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Euthanasia summary for A-level Ethics
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EuthanasiaNon treatment The decision medical professionals make to withhold or withdraw medical treatment
decision or life support because they are not going to get better, or because the person asks
them to. This is sometimes called passive euthanasia.
Active A deliberate action performed by a third party to kill a person; this is illegal in the UK.
euthanasia
Sanctity of life The idea that life is intrinsically sacred or has such worth that is not considered within
the power of a human being.
Quality of life A way of weighing the extrinsic experience of life, that affects or justifies whether or
not it is worth continuing life.
Personhood The quality of human life that makes it worthy – usually linked with higher capacities.
Autonomy and The idea that human freedom should extend to decide the time and manner of death.
the right to die
Voluntary This applies when a person’s life is ended painlessly by a third party at their own
euthanasia request.
Non-voluntary This applies when a person is unable to express their wish to die but there are
euthanasia reasonable grounds for ending their life painlessly.
Dignity The worth, or quality of life, which can be linked to sanctity or freedom.
Palliative care End-of-life care to make a person’s remaining moments of life comfortable.
Involuntary Where a person is killed against their wishes.
euthanasia
If a person wishes to end their life because they feel that it is not worth it, should they be permitted or
stopped? Should they be helped? If they are helped, is there a difference between helping them into a
position whether they can carry out the final act themselves and actually doing it for them?
Doctors are often in positions where decisions must be made about withholding or withdrawing medical
treatment that is keeping a person alive because they are not going to get better and because they, or the
family, ask for it. This is a non-treatment decision. This is legal in the UK and not considered euthanasia.
Active euthanasia is when the third party deliberately kills another person. Euthanasia should not be
confused with assisted dying or assisted suicide as these involve the person themselves, completing the
final action to take their lives. Assisted dying is when the person is terminally ill and dying and assisted
suicide is when the person is ill, but not dying.
Euthanasia is illegal in the UK, but is legal in countries such as the Netherlands, Switzerland and Oregon,
Vermont and Washington in the USA.
The sanctity of life and its relevance in the modern world
The sanctity of life is based on the supreme and intrinsic specialness of human life. Life is the foundation
of all human experience and the protection of life is a basic prerequisite; it is the most precious gift. Once
life is gone, all other gifts are lost. This may be grounded in religious teaching, or in observation about the
qualities of human life.
The religious origins of the sanctity of life
In Genesis, it specifically said that man and women were created in the image and likeness of God; this
image and likeness is not explained in Genesis but is the foundation of some thinking called the ‘imago
dei’. This is taken to mean that we have features that set us apart from the rest of creation, and that in
some way, we are similar to aspects of God, such as the capacity to love or the level of sentient ability
that we have. Perhaps it is these rational and moral features of human life.
Throughout the Old Testament, God makes covenants with humankind, which gives them blessings and
obligations, which makes them stand out from other creation. Christian views about God’s purpose in
, creating the world, his purpose in saving humanity by sending Jesus to die on the cross, is all linked to
humanity’s worth and destiny.
This sanctity means that human life should not be sacrificed. In Genesis, Abraham is ordered to sacrifice
Isaac, but God replaces his son with a ram. The practice of offering human sacrifices is not permissible.
Some Protestant traditions hold that dignity, the image and likeness of God that humans had at creation
was largely lost during the Fall. Humans have the power of rational thought and will, but it has become
corrupted by sinful immorality. However, there is a possibility that this sanctity can be regained through
Christ, as he was sent to save everyone, so even if a person lives a sinful life, there is the possibility of
salvation.
The Old Testament can also be used to question the sanctity of life, such as God’s destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah and God’s initial command to sacrifice Isaac.
The concept that life is sacred is often important to those who are opposed to euthanasia. Life is identified
as a gift from God, something that we do not have authority over. Preserving the sanctity of life may be a
matter of obedience to religious authority. Philosophers who do not ground their thinking in religion
identify features like self-consciousness, rational ability, free will and a capacity for compassion as
possible justifications for the higher status of human life.
Discussions about the sanctity of life are centred around a number of ideas:
Taking life is an ultimate taboo.
Taking one life endangers other lives because the status of life is undermined.
With life, there are always unexpected possibilities, which end once life is gone.
If euthanasia becomes acceptable, vulnerable people may be taken advantage of.
However, there are instances where taking a life is the morally right thing to do. Sometimes, people are
required to give up their lives for the good of others, such as soldiers. The act of self-defence is often
used to justify breaking the taboo. Does euthanasia have some qualifying reasons to justify taking a life?
This may be the quality of life and the need to show compassion to someone who is suffering.
Peter Singer: He believes that the traditional sanctity of life ethic must collapse and we need to develop a
new ethic, as people now believe that the low quality of a person’s life, as judged by the person, can
justify them take their life or justify someone else doing it for them. In cases where a person cannot make
a judgement or express a view about the quality of their own life, someone else should do it for them.
However, there is so much more that contributes to the quality of a person’s life than that which can be
measured medically, and Singer also fails to consider that a person’s life has a value to the wider
community as well as to the individual.
The quality of life
The Jewish and Christian tradition emphasise the preciousness of life, and human life is often set above
any sense of measurement in terms of its value to God. However, the quality of life argues that human life
has to possess certain attributes in order to have value. Closely connected to this are questions of
whether a life has personhood or autonomy.
There are occasions when a person is in a terrible situation, which may be a deteriorating condition, or if a
baby is born severely disabled or when someone is facing a slow painful terminal illness. Deterioration
may include the loss of abilities, leading to muscular degeneration and paralysis.
Cognitive abilities may also deteriorate affecting the recognition of loved ones or the recollection of
memories. As memory disappears, the personality may change. The body may lose consciousness; the
body surviving without self-awareness. A sudden trauma may lead to brain death. In such situations,
perhaps there is no quality of life.
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