Euthanasia should be legalized in the UK Free Essay Example

Throughout the investigation I am going to answer a hypothesis to do with Euthanasia based on my collection of primary and secondary information.

A moral issue is a difference or conflict of opinion over a difference in beliefs, which usually involve a specific kind of experience1, i.e., an act which affect other people. These conflicts usually happen between religions, political parties, and countries, the holders of these beliefs are usually willing to act upon these beliefs. Moral issues are very controversial; the main reason for this is that there are many different opinions on them, and most of these opinions are very strong and the person who has the opinion would usually be willing to act on that opinion.

At the moment Euthanasia is illegal in the UK; as it is in other European countries apart from the Netherlands. This is a map of the state at which countries are with Euthanasia:

The hypothesis that I have chosen to investigate is: Euthanasia should be legalized in the UK.

I have chosen this as my hypothesis because I believe it is an important statement and one that should be looked into in more detail.

My key questions will help me to investigate my hypothesis and find out whether it is true or false.

My key questions are:

1. What are the arguments for and against Euthanasia?

2. What are the case studies available on Euthanasia and what can be learned from them?

3. Do people’s religious beliefs, gender or personal experiences affect how they feel about Euthanasia?

4. What is the media’s opinion on Euthanasia and how does this affect people’s view on the subject?

5. Are there certain circumstances when Euthanasia can be considered morally right, or is it always considered murder?

Reasons for choosing my key questions:

1. This is my main key question; the importance of knowing the differences in opinion on Euthanasia will be important to this project. I will try to find people’s views on Euthanasia and why they have these opinions through questionnaires, interviews and secondary research.

2. I have chosen this key question because finding and analysing case studies will play a major part of my secondary research. It will help me to learn about peoples personal experiences of Euthanasia, whether they be a family member, friend or doctor of the person going through the decision of whether to or not to die through Euthanasia. I can learn about the reasons behind why people would choose Euthanasia and how it can and does affect members of their family or their friends.

3. I have chosen this key question because I can use all of the results I collect from my questionnaires and research to find out whether a person’s age or gender or religion can affect their view on Euthanasia. The death of a loved one may have a major affect on a person’s opinion of Euthanasia and whether or not they believe it should be legalized.

4. I have chosen this key question because I believe the media has a large part to play in what we think as a whole about everything we do. By knowing what the media thinks about Euthanasia it will help me a great deal in coming to a conclusion on how the general public feel about Euthanasia.

5. I have chosen this key question because I think it will be interesting to see where the law draws the line between Euthanasia and murder. It will also help to answer my hypothesis because they are two very closely related subjects; and I want to see if there are already cases of traverse where such things have happened.

There are many arguments for and against Euthanasia; here are some of the main:

For:

* Can quickly and humanely end a patients suffering, and allows them to die with dignity.

* Everyone should have the right to decide how they should die.

* Can help to shorten the grief and suffering of the patients loved ones. The patients loved ones will have the chance to say goodbye and not be shocked by a sudden death.

* A person with a terminal illness may become completely reliant on their friends and family for day to day care. The family may not be able to cope and the person may become a burden. Euthanasia gives the patient independence and allows them to make a choice to die with dignity.

* If a person is not allowed to die when they choose, they are effectively being kept alive against their will.

* Most people would have their pets put down if they were suffering; this would in most cases be regarded as kindness. Why can’t the same kindness be given to humans?

Against:

* One religious view is that; Euthanasia is against the will and word of god.

* It could be stated that; voluntary Euthanasia could be the start of a slippery slope that leads to involuntary Euthanasia and the killing of innocent people for their wealth or benefit of someone.

* Proper palliative care makes Euthanasia unnecessary.

* Accepting Euthanasia accepts that some lives (e.g. those of the disabled or sick) are worth less than others.

* A dying patient may not be able to make a rational decision.

* Doctors and other people in the medical profession can never know for a certain 100% that a person will die from their illness, even if the illness is deemed terminal. Science and medicine progresses every day and they may find a cure.

* In a case of compulsory Euthanasia a person who cannot communicate may have the decision made for them. Although they cannot communicate they may be able to hear what’s going on around them. If so, the decision may be made against their will.

There are lots of different opinions on Euthanasia; many of the strongest views on the matter come from people in the medical profession, people working in politics or religious groups.

Muslims are against Euthanasia because they believe that it is Allah’s chooses how long each human will live, and humans should not interfere with this. They believe that life is sacred because it is given by their god, Allah. Muslims have formed their opinions on Euthanasia through the teachings of the Qur’an (their holy book).

