This document discusses euthanasia from several perspectives. It defines euthanasia as terminating a very sick person's life to relieve suffering. There are different types of euthanasia, including active euthanasia by lethal injection and passive euthanasia by withdrawing treatment. Arguments for and against allowing euthanasia center around personal autonomy versus the sanctity of life. Religious views and risks of abuse are also discussed.

1. Ethics of euthanasia
What is Euthanasia?
Euthanasia is the termination of a very sick person's
life in order to relieve them of their suffering.
The term is derived from the Greek
word euthanatos which means easy death.

2. Euthanasia can be carried out either by
taking actions, including giving a lethal injection, or
by not doing what is necessary to keep a person
alive (such as failing to keep their feeding tube
going).

3. Euthanasia and pain relief
Is it an euthanasia to give a drug in order to reduce
pain, even though the drug causes the patient to die
sooner?

4. Mercy killing
Very often people call euthanasia 'mercy killing',
perhaps thinking of it for someone who is terminally ill
and suffering prolonged, unbearable pain.

5. Why people want euthanasia ?
 Physiological Factors
Cancer
Aids
Paralysis
Fatal accident
 Psychological Factors
Stress
Anxiety

6. Classification of euthanasia
Active euthanasia
In active euthanasia a person directly and
deliberately causes the patient's death.
It is intentionally hastening death by a deliberate
positive act, such as giving a lethal injection.

7. Passive euthanasia
In passive euthanasia death is brought about by an
omission –
 For example, by withdrawing food, or withdrawing
or withholding treatment in order to let the person die
which would otherwise have delayed death.

8. Assisted suicide
This is when the person who wants to die needs
help to kill themselves, asks for it and receives it.

9. Indirect euthanasia
providing treatment (usually to reduce pain) that
has the expected side effect of causing the patient to
die sooner.

10. Involuntary euthanasia
This occurs when the person who dies wants to live
but is killed anyway. It is usually the same thing as
murder.

11. Non-voluntary euthanasia
This is where the person is unable to ask for
euthanasia (perhaps they are unconscious or
otherwise unable to communicate), or to make a
meaningful choice between living and dying and an
appropriate person takes the decision on their behalf,
perhaps in accordance with their living will, or
previously expressed wishes.

12. Voluntary euthanasia
This is where euthanasia is carried out at the
request of the person who dies.

13. Why euthanasia should be allowed?
Those in favour of euthanasia argue that a civilised
society should allow people to die in dignity and
without pain, and should allow others to help them do
so if they cannot manage it on their own.

14. They say that our bodies are our own, and we
should be allowed to do what we want with them.
So it's wrong to make anyone live longer than they
want.
In fact making people go on living when they don't
want to violates their personal freedom and human
rights.It's immoral, they say to force people to
continue living in suffering and pain.

15. Why euthanasia should be forbidden?
Religious opponents of euthanasia believe that life
is given by God, and only God should decide when to
end it.
Other opponents fear that if euthanasia was made
legal, the laws regulating it would be abused,
and people would be killed who didn't really want to
die.

16. Overview of arguments against
euthanasia
Ethical arguments:
Euthanasia weakens society's respect for
the sacredness of life.
Accepting euthanasia accepts that some lives
(those of the disabled or sick) are worth less than
others

17. Voluntary euthanasia may leads to involuntary
euthanasia and the killing of people who are thought
undesirable.

18. Buddhism and euthanasia
The most common position is that voluntary
euthanasia is wrong, because it demonstrates that
one's mind is in a bad state and that one has allowed
physical suffering to cause mental suffering.

19. Buddhists might also argue that helping to end
someone's life is likely to put the helper into a bad
mental state, and this too should be avoided.
The intentional ending of life is against Buddhist
teaching and voluntary euthanasia should be
forbidden. Certain codes of Buddhist monastic law
explicitly forbid it.

20. In Buddhism, the way life ends has a profound
impact on the way the new life will begin.
So a person's state of mind at the time of death is
important - their thoughts should be selfless and
enlightened, free of anger, hate or fear.