3. What is Euthanasia?
• 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.
5. Active 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.
6. PassiveEuthanasia
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.
7. Voluntary Euthanasia
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.
8. Involuntaryeuthanasia
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.
9. Indirect euthanasia
• 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.
10. Physician Assisted
Suicide
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.
11. Facts About Euthanasia
• 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.
14. Pro’s of Euthanasia
• 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.
15. Reason’s against
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.
16.
17. Euthanasia and Religion
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.
18. Aruna Shanbaug Case
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.
19.
20. ArunaShanbaugCase
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.
21.
22. 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.
23. Jacob"Jack"
Kevorkian
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
24. Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian
• 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.
25. 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
26. The Belgium Twin Case
• 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
27. 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.
28. 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.
29. 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.'
