Direct euthanasia means the involvement of a clinician as agent in inducing a patient’s death. (E.g. administering a lethal drug by injection.) Direct euthanasia is not currently legal anywhere in the US, but both direct and indirect euthanasia are legal in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Voluntary euthanasia occurs with the fully-informed request. The fear is that indirect euthanasia or voluntary direct euthanasia will lead to acceptance of the non-voluntary and involuntary types of euthanasia.
Non-voluntary euthanasia occurs without the fully-informed consent and fully-informed request. An example of this might be if a patient has decisional capacity but is not told they will be euthanized; or, if a patient is not conscious or lacks decisional-capacity and their surrogate is not told the patient will be euthanized.
Involuntary euthanasia occurs over the objection of a patient or their surrogate. An example of this might be if a patient with decisional capacity is told what will happen. The patient refuses yet the patient is euthanized anyway.
What is the difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide?
Using this distinction, if a third party performs the last act that intentionally causes a patient’s death, euthanasia has occurred. For example, giving a patient a lethal injection or putting a plastic bag over her head to suffocate her would be considered euthanasia. On the other hand, if the person who dies performs the last act, assisted suicide has taken place. It would be assisted suicide if a person swallows an overdose of drugs that has been provided by a doctor for the purpose of causing death. It would also be assisted suicide if a patient pushes a switch to trigger a fatal injection after the doctor has inserted a needle into the patient’s vein. Assisted suicide: Someone provides an individual with the information, guidance, and means to take his or her own life with the intention that they will be used for this purpose. When it is a doctor who helps another person to kill themselves it is called "physician assisted suicide."
The difference between Euthanasia, suicide and Murder is that Euthanasia is when the person has asked for help in ending their life as they cannot do it themselves. Suicide is when the person takes it upon themselves to end his or her life. Murder is to end a person’s life without consent.
Egoism is pleasure, somebody feels good about themselves. It is contrasted with altruism, which is strictly not self-interested, but includes the interests of others as well. All our choices involve self-promotion as our sole objective. Psychological egoism is the descriptive version, which people usually do what is in their self-interest. An egoist would consider him or herself to be the best at what they do. A strong version of the theory would be that we psychologically cannot ever act voluntarily against what we believe to be our own best interest.
Altruism can refer to: Being helpful to other people with little or no interest in being rewarded for their effort. “An ethical doctrine that holds an individuals moral obligation to help others, if necessary to the exclusion of one's own interest or benefit. One who holds such a doctrine is known as an altruist."
Utilitarianism
The purpose of morality is to make the world a better place. Morality is about producing good consequences, not having good intentions. We should do whatever will bring the most benefit to all of humanity. Utilitarianism offers a balanced democratic morality; it is a common sense system which can be applied to real life situations. Bentham believed that we should try to increase the overall amount of pleasure in the world. Bentham’s godson John Stuwart Mill 1806-1873
Believed that happiness, not pleasure, should be the standard of utility.
Deontology brings together some of the most significant philosophical work on ethics, and in moral philosophy. Deontological ethics is strongest in many of the areas where utilitarianism is weakest. In an ethics of duty, the ends can never justify the means. Individual human rights are acknowledged and inviolable. We need not consider the satisfaction of harmful desires in our moral deliberations.
Deontological theories in general are criticized for being too legalistic and are not providing an accurate account of human motivation.
The euthanasia debate has taken a significant turn in recent years. There are various factors that the public would legalize euthanasia. This is a genuine and important human right, every person has the given respect for their own choice of options that will secure their own life, provided that their choice does affect the genuine rights of others. The only previous attempt to legalize euthanasia was in September 1996. The law would also apply to incurable ill young children, so long as their parents agree. In exceptional circumstances a doctor could perform euthanasia even without parental consent. The suggestion is offensive to doctors who already carry out intentional medical killing without patients consent. In 1998 in the united states of America a national survey was taken place for the doctors who work in the 10 specialties in which requests for euthanasia are most likely to be received, were asked about their attitudes and practices towards assisted suicide and euthanasia, 61 per cent of the 3,102 doctors surveyed responded. Discussing the cases where a request for death had been received and complied with by a doctor it was reported that 54 per cent of the requests for a lethal injection were made by family member or partner. In other words, slightly more than half the medical killings reported by these 1,800 doctors were carried out on patients who had not requested it. On the other hand in the Netherlands euthanasia is legal. Euthanasia supporters often argue that the doctor’s intention doesn’t matter, and that it is only the outcome which is important. This would mean that if a doctor shortens a patient’s life with morphine with the intention to kill the patient he is no more guilty than the doctor who merely wished to relieve a patient’s pain. Confusing killing with the relief of pain is also a strategy used to argue for legalization of euthanasia.
