EUTHANASIA

Vocabulary:

Euthanasia is the practice of mercifully ending a person’s life in order to release the person from
an incurable disease, intolerable suffering or undignified death.
It is the deliberate ending of a person’s life, but for compassionate reasons. It is referred to as
“mercy killing” by some.

Assisted Suicide - When the patient voluntarily brings about his or her own death with the
assistance of a physician.

Hospice: A place where the terminally ill are treated until they die.

Types of Euthanasia

Voluntary Euthanasia: This is when a person who is suffering makes it clear that he/she wants
to die and asks that this be brought about.

Involuntary Euthanasia: This is when a patient does not give their consent – permission to die.
E.g. if a person is in a coma or infants.

Active euthanasia: This is when the person suffering asks someone to help him/her die or
refuses medical treatment necessary to keep them alive.

Passive Euthanasia: This when the person suffering is no longer in a condition to make a
decision and a relative or doctor makes the decision for them.

Arguments for and against Euthanasia

FOR:
● It can quickly and humanely end a person’s suffering
● It can help shorten the grief and suffering of the patient’s love ones
● Everyone has the right to decide when and how they should die
● It could help others to face death if they know they can die with dignity

AGAINST:
● There are many drugs that control pain and can help people die with dignity
● Many people recover after being written off by doctors.
● Life is a gift from God and only God can take it away
● Euthanasia devalues life by making it disposable
● Thou shall not Kill (Ex 20)
● God is faithful and he would not put more on you than you can bear (1st Cor 10: 1)
Christian attitudes towards euthanasia

Christianity teaches that all life comes from God:

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of
the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures
that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful
and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of
the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." - Genesis 1:26-28

It also teaches that life is sacred:

Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit -1 Corinthians 6:19

For this reason, it would be wrong and against Christian teaching to commit suicide or to take the
life of another person. The Sixth Commandment is:
You shall not murder. - Exodus 20:13

It is clear from the Bible that human beings are not to choose when they die:
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and
a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted. Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

The Roman Catholic Church is opposed to euthanasia because it is seen as murder. In

Evangelium Vitae, the Pope said that to cause death in this way was 'a grave violation of the law
of God'.
However, if large doses of painkillers are used to help ease a person's suffering, and as a result of
these the person ultimately dies, this is understood as double effect and is permitted. In the same
way the Roman Catholic Church does not believe that doctors should use any extraordinary
treatment to keep people alive.

The Church of England holds a similar view, saying in 1992 that although the deliberate taking
of a human life is forbidden, there are very strong arguments that people should not be kept alive
at all costs when they are suffering intolerable pain.
Christian Churches encourage the support of hospices. These are special places where terminally
ill people are cared for and allowed to die in comfort and dignity without employing euthanasia.