated person through the omission by withholding a life-saving medical procedure, also known as passive euthanasia or commission of an act other known as active euthanasia.

There are 3 kinds of euthanasia, voluntary, suicide and compulsory. Compulsory euthanasia is when the doctors or the relatives decide to make the decision for the patient. The patient may be in a coma at this time, which is why they ask the relatives or doctors to choose. One of the most recent cases of compulsory euthanasia is Tony Bland (one of the Hillsborough Stadium victims) he had suffered a great amount of brain damage after being crushed, although he could survive without a life support machine his parents couldn’t bear to see him in the permanent vegetative state and requested the medical staff to stop giving him food and water.

Voluntary euthanasia this is done as a last resort by the person who is suffering from a disease that is incurable, or in a condition that has left them in extreme pain and has caused them to feel as if they have lost their dignity to live. This type of euthanasia is done by either given the patient a drug overdose or by suffocation.

The final type of euthanasia is suicide. This is usually a cry for help, and even though a large number do not succeed in ending their lives, by either jumping off a building or drug ...

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The final type of euthanasia is suicide. This is usually a cry for help, and even though a large number do not succeed in ending their lives, by either jumping off a building or drug over dose, it is still objected by the public and Roman Catholic Church. If they do not succeed the receive help for their problems.

Easy death is when terminal ill patients are in so much pain that their only option is to take the easy way out. This easy way out is to be killed by either taking a lethal drug or cutting of their life supply. This “easy” death may be easy for them but it is not easy for both the patient’s family and friends or the doctor. In this period they family would grieve and be in great difficulty coming to terms with the death.

Christians on Euthanasia

The fifth commandment is “Thou shalt not kill” this applies to any kind of killing even if the person is in extreme pain. Christian believe that people should die naturally when God thinks it is time for the person to go then he will take them. But euthanasia defies this belief and breaks it in every possible way. They say that killing someone because they have a terminal illness is just as bad as murder. It is just as bad as murder because when the person decides they want to be killed they may be in a drugged state where they are not in a state of mind to make hard decisions.

The Roman Catholic Church are anti- euthanasia, they are the ones that believe that life is sacred and was given to us as a gift from God. They base most of their teachings on the Bible however not all Christians oppose euthanasia. The Voluntary Euthanasia Society are pro-euthanasia, they believe that every human being has the right to decide when he or she should die without the help of others.

In conclusion, I am against euthanasia because it states in the commandment that you should not kill for any reason and if God has not decided to take this person from the earth then mankind should not decide for God on the other hand if the person is in a suitable state of mind and is able to make well thought out decisions like this and the family agrees then it could be permissible to take this person away if this is what the family feels is best, but even this is still murder. Overall I feel that they should let the person live on because they may find a cure for the illness unless it is absolutely necessary to end their life, and even if there is no possible cure for that illness the person should still live life as full and as well as they can.