Euthanasia Ethical Dilemma

I. INTRODUCTION: Euthanasia is a social issue in today’s world because not only does it affect the lives of those who are terminally ill and/or comatose, and the physicians who have been entrusted with their care, but it also affects the patient’s ability to have control over their own life, whether they are aware of this decision or not, which is one of the reasons why euthanasia has become such a controversial issue around the globe. Caddell and Newton (1995) define euthanasia as “any treatment initiated by a physician with the intent of hastening the death of another human being who is terminally ill and in severe pain or distress with the motive of relieving that person from great suffering” (p. 1,672). Even though the concept of great
1,672). A huge theme that society has seen in regards to euthanasia is the physician’s role. Physicians have been seen as murderers for assisting the death of their patients and they have been referred to as mercy-killers. However, many people tend to disregard the fact that even the physician, who is usually the one being blamed, can actually be the victim as well. According to the American Medical Association’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, it was stated that “although life-prolonging medical treatment may be withheld, the physician should not intentionally cause death” (as cited in Dickinson, Clark, Winslow & Marples, 2005, p. 44). In a study mentioned by Dickinson et al. (2005) it was found that when physicians were asked about whether or not active voluntary euthanasia (AVE) should be legalized, the percentage of those who were in favor of was between 35% and 71% (p.
Religion was also a contributing factor regarding attitudes toward euthanasia in India as well. Abbas, Abbas, and Macaden (2008) conducted a study in which they sent out questionnaires to 100 doctors. Out of these 100 doctors, 60 responded: 23 of them were Christian, 26 were believers of Hinduism, and 10 were Muslim. When it came to their responses, it was demonstrated that “four Christian, 16 Hindu, eight male and female doctors, supported the concept of euthanasia” (p. 72). Based off of the research and studies that have been conducted, it appears that religion really does play a role in how euthanasia is perceived and that based on other research, it was suggest that many individuals “in different countries and regions have different religious or cultural backgrounds influencing their moral views” (Hagelin, Nilstun, Hau & Carlsson, 2004, p.