A Moment of Thought

I was just thinking through everything that I've been thinking about (redundant?) and one of the things I've stumbled upon is this thing called euthanasia.

My school once required us to host a series of debates, and one of the more contestable issues was the legality of euthanasia. This practice is basically allowing a person in great pain or suffering to die, through whatever means allowed such as administering lethal medication, withholding medication, or "pulling the plug" as the famous phrase goes. The first being active euthanasia and the other two passive methods of the same.

Now, passive euthanasia is generally viewed as acceptable around the world, of course with necessary consent from the patient. Any other methods is obviously frowned upon and such.

Active (intentional) euthanasia has already be legalised in three countries, namely the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. It is the provision of lethal drug prescriptions or an injection combination that would induce death. (article continues)

Okay, so what about euthanasia that makes it so tricky? It's the fact that lines of potential abuse may open up and weaken the whole procedure that's the issue. Where voluntary euthanasia has been legalised, it has led inevitably to involuntary euthanasia, regardless of the intentions of the legislators.

There's also the matter of the inefficiency of euthanasia methods - 23% of self-conducted euthanasia with the physician-prescribed drugs failed. The details of these are slightly technical are pretty scary, you can read them here.

It also provides a somewhat legal means of allowing doctors to send their patients to death early based on what they advise. There's nothing worse than this, putting such a responsibility on to the shoulders of people in an already nerve-grinding profession. Isn't their job to take care of the patient's health primarily, and not their feelings?

Let's look at it this way.

A patient on his deathbed would obviously not be in a perfectly clear state of mind. He may not appreciate the time people spend around him as much as he should, the love that people still have for him. His mind is likely set on the belief that he is a burden to everyone around him - a doctor who may prefer a quick case might stoke these emotions to an already emotionally-torn person. Relatives might even give passive pressure by accident, and all these factors must be taken in to account.

Or even better, don't take them in to account. How about just keeping it safe and keep this decision away from the people. This is, after all, one of the hottest issues on the bioethics scene. Let's put it to rest.

ps. The writer's views are obviously one-sided, and may be due to a religious upbringing that teaches the value of life. An article on the opposing view can be examined here.