The Power of Euthanasia

By: Christy Flaherty

What is euthanasia?• The painless killing of a patient suffering from

an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma

• Voluntary Euthanasia • Involuntary Euthanasia • Passive Euthanasia• Active Euthanasia

Where is Euthanasia legal?

Controversy of euthanasia

Who has the power to end a life?

Karen Ann Quinlan Case • 21 year old who lost consciousness and

stopped breathing after attending a party• Was in critical care, went into a coma, the

machines were the sole reason for her survival

• After many months her conditioned only worsened

• Should her family have the right to end her suffering by taking her off the ventilator?

Karen Ann Quinlan

Tony Nicklinson• 58 year old man who lived in Great Britain• Was battling Locked-In Syndrome• Challenged the court to give him the right to

assisted suicide• Rejected his proposal• Died of natural causes

Video of his death• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

yiZL8FI_WHI

Right to die• Death is an instinctive human right• Human rights claim that we have the right to

a dignified life, so why would we not have the right to a dignified death?

• Should the government or patient have control over the patient’s death?

Campaigns around the world

Medical aid• In other parts of the world medication is

scarce• The medicine the patient would have used,

can go to another individual and save that person’s life

• The person that wants to die, can know that they died to save another life

Religious Controversy• Only God has the right to take away a life• Euthanasia is “unethical”• However, is leaving someone to live a

torturous life ethical?• Atheism

Euthanasia is not murder

• Webster’s definition of murder: To kill or slaughter inhumanly or barbarously

• Euthanasia will result in fatality but not under those circumstances

• End suffering, does not cause it

Right to choose• Only the person terminally ill can experience

the pain• It does not harm the rest of society• Best interest for the patient• Right to chose death

Euthanasia

Bibliography

• "The Ethics of Euthanasia | Australian Medical Student Journal." Australian Medical Student Journal RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. <http:www.amsj.org/archives/2066>.

• "Euthanasia." - Assisted Suicide/. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. <http://www.wrtl.org/assistedsuicide/euthanasia/>.

• Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/182951.php>.

• Schneider, Keith. "Dr. Jack Kevorkian Dies at 83; A Doctor Who Helped End Lives." New York Times, 3 June 2011. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/us/04kevorkian.html?>.

• IBTimes UK. “Locked-in syndrome victim Tony Nicklinson dies at home.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 22 August 2012. Web. 18 November 2013.

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