Euthanasia/ Mercy

Killing
Irakli Tortladze
 • It is the act or practice of ending the life of a person
either by lethal injection or the suspension of medical
treatment
• Because of this, many view euthanasia as simply
bringing relief by alleviating pain and suffering. The
word has also been applied to situations when a
decision is made to refrain from exercising "heroic"
measures in an end-of-life situation.

What is Euthanasia?
• Active euthanasia
• Passive euthanasia
• Voluntary euthanasia
• Involuntary euthanasia
• Indirect euthanasia
• Assisted suicide

Types Of Euthanasia?
To end a person's life by use of drugs, whether by oneself or
with the aid of a physician.
• Active euthanasia is when death is brought about by an act -
for example when a person is killed by being given an
overdose of pain-killers.

Active Euthanasia
Passive Euthanasia
Passive euthanasia is when death
is brought about by an omission -
i.e. when someone lets the person
die. This can be by withdrawing
or withholding treatment
• Withdrawing treatment: for
example, switching off a
machine that is keeping a
person alive, so that they die of
their disease.
• Withholding treatment: for
example, not carrying out
surgery that will extend life for
a short time.
Voluntary euthanasia is committed with the willing and
autonomous cooperation of the subject. This means that the
subject is free from direct or indirect pressure from others.

Voluntary Euthanasia
 Involuntary euthanasia
Non-voluntary euthanasia occurs when the
person is unconscious or otherwise unable
to make a meaningful choice between living
and dying, and an appropriate person takes
the decision on their behalf.

• Involuntary euthanasia occurs when the

person who dies chooses life and is killed
anyway. This is usually called murder,
but it is possible to imagine cases where
the killing would count as being for the
benefit of the person who dies.
• This means providing treatment (usually to reduce
pain) that has the side effect of speeding the patient's
death.

• Since the primary intention is not to kill, this is seen

by some people (but not all) as morally acceptable.

• A justification along these lines is formally called the

doctrine of double effect.

Indirect euthanasia
This usually refers to cases where the person who is
going to die needs help to kill themselves and asks for
it. It may be something as simple as getting drugs for
the person and putting those drugs within their
reach.

Physician Assisted
Suicide
• The term Euthanasia originated from the Greek word for "good
death.“
• In classical Athens, city magistrates kept a supply of poison for
anyone who wished to die
• Euthanasia is legal in three countries worldwide: Belgium,
Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
• Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are legal and widely
practiced in the Netherlands where: About 9% of all deaths were a
result of physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia in 1990.

• A 2003 study appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine

found that 11 percent of physicians surveyed (1,902 total) would,
under certain circumstances, be willing to hasten a patient's death
by prescribing medication, and that 7 percent would administer a
lethal injection, despite both acts being illegal at the time of the
survey.

Facts About Euthanasia

Drugs Used
Drugs Used- Potassium Chloride
• Everyone has a right to decide when
their life should end.
• If the quality of life has become so bad, a
person may feel too much physical or
emotional pain.
• Today’s hospitals are overcrowded and
have too many patients. Some argue that
they should let those die that do not have
a chance of living on. In that way there
could be more room for patients with
diseases that can be cured.

Pro’s of Euthanasia
• Doctors have a problem with euthanasia because they
have sworn an oath that does not allow them to take part
in the killing of people.
• Sometimes it is not clear if an ill person really wants to
die. Euthanasia should only take place if someone really
wants it or if they understand how ill they are.

Reason’s against
Euthanasia
Many religions think that euthanasia is immoral. Some
religions regard it as a type of murder.

• The official Roman Catholic Church is against euthanasia

and says it is a crime. Protestants, on the other side, take a
more liberal view.
• Hindus think that, even though helping a person end a
painful life may be good, it interferes with the cycle of death
and rebirth.
• In Islam all forms of euthanasia are forbidden.
• In Japan more than half of all Shintoists think that you
should be allowed to help a person die if they ask for it.

Euthanasia and Religion

 WHO? Aruna Shanbaug
INCIDENT? Aruna Shaunbsug was a nurse
working at the KEM Hospital in Mumbai on 27
November 1973 when she was strangled and
sodomized by Sohanlal Walmiki, a sweeper.
During the attack she was strangled with a
chain, and the deprivation of oxygen.
AFTER AFFECT? The lack of oxygen put her
in a vegetative state. She has been treated at
KEM since the incident and is kept alive by
feeding tube.

