As defined by Susan M. Wolf, “euthanasia is the practice of intentionally and directly ending the life of a person who has a severe and incurable disease or medical condition” (Wolf). Euthanasia usually takes place in patients with terminal illnesses, that ask to be euthanized. There are six major subtypes of euthanasia: active, passive, voluntary, involuntary, indirect, and assisted suicide (“BBC - Ethics- Euthanasia: Forms of Euthanasia”). In a society where euthanasia is legal, the “Law of the Jungle” takes effect. Basically, the “Law of the Jungle” is survival of the fittest. In a society where euthanasia is legal, people are capable of discarding anyone, for their pleasure or not, and society gets to determine whether a person has the
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Voluntary euthanasia is when a patient asks to be euthanized. Mercy killing is a type of voluntary euthanasia, but is is mistakenly thought of as involuntary, because it does not give the connotation of “gentle death”, which is what euthanasia is supposed to be. American philosopher, Marvin Kohl created the idea of “kindly killing” as an alternative to “mercy killing”. In contrast, involuntary euthanasia, otherwise known as non-voluntary euthanasia, is when a person is euthanized without their permission. The patient is usually unconscious or in another way unable to make a decision about it themselves. Most of the time a third party related to the patient makes this decision, but sometimes the physicians do as well. However, another form of involuntary euthanasia is compulsory euthanasia, where their euthanization is forced on a patient by an authoritative figure. Of course no form of euthanasia is ethical, the types of involuntary should not even be tolerable. Although the major difference between these types of euthanasia is who chooses for the patient to be killed, either way, the patient ends up dying by the doctor’s hands. Despite the fact that both of these forms of euthanasia are illegal, involuntary euthanasia is less legal than voluntary because it is basically murder; the patients are being killed without their consent. Because of this, voluntary euthanasia is most preferred by patients because they are being euthanized on their own terms and with their permission. On January 1, 1984, California put into effect a law that “enables competent adults to designate, in writing, another person as their ‘attorney in fact,’ with authority to make virtually all medical care decisions in the event that they are terminally ill and have lost the capacity to make such decisions for themselves. Four other states provide designation of a proxy
Voluntary euthanasia is when a patient asks to be euthanized. Mercy killing is a type of voluntary euthanasia, but is is mistakenly thought of as involuntary, because it does not give the connotation of “gentle death”, which is what euthanasia is supposed to be. American philosopher, Marvin Kohl created the idea of “kindly killing” as an alternative to “mercy killing”. In contrast, involuntary euthanasia, otherwise known as non-voluntary euthanasia, is when a person is euthanized without their permission. The patient is usually unconscious or in another way unable to make a decision about it themselves. Most of the time a third party related to the patient makes this decision, but sometimes the physicians do as well. However, another form of involuntary euthanasia is compulsory euthanasia, where their euthanization is forced on a patient by an authoritative figure. Of course no form of euthanasia is ethical, the types of involuntary should not even be tolerable. Although the major difference between these types of euthanasia is who chooses for the patient to be killed, either way, the patient ends up dying by the doctor’s hands. Despite the fact that both of these forms of euthanasia are illegal, involuntary euthanasia is less legal than voluntary because it is basically murder; the patients are being killed without their consent. Because of this, voluntary euthanasia is most preferred by patients because they are being euthanized on their own terms and with their permission. On January 1, 1984, California put into effect a law that “enables competent adults to designate, in writing, another person as their ‘attorney in fact,’ with authority to make virtually all medical care decisions in the event that they are terminally ill and have lost the capacity to make such decisions for themselves. Four other states provide designation of a proxy