R3101 Lecture 4: Ethical controversies: Bioethical issues concerning life and death Dr Margaret Mishra

Controversial: from Latin controversia (turned in an opposite direction) & from contra (against and versus); disputable, debatable, tending to cause differences of opinion or heated opposition; a public debate between sides holding opposing views

1. Euthanasia Greek (eu) good & (thantos) death, mercy killing Where one person, A, ends the life of another person, B, for the sake of B (Kuhse) Some types: 1.Voluntary euthanasia: when the patient freely chooses to die at the time of the illness or by signing a living will before (giving consent) 2. Non-voluntary euthanasia: when the patient cannot choose & the decision is made by someone else Active/positive euthanasia where a lethal injection is administered by A to end Bs life (physician-assisted suicide) Passive/negative euthanasia Withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, (medication, respirator) - allowing death to occur, letting nature take its course) Giving a patient large doses of morphine to control pain Arguments for euthanasia 1. Choice: freedom/right to choose (dying with dignity?) 2. Quality of life: physical pain & emotional pain to patient & family 3. Economic costs & human resources: shortage of hospital beds & staff burden to keep terminally ill patients alive, better to use these resources for curable aliments Arguments against euthanasia 1. It is murder or suicide! 2. It is morally unacceptable 3. Sometimes people consent under pressure (to release their families of financial burden) but dont really want to die 4. It is against religious teachings 5. Real-life stories 2. Abortion Abortion may be seen on one side as a womans right, and on the other as the first step towards compulsory euthanasia, selective breeding, and wholesale denial of the uniqueness and rights of each human person (Thompson, 202) Early pro-life quotes You shall not kill either the fetus by abortion or the new born (Letter of Barnabas, circa 125) We are not permitted, since murder has been prohibited to us once and for all, even to destroy ...the fetus in the womb. It makes no difference whether one destroys a life that has already been born or one that is in the process of birth (Tertullian 155 - 225 CE) When does human life start? 1

Aristotle: 3 stages (vegetable, animal & human soul) 60-80 days after conception (when it is believed the foetus has a soul)? After 24 weeks (fetus is independent of mother) At conception (when the ovum is fertilized)?

Pro-life stance The fetus is a human person at the time of conception A fetus is entitled to fundamental human rights (the right to live); we must protect it The state should override a woman's decision to have an abortion and require her to continue her pregnancy to childbirth A human life should not be taken (against religious teachings) The pro-freedom/choice argument The State should not interfere A woman should be free to decide whether or not to have an abortion on two grounds: 1) The foetus is part of a womans body until it is capable of independent life 2) That giving birth to children should be seen in terms of the overall situation in which a woman finds herself 3. Capital punishment Death sentences for capital offences (for example, murder); putting a condemned person to death Still legal in some countries, e.g. Singapore, China, US Some methods: hanging, firing squad, electric chair, lethal injection Arguments for capital punishment 1) Incapacitation of the criminal: capital punishment permanently removes the worst criminals from society making the world a safer place for the rest of us 2) Retribution: execution is a very real punishment rather than some form of rehabilitative treatment; the criminal is made to suffer in proportion to the offence (an eye for an eye) Arguments against capital punishment An innocent person may be condemned to death (action not reversible) Effect upon family of sentenced person leading up to the date of death Criminals have feelings too (Singapore hung two 18 year-old girls for drug-trafficking in 1995 & China shot a girl for the same offence in 1998) There is no humane way of putting a person to death The effect on the executioner?

Situational ethics: when an ethical decision is made after considering the particular situation of a person