“Do not take life, which Allah made sacred, other than in the course of justice.

Qur’an 17:33

If anyone kills a person – unless it be for murder or spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he killed the whole people.

Qur’an 5:32″2

This quote taken from the Qur’an shows how Muslims believe life is sacred and justice is the only reason for killing in Islam, not Euthanasia or suicide.

“When their time comes they cannot delay it for a single hour nor can they bring it forward by a single hour.

Qur’an 16:61

And no person can ever die except by Allah’s leave and at an appointed term.

Qur’an 3:145″3

This quote taken from the Qur’an shows how Muslims believe that Allah is the only one responsible for the length of each human’s life.

“Destroy not yourselves. Surely Allah is ever merciful to you.

Qur’an 4:29

The Prophet said: “Amongst the nations before you there was a man who got a wound, and growing impatient (with its pain), he took a knife and cut his hand with it and the blood did not stop till he died. Allah said, ‘My Slave hurried to bring death upon himself so I have forbidden him (to enter) Paradise.”4

This quote taken from the Qur’an shows how Muslims teachings teach that Euthanasia is not allowed and anyone who chooses to take their own life will be forbidden from entering paradise.

The Roman Catholic Church’s belief is that Euthanasia is morally wrong as it is the ending of a life and the church has always strongly followed the commandment “Thou shall not kill”. The Church severely disapproves of any law which allows Euthanasia. They believe that life is a gift from god and that the pleasure it brings is irrelevant. Every human life is valuable in the Roman Catholic view and however much pain a person is in; this is no reason to end a life. The Church accepts that humans have control over their own lives and decisions; however, this control does not stretch as far as ending a life. In their eyes, ending a life is an insult to god’s complete power and ruling. If a person chooses to refuse aggressive medical treatment, this is not considered Euthanasia by the church, however only someone accepting their illness and allowing nature to take its course.

“True compassion leads to sharing another’s pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear.

Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, 19″5″5

This is a quote made by Pope John Paul that shows how committing suicide is considered morally wrong by the church, therefore assisting someone to end their own life is considered even worst.

When it comes to Hinduism; there are different points of view and opinions on Euthanasia. Some Hindus believe that by helping end a life which is suffering, they are doing something good and fulfilling a purpose. However, other Hindus regard Euthanasia as forbidden as it goes against the teaching of “ahimsa”, which means doing no harm. Mostly Hindus believe that a doctor should never help a patient to commit Euthanasia. This would cause the soul of the patient to separate from the body at the wrong time. As a result of this the karma of the patient as well as the doctor would be ruined. Also, Hindus believe that if a life is ended at the wrong time the cycle of rebirth is damaged.

Pressure groups are organisations which have a certain strong feeling towards an issue. They put pressure on the government to come round to their way of thinking. Care Not Killing is an organisation which intends to make sure that Euthanasia remains illegal in the UK. “Care Not Killing is a UK-based alliance of individuals and organisations which brings together human rights groups, healthcare groups, palliative care groups and faith-based organisations with the aims of:

1. Promoting more and better palliative care

2. Ensuring that existing laws against Euthanasia and assisted suicide are not weakened or repealed during the lifetime of the current Parliament

3. Influencing the balance of public opinion further against any weakening of the law” 6

These groups have come together from different areas of society and they all hold the same belief that Euthanasia and assisted suicide is wrong. They are acting together to try and protect the situation that already exists. They are trying to advance care for pain relievers and promote research into better palliative care to give people more dignity in dying without pain so they do not have to resort to Euthanasia. They promote Care Not Killing through their website and campaign against the legalisation of Euthanasia. Their aim is to build a large amount of political support so that if the issue of Euthanasia was ever to be questioned in parliament they can lobby the MPs with confidence that they will put their point of view forward.

Dignity In Dying is an organisation set up to support patients choosing to die and the legalisation of Euthanasia. “Dignity in Dying has long argued that the legal prohibition of medically assisted dying is untenable. Legislation allowing mentally competent, terminally ill adults who are suffering unbearably to request medical assistance to die would better protect patients, their families, and doctors.” 7 In the current situation where assisted suicide is illegal there is more danger and risk to the patients when Euthanasia is carried out because they must be done in secret and without the proper equipment. Dignity In Dying is saying that with all relevant protections if it was legalized it would be better for all the people involved. They want the law abolished for terminally ill adults who are perfectly able to make the decision to die through Euthanasia.

