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Active and Passive Euthanasia

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PHI 2630- Introduction to Ethics

April 20, 2013

Active and Passive Euthanasia

Most moral codes state that killing another human being is morally wrong. I would agree that to kill another human being in the heat of anger, for material gain or in the event of committing a crime would be morally wrong. But I feel that our moral codes are lacking in certain areas and do not take into account some situations where killing another human being would be morally acceptable. This type of killing would be to end the person’s suffering only. These cases the killing would be called active and passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia “taking a direct action to kill someone, to carry out a “mercy killing”. (Vaughn, 2010) “Passive Euthanasia is allowing someone to die by not doing something-by withholding or withdrawing measures necessary for sustaining life.” (Vaughn, 2010) In today’s medical profession, defining death has become more difficult, as technology has provided physicians and medical staff the ability to prolong a patient’s life by artificial means. In years gone by, once a patient’s heart stopped beating and respiration stopped, a person was declared dead. Today, machines can keep a patient’s blood flowing, heart beating and lungs breathing, thus technically keeping the patient alive, possibly for years with no hope of a full recovery, only to live in a vegetative state. In cases such as these, passive euthanasia is allowable by law, withholding food and water, allowing the patient to die, but active euthanasia is not allowable by law. Some physician’s state that this is not ethical to do either as the physicians swear an oath to prevent not hasten death. Others believe that both passive and active euthanasia should be allowed, if the patient has made their wishes clear, that they do not wish to live in such a state. Some people have taken

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