Exploring euthanasia through an ethical case study

Euthanasia is the core ethical issue in the case involving David Mathers’ killing of his partner of twenty-two years. The case highlights the issues surrounding the sanctity of life, which is explored in both bioethics and the act non-consequentialist’s attitude toward decision-making and the external factors contributing to the final ‘ethical’ decision. David Mathers is said to have killed his partner who was chronically ill as an act of compassion and selfless love but the law dictates that taking another human’s life is wrong and a crime indictable by the courts (Brazier 1996). Similarly, the value of life principle also affirms the sanctity of life and highlights the moral obligation to uphold this principle (Thiroux & Krasemann 2009). Ms Griffith, Mr Mathers’ deceased partner suffered from a degenerative spine condition and according to Mathers’ statement, Ms Griffith did not want to live in a nursing home and was inclined to death before repeating the trauma she had witnessed with her mother. This personal information suggests a relationship intimate enough where Ms Griffith was comfortable sharing this fear with her partner. This statement is also an open suggestion to the listener, being Mr Mathers. The implication of such a statement combined with the witness of Mr Mathers to his partner’s slow and painful demise can indeed confirm his testimony and rationale behind his choice to suffocate her after her failed suicide attempt. However, under the law, this action is still termed as murder, the intent to end a life.
Euthanasia is the controversial subject where the reasoning behind the deliberate ending of a life is compassion rather than any selfish motive or agenda (Thiroux & Krasemann 2009 ch 14). Autonomy is the conflicted concept where the rights of a patient or an individual to their own body and treatment are disputed in favour of the doctor’s superior knowledge and the duty of the Hippocratic Oath. This patient-doctor attitude is termed