Euthanasia - autonomy Flashcards
Sanctity of life
The religious origins of this concept that human life is made in God’s image and is therefore sacred in value. Against active and passive euthanasia
Disadvantages of Sanctity of life
Strongly reject that God alone should decide the time of death for each person as this seems to imply that we belong to God and are his property and we were given free will to use it as we wish.
That life is a gift not a burden, and he asserts that sanctity of life should encompass preservation of life, but also a high quality of life. If life was given to us as a gift then we may do with it as we wish. It would not be a gift if the giver still had ownership of it.
Counter to disadvantages - SofL
It is not always easy to know what the most loving course of action will be and euthanasia does not allow for a change of mind if the decision turned out to be the wrong one.
In forbidding euthanasia, the dangers of misdiagnosis or necessarily pessimistic diagnosis are avoided. The possibility of a miraculous cure remains a possibility.
Quality of life - Singer
Singer sets out five new rational quality of life commandments to replace those of the traditional sanctity of life position. e.g. recognise that the worth of human life varies, a patient may feel that their quality of life is comprised to such an extent that they want to end their life, or they may feel their quality of life is different to what the previously had e.g. Tony Bland case. Ultimately this is an individual personal decision. (non-voluntary euthanasia)
P2 - Disadvantages of Singer
Could lead to a ‘slippery slope’ which is the view that if something is allowed in exceptional circumstances, it begins a process which becomes impossible to stop and the situation will get out of hand.
Mill counter to slippery slope
Mill - The right to live or die is our own decision, so long as no harm is done to others .
‘Over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign’
Mill Counter - P2
Pope Paul. Allowing euthanasia will encourage immoral people to put pressure on sick relatives to end their lives when this was not what they wanted. In the Netherlands where euthanasia is permitted, there is evidence to indicate that many die against their wishes, this shows that the law cannot easily protect those who are in vulnerable state.
Netherlands counter - p3
Because out of the 48,000 cases of euthanasia cases in the Netherlands, there were only two cases where it was possible the patients lives were ended against their will. Although, equally these two cases could be explained by poor documentation.
Weak sanctity of life: although human life is always valuable, however there may be some situations where it would cause more harm than good to continue with it. Need to look at the quality of life - Nan Maitland – bot terminally ill but suffered from arthritis did not to experience ‘prolonged dwindling’
