Intergumentary System May. 2014 | Page 15

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EUTHANASIA

What is it?

Euthanasia is the process of ending the life of a person either by injection (lethal) or when you suspend the medical treatment. Many times this is seen as a way to relief a person from suffering and pain.

Euthanasia, also called mercy killing, act or practice of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from painful and incurable disease or incapacitating physical disorder or allowing them to die by withholding treatment or withdrawing artificial life-support measures. Because there is no specific provision for it in most legal systems, it is usually regarded as either suicide (if performed by the patient himself) or murder (if performed by another). A physician may, however, lawfully decide not to prolong life in cases of extreme suffering, and he may administer drugs to relieve pain even if this shortens the patient’s life. In the late 20th century, several European countries had special provisions in their criminal codes for lenient sentencing and the consideration of extenuating circumstances in prosecutions for euthanasia.

Is the act or practice of killing hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy; also the act or practice of allowing a hopelessly sick or injured patient to die by taking less than complete medical measures to prolong life, called mercy killing.

Different types of Euthanasia:

Voluntary Euthanasia - when the person asks for their life to be ended

Involuntary Euthanasia - end a life without the person's consent or authority

Active Euthanasia - end a life due to drugs, either done by themselves or with medical aid

Passive Euthanasia - end the life of a person by them not having the necessary needs of an everyday life (food, water, medical attention, etc.)

Physician-Assisted Suicide - suicide made possible with the help of a medical doctor and by them giving the patient an overdose of prescription

Assisted Suicide - when a person helps with the suicide

Religions opinions about Euthanasia

●Buddhists are not unanimous in their view of euthanasia, and the teachings of the Buddha does not explicitly deal with it. Most Buddhists (like almost everyone else) are against involuntary euthanasia. Their position on voluntary euthanasia is less clear.

●Christians are mostly against euthanasia. The arguments are usually based on the beliefs that life is given by God, and that human beings are made in God's image. Some churches also emphasize the importance of not interfering with the natural process of death.

●Muslims are against euthanasia. They believe that all human life is sacred because it is given by Allah, and that Allah chooses how long each person will live. Human beings should not interfere in this.