Are there any circumstances in which euthanasia would be right?

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies – Morality Module Essay

Euthanasia is normally thought of as providing a gentle and easy death to someone suffering from a painful, terminal disease who has little quality of life. This can be done by assisted suicide, voluntary euthanasia or non-voluntary euthanasia. Under British law, all these methods of euthanasia are crimes and people involved in them can be set to prison. This is an area of great controversy especially as some countries, such as the Netherlands, have made euthanasia legal if it is agreed to by the patient, the patient’s relatives and at least two doctors.

Some people believe that euthanasia should be legal, as a possible choice for people who want it. They say that it is unreasonable that fit people can choose to commit suicide, but that people who are not well enough for this cannot make the same choice. It is cruel to force someone to endure long suffering, when you could do something about it – most people would have their pets put down if they were suffering from an incurable illness, so why should this same kindness not be allowed for humans? The Voluntary Euthanasia Society works to change the law to allow for people to make “advance directives”; these are statements which tell others what the patient’s wishes are, in case they reach a stage when they cannot speak for themselves but want to be allowed to die. The VES hopes that one day, the law will allow doctors to end the lives of people who have made it clear, in writing, that this is what they want.

Some Christians would support this point of view. They might agree that the main thing to consider is how you would feel if you were the person suffering. You should treat others as you would like to be treated, putting the principle of agape into practice, and euthanasia could be the most loving action.

They believe that people should be allowed to decide for themselves when they want to die. Suicide is legal, so why not euthanasia? These Christians accept that life comes from God, but there is nothing in the Bible which states that a person must be kept alive at any cost. Keeping people alive by machine is not life in the true sense. It is wrong to preserve life beyond its natural span. Euthanasia would allow people to die with dignity. The person could die with their family and friends around them in a loving atmosphere, with all their affairs in ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Other people argue that it would be very dangerous to make euthanasia legal. People might be pushed into saying that they want euthanasia, by relatives who do not to look after them any more. People who are in great pain are not always able to make sensible decisions. They might change their minds, but be unable to communicate this to doctors. Many Christians would agree with this, and add that it is wrong to take away the sacred gift of human life.

The Roman Catholic Church is totally against euthanasia and teaches that any act which deliberately brings about death is the same as murder. It holds that active euthanasia is never morally permissible. This derives from the Church’s positive view of the inherent dignity of human life, the conviction is that this dignity does not depend on a persons physical or mental state, and the general moral principle that it is never permissible to directly intend to end someone’s life. The fact that death is directly intended by the action, undertaken by either the doctor or the patient, is critical here. They key moral or ethical point is the intention – the move behind the act. The Catholic Church regards suicide as wrong because of their view on the sanctity of life. Life is created by God and so it is sacred to God. It is up to God, not humans, when people die.

“You are not your own”, St. Paul declared (I Corinthians 6:19).

“If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord” (Romans 14:8).

To commit suicide, therefore, is to put oneself on a par with God, which is condemned in the Scriptures. Catholics regard assisted suicide, voluntary euthanasia and non-voluntary suicide as wrong because they are a form of murder, as euthanasia goes against the commandment, “Do not kill”, it is indeed murder. People are taking upon themselves God’s role, which is a grave sin. It is up to God to decide when to take a person’s life, and humans should not interfere with that process. “Not striving to keep alive” causes problems for religious believers. Euthanasia devalues life by making it disposable – it could be the first step on to a slippery slope. The Catholic Church accepts that treatments which prolong life, but do not cure, do not need to be given if the patient does not want them. Drastic chemotherapy, for example, causes pain and discomfort to a cancer patient but may only give them a few more weeks of life. However, this should only be in exceptional cases, because stopping all drugs could be considered to be non-voluntary euthanasia. For Catholics, the doctrine of double effect means that terminally ill patients can be given increasing doses of painkillers, even though it will shorten their lives, but not a large enough dose to end life immediately. Many Catholics regard switching off a life-support machine as direct euthanasia. They certainly do not allow switching off a life-support machine and then allowing the patient to starve to death.

“The use of painkillers to alleviate the suffering of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed either as a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable” (Catechism of the Catholic Church (2279) )

The Catholic Church makes the point that the principal value on which euthanasia is based is that some people are “better off dead” – that some people’s lives are “not worth living”, that we ought to treat sick people in the same way as we treat sick animals. This is saying that these people are”better off dead”, whether these people think so themselves or not. Who can determine if and when someone is “better off dead”? This gives rise to an inevitable move from voluntary to involuntary euthanasia when society accepts the general principle that “some people are better off dead”. The Catholic Church is always anxious to protect humanity from a “utilitarian” view of human dignity, that is, that we are valued as human beings according to how much we can physically or mentally do, achieve or contribute.

Christians such as Catholics would argue that God may have plans for people even when it appears that their life is finished. The physicist Professor Stephen Hawking who has motor neurone disease has written the best-selling book “A Brief History of Time” since he became paralysed.

Many Catholics believe that helping the sick, disabled and old teaches compassion. It offers the chance to put Christian teaching into practice. The parable of the sheep and the goat warns that God will judge people on how they have helped those in need. Furthermore they would argue that the doctor’s diagnosis may be wrong. The chance of a cure or miracle is thus removed if euthanasia takes place. People do recover in many cases recover from illnesses and accidents against all expectations. Finally it could be argued that the doctor/patient relationship would change as doctors take the Hippocratic Oath to reserve life. The legalization of euthanasia could cause patients to wonder if the doctor is doing everything possible to cure them.

In conclusion then to answer the question “are there any circumstances in which euthanasia would be right?” depends on one’s faith. While I have clearly outlined the case for and case against euthanasia I must answer the question from a Roman Catholic’s point of view which is NO, there are no circumstances! According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church,

“Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible. Whatever its motives and means, direct voluntary euthanasia consists in putting and end to the lives of the handicapped, sick or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.

Thus an act or omission, which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his creator.”

Bibliography: