Why Is Euthanasia Morally Wrong

Is Euthanasia Morally Wrong? Euthanasia is the act of ending a life with the purpose of relieving pain and suffering of one’s self or another person who is not expected to recover from their condition. It is important to note that in order for the killing of another person or one’s self to be considered euthanasia, it has to be an intentional action. If a patient dies as a result of being given the wrong medical or an improper treatment, although the death is wrongful, it cannot be considered euthanasia, as their death was due to a mistake. Euthanasia is different from Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS). The difference lies in who oversees the lethal action or substance. PAS involves a physician advising and prescribing the patient …show more content…
He opens by introducing a doctrine that was adopted by the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association in 1973. The statement establishes that euthanasia contradicts the roles of doctors, as they are supposed to help preserve life rather than help end it. It explains that the decision to end a patient’s life in the circumstance of imminent death is not the doctor’s decision to make. Rachels disagrees and believes that there are strong arguments that can be posed against that idea. He gives an example of a patient who is dying from an incurable cancer of the throat. The cancer is causing great pain and the patient will die in a few days even if he continues treatment. The pain is too much for the patient to bear and he decides that he no longer wishes to have it. The doctrine allows the doctor to withhold the treatment and that the agony the patient is in justifies it because the patient will die and his suffering will end. Rachels inserts that for this same reason, active euthanasia should be permissible because if the entire point is to end the suffering, passive euthanasia is doing the opposite, prolonging