Aruna Shanbaug Case

 Aruna Shanbaug Case
THE COURT CASE: On behalf of Aruna, her friend
Pinki Virani, a social activist, filed a petition in the
Supreme Court arguing that the "continued existence
of Aruna is in violation of her right to live in dignity".
The Supreme Court made its decision on 7 March 2011.
[5] The court rejected the plea to discontinue Aruna's
life support but issued a set of broad guidelines
legalising passive euthanasia in India. The Supreme
Court's decision to reject the discontinuation of
Aruna's life support was based on the fact the hospital
staff who treat and take care of her did not support
euthanizing her.
Jacob "Jack"
Kevorkian
commonly known as "Dr. Death", was an American pathologist, euthanasia
activist, painter, author, composer and instrumentalist. He is best known for
publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via physician-assisted
suicide; he claimed to have assisted at least 130 patients to that end. He
famously said, "dying is not a crime".[3]
• In 1999, Kevorkian was arrested and tried for his direct role in a case of
voluntary euthanasia. He was convicted of second-degree murder and
served eight years of a 10-to-25-year prison sentence. He was released on
parole on June 1, 2007, on condition he would not offer suicide advice to
any other person.[4]
• He quoted - My aim in helping the patient was not to cause death. My aim
was to end suffering. It's got to be decriminalized.
 Kevorkian
Jacob "Jack"
One particular case that brought the
doctor into the limelight was the
videotaped death of Thomas W. Hyde
Jr., a 30-year-old Michigan resident with
a wife and baby daughter. Mr. Hyde
struggled daily with Lou Gehrig’s
disease, a.k.a. amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis, which is a degenerative
neurological disorder. By the time he
sought the assistance of Dr. Kevorkian,
Hyde was paralyzed and could no longer
swallow by his own facility. Suctioning
was needed to keep him from choking to
death on his own saliva
• The doctor rigged an elaborate system to assist Hyde
in ending his life. A tube, with one end connected to a
tank of carbon monoxide and the other to a respirator
mask that cover his nose and mouth, was fitted with a
paperclip that cut the flow of gas. The end of a string
was attached to the paperclip and the other end was
given to Hyde. With a simple jerk of his hand, the clip
flung loose, releasing the lethal gas that penetrated his
lungs. He was dead within twenty minutes.

Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian

• Although the case was brought to trial, a jury found
Kevorkian not guilty. The decision to exonerate the
doctor seemed to reside on the grounds that his
actions were motivated by compassion and that he
additionally acted according to local law that
provided for a patient’s pain relief

Jacob "Jack"
Kevorkian
• Deaf twins who discovered they were going blind and
would never see each other again are euthanized in
Belgian hospital
• Identical twin brothers euthanised by doctors in unique
Belgium case
• Twins, who were born deaf, made decision after
learning they would go blind
• The brothers, who spent their lives together, were
unable to bear the thought of never seeing each other
again

The Belgium Twin Case

• The brothers, who spent their lives together, were
unable to bear the thought of never seeing each other
again In Belgium, some 1,133 cases of euthanasia -
mostly for terminal cancer - were recorded in 2011,
about one per cent of all deaths in the country,
according to official figures.
• But this case was unusual as neither twin was
suffering extreme physical pain or was terminally ill.

The Belgium
Twin Case
• The two brothers, who have not been named but were pictured on
Belgian television, both worked as cobblers and shared a flat together,
The Telegraph has reported.
• David Dufour, the doctor who presided over the euthanasia, told RTL
television news the twins had taken the decision in 'full conscience'.
• He said they were 'very happy' and it had was a 'relief' to see the end of
their suffering.
• 'They had a cup of coffee in the hall, it went well and a rich
conversation,' Mr Dufour said.
• 'Then the separation from their parents and brother was very serene
and beautiful.
• 'At the last there was a little wave of their hands and then they were
Belgium was the second country in the world after the Netherlands to
legalise euthanasia in 2002 but it currently applies only to people over
the age of 18.

The Belgium Twin Case

• Other jurisdictions where it is permitted include
Luxembourg and the U.S. state of Oregon.
• Just days after the twins were killed Belgium's ruling
Socialists tabled a legal amendment which would allow the
euthanasia of children and Alzheimer's sufferers.
• The draft legislation calls for 'the law to be extended to
minors if they are capable of discernment or affected by an
incurable illness or suffering that we cannot alleviate.'
• The proposed changes are likely to be approved by other
parties, although no date has yet been put forward for a
parliamentary debate.gone.'

The Belgium
Twin Case
Thank You