Project Essay
WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS TO THE LEGALISATION OF EUTHANASIA IN THE
UK?
By REDACTED
Title page
Essay Word Count:
5499
Total Word Count:
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, Project Essay
Table of Contents
Title page..........................................................................................................................................1
Contents...........................................................................................................................................2
Introduction.....................................................................................................................................3
What are the barriers restricting the legalisation of euthanasia?....................................................4
Sanctity of life....................................................................................................................................4
Slippery slope argument....................................................................................................................5
Undermines the doctor-patient relationship.....................................................................................6
What benefits are presented by legalising euthanasia?....................................................................7
Right to die........................................................................................................................................7
Frees up medical resources...............................................................................................................9
Euthanasia is already a part of our palliative care system...............................................................10
How will euthanasia affect our palliative care system?...................................................................11
Effect of euthanasia on palliative care.............................................................................................11
Euthanasia with safeguards.............................................................................................................11
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................12
What are the public and professional opinions on euthanasia?......................................................13
Public Opinion..................................................................................................................................13
Professional opinion........................................................................................................................14
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................14
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................15
Glossary of terms............................................................................................................................16
Appendix........................................................................................................................................18
Bibliography...................................................................................................................................19
Wider reading.................................................................................................................................22
Contents
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, Project Essay
Introduction
The world we live in is one thriving with diseases and illnesses. There comes a time when an
individual may contract an illness that inflicts great deals of pain on them; it can get to a point where
such pains get unbearable. When they have no will of putting up with this pain, they resort to a
drastic solution: euthanasia. Euthanasia allows one a ‘good’ death, as opposed to a slow, painful and
undignified one.1 This can be seen in practice where a doctor administers a lethal dose of a drug to a
terminally ill patient who may not otherwise need it, doing so with the intent of ending the patient’s
life to relieve suffering, as seen in the Dr Cox and Lilian case. 2 Lilian suffered from arthritis among
other health issues, all giving her significant pain. She asked her consultant to end her life, and so he
did by injecting a lethal dose of potassium chloride. 3 This is illegal in the UK and is one of many cases
of illegal euthanasia – In England alone, 171 cases were referred to the Crown Court since 2009, with
only 3 cases being prosecuted. 4
In this essay, I’ll be exploring the question of “What are the barriers to the legalisation of euthanasia
in the UK?” To do so, we must consider the various types of euthanasia, them being: active
euthanasia; passive euthanasia; and physician-assisted suicide.5 In the UK, active euthanasia and
physician-assisted suicide are illegal, rendered so by the Suicide Act 1961 and those guilty charged
with murder or manslaughter.6 However, passive euthanasia is not illegal, and is in fact deemed
good clinical practice (when done so in accordance with a patients best interest e.g. to provide
comfort from invasive treatments).7
The idea of legalising euthanasia has been one of controversy for centuries, debated to a
parliamentary level over a dozen times. 8 I am going to consider the more significant religious,
practical, medical and ethical arguments surrounding euthanasia, in order to decide whether
euthanasia should be legalised in the UK, providing a clear-cut answer to the debate.
1
Wikipedia Contributors (2018). Euthanasia. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia.
2
NHS (2019). Euthanasia and assisted suicide. [online] NHS. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/euthanasia-and-
assisted-suicide/.
3
Ferguson, P.R. (1997). Causing death or allowing to die? Developments in the law. Journal of Medical Ethics, [online]
23(6), pp.368–372. Available at: https://jme.bmj.com/content/medethics/23/6/368.full.pdf.
4
Cps.gov.uk. (2019). Assisted Suicide | The Crown Prosecution Service. [online] Available at:
https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/assisted-suicide.
5
BBC Bitesize. (2019). Euthanasia - Revision 2 - GCSE Religious Studies - BBC Bitesize. [online] Available at:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z3fbwmn/revision/2.
6
Unknown (n.d.). . What is the law on physician-assisted dying in the UK? [online] Available at:
https://www.bma.org.uk/media/4400/bma-pad-map-and-uk-legislative-proposals-aug-2021.pdf.
