The catholics beleive that euthanasia is almost always wrong except
when you are removing unnatural means of keeping the person alive for
example, artificial life support. They also accept drugs that releive pain
but as a side effect shorten the life of the person e.g morphine,
although this does not inclide overdoses
Methodist
They used to argue that if the sufferer feels all the
dignity and beauty has gone in life then to be
euathanised would be acceptable. But now they argue
against the legaistaion of euthanasia as they feel it puts
an unnecessary pressure on doctors.
Church of england
All forms of euthanasia are unacceptable
and they argue more money should be
being drafted into hospice care to
improve the last days of sufferers
Buddhist
Most Buddhists are against
in-voluntary euthanasia. Their views
on vouluntary is less clear but they
believe that through meditation and
pain releif drugs, a person can find a
better state of mind where they are
not in pain mentally
Definitions
Euthanasia: Meaning good
Death, it is a means of killing
somone in a painless way
Passive: Euthanising the
person by taking something
away they depend on, e.g life
support
Active: Euthanising
someone by giving them
something that will kill
them, e.g a poison
Voluntary: When the person being
euthanised has expressed their wish
to be killed
Non Voluntary: When the person being
Euthanised has made no request or
given any consent to be killed
Arguments for and against
Against
All life is sacred and the sanctity of life
should not be disturbed or shortend
Accepting euthanasia suggests an acception
of the concept of a heirarchy of how
meaningful you are in life making ill or
disabled people worth less than normal
people
May not be in a person's best interests
and they may be going through a short
state of depression
There are cases where people
have survived terminal illness
Euthanasia opens a huge gap in
the law where you have to draw a
line between murder and
euthanasia
Euthanasia gives
doctors too much power
For
We should have
the ability to
control our lives
We have a right to self
determination
Once a person feels they do not see
the dignity or beauty in life anymore
what is there to live for that makes it
worth it
Some illnesses such as
cancer cause imense pain
that can sometimes not be
suppressed by medications
Terminal illnesses can lead to
depression due to the fact you
rely on others for survival
If a person feels they are
in too much mental or
physical pain to carry on
living, who are we to stop
them?
If a person feels their condition will
not improve and this can be
confirmed by a doctor then why
should we keep them alive only to
let them suffer
Side questions
how and who should decide who
we let die and who we keep alive
How do we compare physical
disability and mental disability or a
terminal illness
Who should we be to decide if the
law is passed if we have never felt
the need or want to be euthanised
What restrictions would
be have to put on a
legalised euthanasia?
when does a physical barrier
become harder or worse than a
mental barrier and vise versa
How do we class different disabilities
as more important eg Cancer vs a
natural born disability