Active And Passive Euthanasia Summary
Active and Passive Euthanasia
James Rachel Euthanasia has recently been an active topic of debate due to elevated rate of patients diagnosed with painful and incurable illnesses. In James Rachel’s article, “Active and Passive Euthanasia,” he speaks of the invalid and impractical practice of passive euthanasia, which is endorsed by the American Medical Association. For many that are unfamiliar, euthanasia is the practice of painlessly killing a patient who is suffering for a painful and incurable disease. Rachel emphasises the unclear difference between active and passive killing in the medical world. The topics I would like to analyze from the article are first, the difference between active and passive euthanasia and the many relevant and irrelevant factors associated …show more content…
In one case the benefiting party intends to kill the child and actively drowns him, while in the second case, the second party has the intent to drown the child but when he goes to kill the child, the child drowns on his own and he is not helped out of the tub. Rachel’s example isn’t relevant to euthanization because actively and passively killing an individual is inherently different than a doctor actively and passively euthanizing a patient. Also in Rachel’s sample he clearly defined a motive for killing the child, where in reality medical practitioners do not have ulterior motives to euthanize their patients but, they do it when the patients’ life has become a burden for themselves. Say for instance assisted suicide is legal and is practiced by doctors, when the time arrives that a doctor has to euthanize their patient it will take an emotional toll on the doctor administering the procedure. In Rachel’s article he shows that even doctors have an emotional connection of sympathy with their patients and watching anyone die in their care is
James Rachel Euthanasia has recently been an active topic of debate due to elevated rate of patients diagnosed with painful and incurable illnesses. In James Rachel’s article, “Active and Passive Euthanasia,” he speaks of the invalid and impractical practice of passive euthanasia, which is endorsed by the American Medical Association. For many that are unfamiliar, euthanasia is the practice of painlessly killing a patient who is suffering for a painful and incurable disease. Rachel emphasises the unclear difference between active and passive killing in the medical world. The topics I would like to analyze from the article are first, the difference between active and passive euthanasia and the many relevant and irrelevant factors associated …show more content…
In one case the benefiting party intends to kill the child and actively drowns him, while in the second case, the second party has the intent to drown the child but when he goes to kill the child, the child drowns on his own and he is not helped out of the tub. Rachel’s example isn’t relevant to euthanization because actively and passively killing an individual is inherently different than a doctor actively and passively euthanizing a patient. Also in Rachel’s sample he clearly defined a motive for killing the child, where in reality medical practitioners do not have ulterior motives to euthanize their patients but, they do it when the patients’ life has become a burden for themselves. Say for instance assisted suicide is legal and is practiced by doctors, when the time arrives that a doctor has to euthanize their patient it will take an emotional toll on the doctor administering the procedure. In Rachel’s article he shows that even doctors have an emotional connection of sympathy with their patients and watching anyone die in their care is