To what extent would a follower of Natural Law allow euthanasia?

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To what extent would a follower of Natural Law allow euthanasia?

A follower of Natural Law, who took each aspect completely literally, would never allow euthanasia. This is because the five Primary Precepts clearly contradict this action. The Primary Precept that euthanasia undoubtedly defies is ‘the preservation of human life’. As the Primary Precepts are what Aquinas deems to be our purpose on earth, euthanasia goes against these guidelines because it is assisting someone to end their life so that they are no longer living. Although this is the only Primary Precept that euthanasia openly contradicts, in actuality, euthanasia goes against all the Primary Precepts of ‘reproduction’, ‘the nurture and education of the young’, ‘living peacefully in society’ and ‘to worship God’ because if you are dead, then you cannot do these things. The Primary Precepts are all deontological and therefore have no room for leeway. In contrast, the Secondary Precepts are teleological and can change on special and rare occasions as Aquinas himself showed when he went against the Primary Precept of ‘reproduction’ because he was a monk. Although the Primary Precept of ‘the preservation of human life’ would lead to the Secondary Precept of ‘no euthanasia’, these Secondary Precepts are dependent on our own judgements of what actually to do in a given situation and are open to our own reasoning. According to the Secondary Precepts, euthanasia may not always be wrong and may, in special and rare occasions, be acceptable.

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In relation to the Doctrine of Double Effect, a literal follower of Natural Law would not allow euthanasia. This is because the Doctrine does not allow a bad act even if it results in a good consequence. People may argue that to assist someone in killing themselves is a bad act that results in the good consequence of that person being relieved of their pain and this would therefore be wrong according to the Doctrine. However, if we accept that death can sometimes be a by-product of another action, then euthanasia may be acceptable even when applying the Doctrine ...

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