Utilitarianist Perspective On Euthanasia

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Brain dead, but still alive. That is how a 33 year old pregnant woman was being forced to “live”. Marlise Munoz was pronounced brain dead at 14 weeks pregnant after suffering from a blood clot in her lungs. Though Ms. Munoz was legally dead and her family’s wishes were to stop treatment, she was to remain on life support until her baby could be delivered by a cesarean delivery. It was ruled two months later by a state district judge that Ms. Munoz was to be removed from life support because the law prohibiting “removal of life-sustaining treatment to a pregnant woman” didn’t apply in this case because she was already legally dead. At this point Ms. Munoz was 22 weeks pregnant and the fetus was not viable, as well as having suffered from hydrocephalus, a possible heart condition, and the lower extremities were deformed. This poses the question of is it morally permissible for the government to determine the fate and well-being of a patient over the rights of the patients family? It’s important to understand the difference in arguments and which acts of euthanasia are in question. To clarify this, active euthanasia is when the patient is unable to “pull the plug” themselves so the doctor administers the medication to end their life on their behalf. Passive euthanasia is the choosing of the patient to refuse treatment or the removal of treatment from a patient who no longer wants it. These are often confused with physicians assisted suicide which is when a physician supplies the patient with medication to end their life and the patient takes it at their own will on their own time. In the case involving Ms. Munoz we are looking at an act of passive euthanasia because they are removing life sustaining treatment. However it could be seen as active for the case of the child but it still all remains a passive euthanasia case. The arguments of myself and supporting and opposing philosopher’s follows. It is important to understand that with the hospital choosing life rather than allowing Ms. Munoz to die, they completely went against the family’s wishes. It wasn’t the hospitals decision to make though they are the ones that made it, when it had no real effect on their lives. Hence why it isn’t morally permissible for the government to decide the fate of a patient. My life, my choice, and the same goes for my family. Choosing between morally right and wrong isn’t easy, however it is something that takes a lot of thought in cases similar to this one. A random outside person isn’t going to know what’s best for my family let alone what I would want in that situation, so why are they the ones making the decision? Me dying doesn’t affect someone who has never met me, however it does affect my family and their lives, so it should be my choice to die or my family’s choice to let me die may that be the case. There are two philosophers who have similar views on the matter, those of which being James Rachels and Dan W. Brock. James Rachels has a utilitarianism perspective on euthanasia whether it be active or passive. …show more content…
Utilitarianism is where you do what’s best for the group as a whole. Meaning you look at the action or behavior, think about the consequences, and choose what brings the largest amount of happiness to the majority of people involved. Happiness being defined as more pleasure and less pain in this particular perspective. In the case at hand, the most pleasure would come from removing Ms. Munoz from life support. It’s hard to see why that would be the answer but look at it this way: She herself is dead, so her family is suffering by being dragged through a prolonged death, and her unborn child is suffering because of the health issues he is undergoing because of her blood clot and brain death. You also have to look at other factors effecting everyone involved with utilitarianism, like expenses on the family, hospital, and lawyers being pulled into this mess. Rachels supports euthanasia in any for as long as the intentions are to alleviate pain, because the only thing that matters are the person’s intentions, not their actions.

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