An Introduction To Euthanasia Ethics
What is euthanasia? In order to know everything about the ethics involved with this procedure we need to know the basics. We got to go back to the roots and embrace the origin in an attempt to fully be knowledgeable about a particular thing. In the case of euthanasia this same system applies. Euthanasia by definition stands for the intended killing by an omission of a particular human to sort of relieve him or her from his or her dire physical state. In case the killing is no way intentional then it is not euthanasia since it would be plain murder. There are voluntary, involuntary and non voluntary forms of euthanasia. These three types differ from each other by their characteristic features. The first stands for a situation where the person being killed has himself or she requested to do such a thing. In case of involuntary form of euthanasia the person who is killed did make a wish to be done with while in the non voluntary form of euthanasia the person in question never gave consent or expressed a wish to be ‘killed'.
Of late an issue has been raised and this particular issue has been creating a maelstrom of controversy in both the sectors of medical world and also on a humanitarian ground. The debate has been raised and this involves the usage of euthanasia. There are two schools of thoughts that consistently debate over the issue of this procedure and this debate about using euthanasia to relieve a terminally ill person has been raging for a couple of decades now.
In the year 1988 an issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association contains an article where it is described that an unknown doctor uses a fatal dosage of morphine to his patient, a woman who was dying due to a cancer in her ovary. The next year an issue of the New England Journal of Medicine ten doctors collaborated with the country's well known hospitals as well as with many medical schools and said that it wasn't immoral on part of a doctor to apply euthanasia in order to provide relief to his or her patient. A couple of years later in 1991 the same journal published a very detailed account by a certain Dr. Timothy Quill and this account vividly described his intentions to provide assistance to a patient stricken with blood cancer about to commit suicide.
In 1990 a trace of euthanasia is also found as Dr. Jack Kervorkian utilizes his suicide machine in order to help a woman who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. His patient Janet was one of the first of a total of twenty patients who were helped by Kervorkian in the last three years. This was the brief yet detailed ‘history' of this killing procedure that is said to be used in good faith and with a better intention. This is perhaps the last resort that the doctors go for since there seems to be no other way or any other option to help a particular patient.
Euthanasia is however not devoid of controversies and it has been plagued by questions.