7
Abdaal, A. (2018). Euthanasia - Medical Ethics and Law at the end of life. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dIU1YhZX94&ab_channel=AliAbdaal
8
Anon (2019). Assisted dying: Terminally ill man loses High Court case. BBC News. [online] 19 Nov. Available at:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-50470965.
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, Project Essay
What are the barriers restricting the legalisation
of euthanasia?
Sanctity of life
When considering the barriers to legalising euthanasia, we must consider the argument that
euthanasia is not only against the sanctity of life but devalues human life. The sanctity of life is the
idea that human life is sacred and a gift from God, which should be respected and protected. It’s
universally understood that human life should be valued equally, irrespective of factors such as age,
social status, race or religion. As philosopher Immanuel Kant said, “act in such a way that you always
treat humanity […] never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end”. 9 This formula
of the end in itself states that us merely being human beings holds our lives to enough a value that
we should not legalise euthanasia, whatever the reason we may wish to. Human life is said to have
‘an intrinsic dignity, sanctity and inviolability’, both from a non-religious and Abrahamic religion
view.10 Abrahamic religions also value the idea that life is God-given, and only God has the right to
take it, so the sanctity of life is imperative. The sanctity of life is important as not holding it to such
importance would lead to the devaluing of human life. Euthanasia is said to arouse the concept that
a life of sickness and disability is a life not worth living, therefore failing to appreciate the lives of the
sick and disabled, who are compelled into thinking they are inferior in society. 11 Research showed
that a staggering 41% of 2000 participants in a survey about attitudes to the disabled felt unvalued in
society, with 66% claiming to have faced prejudice. 12 By legalising euthanasia, we would in turn
devalue human life as not all life is viewed or treated equally.
Some argue that legalising euthanasia doesn’t devalue human life as the decision to being
euthanised solely lies with the patient, and with the right legislation to moderate euthanasia, we
could ensure the patient gives consent after an informative discussion that isn’t the result of
coercion. The process of euthanasia could be legalised strictly to be accessible to dying patients,
meaning most disabilities wouldn’t even come under this category. 13 With such legislation, we would
dismiss the argument that human life is devalued as only those who will inevitably face death can
access it. It’s argued that euthanasia could bring about the inevitable to provide a patient with a
death that is dignified and ‘good’, compared to what they may face should they not be euthanised.
Both religious and non-religious euthanasia lobbyists support the idea that the sanctity of life
restricts intentional killing, but neither believe that it’s fixed. One source read, “the principle of
sanctity [..] does not require that life must be preserved at all costs […] for example aggressive
chemotherapy in advanced metastatic cancer”. 14 Attempting to treat an incurable illness of a patient
so as just to keep them alive is not supported by either side of the euthanasia debate, so removing
patients from invasive treatments such as a ventilator is not disallowed and is morally aligned with
9
Coffey, M. and Brown, D. (2015). Ethics for OCR Religious Studies: the complete resource for AS and A2. Cambridge: Polity,
p.65.
10
Raabe, H.-C. et al. (2005). Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: A Joint Statement by Doctors and Lawyers. [online] Care Not
Killing - carenotkilling.org.uk. Available at: https://www.carenotkilling.org.uk/statements/euthanasia-and-assisted-suicide-
a-joint-statement-by-doctors-and-lawye/
11
Disability Horizons. (2015). The truth about being disabled… or how it feels to be an outsider. [online] Available at:
https://disabilityhorizons.com/2015/09/the-truth-about-being-disabled-or-how-it-feels-to-be-an-outsider/.
12
Verma, R. (2018). 49% of Disabled People Feel Excluded From Society. [online] EachOther. Available at:
https://eachother.org.uk/49-of-disabled-people-feel-excluded-from-society/.
13
Lewis, P. (2021). Assisted Dying Bill [HL]. lordslibrary.parliament.uk. [online] Available at:
https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/assisted-dying-bill-hl/.
14
Raabe, H.-C. et al. (2005). Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: A Joint Statement by Doctors and Lawyers. [online] Care Not
Killing - carenotkilling.org.uk. Available at: https://www.carenotkilling.org.uk/statements/euthanasia-and-assisted-suicide-
a-joint-statement-by-doctors-and-lawye/
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