My opinion on Euthanasia is that in most cases it is morally right to relieve a person of their missilery and pain instead of just appeasing them with medicines. I believe this more in the cases of voluntary Euthanasia (where the patient chooses to have somebody peacefully end their life) that in the case of involuntary Euthanasia (where a family member has to choose for the patient whether to end the patient’s life). I think this because although the patient may not be able to communicate, they may not want to be euthanized. I believe there is no easy answer when it comes to Euthanasia and if it is legalized people will always find a way to lie and exploit the grey areas of the subject. In my opinion, voluntary Euthanasia should only be legalized if the person dying is in a special clinic which specializes in this. This way, it will be done in a controlled and respectful way and they can be sure that Euthanasia is what the person really wants.

From what I already know I think that my hypothesis will be proven correct. This is just based on things I have seen on the news, and conversations I have had with people; they seem to believe that Euthanasia is morally right and is helping a person in need. This seems to outweigh the negatives when it comes to people’s opinions. The media takes a very sympathetic approach to this subject also.

I am going to carry out this project in the most organised way possible. I am going to do lots of research through the internet, questionnaires, and interviews and then show my results in graphs and tables. I will be asking people of different ages, genders, and religions as this will show a more representative view from people in society. All this combined will help me answer my hypothesis.

The moral issue that I am studying for my Humanities coursework is Euthanasia. The hypothesis I have chosen to test is “Euthanasia should be legalized in Britain.” To research and test this statement I will be collecting data from primary and secondary sauces. For example, I will use websites, newspapers, case studies and books which are all relevant to Euthanasia (these will be my secondary research). As well as this I will conduct interviews and have questionnaires filled in by a range of people (this will act as my primary research).

The research I will be doing is thought of as two groups, primary data and secondary data. Primary data is evidence which you collect on your own through something you do yourself. For example, interviewing a person and finding out their opinions. Secondary data is evidence which you collect from a sauce which already exists and is someone else’s work. This could be through the internet, books or newspapers etc. For example, I would find out that Hindus have mixed views on Euthanasia through the internet, this is secondary data.

In my investigation it is important that I use both methods, this is because; when I do primary research I know the results are reliable and I need this data for reliability in my investigation, however I would not be able to collect anywhere near the same amount of information with the primary research method as I would be able to with the assistance secondary research, also I wouldn’t be able to find some of the crucial facts through primary research and this is one of the main reasons why I chose to use secondary information as well as primary.

Primary research

Questionnaire

The reason why I am going to use questionnaires in my investigation is because I want to gain the views of people on the issue of Euthanasia. Before I did my questionnaire I did a pilot study; from this I found out that some of my questions were worded slightly bias and I used this to change my questionnaire so I worded the questions so they wasn’t bias and therefore this will improve my questionnaire so that the results are more reliable. I am going to use this with future research such as my interviews so I word the questions so they are not bias and my body language doesn’t favour either result.

In my pilot study I used both open and closed questions, from this I realised that open questions produce much more reliable results as they allow the respondent to give their own opinion without a bias sounding question, where as a closed question has to have a slight bit of bias because you have to side them one way to ask if the respondent agrees of disagrees. I had more concerns about the closed questions than the open questions as they can seem bias and influence people’s answers.

I gave my questionnaires to 40 people of all ages, genders, religions, and from all kinds of cultures. This is important as it makes my results more representative of the whole MK population; I think that my results are quite representative of the whole MK, just not a very large number of people.

I choose to use a quota sample as this will be best representative of the whole MK population. A disadvantage of this is that it takes longer to plan this method and distribute to all the people; however this will make my research more accurate as it is more representative of the whole MK population. My questionnaires give both qualitative and quantitative data. One advantage of quantitative data is that all the data can be shown visually, like in a graph or a table, so it is easier to read and present. Another advantage of this is that it is more accurate and gives exacted values and is therefore more precise. A disadvantage of this is that the results are limited as they provide numerical descriptions rather than detailed narrative and generally provide less elaborate accounts of human perception. One advantage of qualitative data is that it provides depth and detail; this is because it looks deeper than analysing ranks and counts by recording attitudes, feelings and behaviours. Another positive of this is that it creates openness; this is because it encourages people to expand on their responses and can open up new topic areas not initially considered. One negative of this is that there is usually fewer people studied; the collection of qualitative data is generally more time consuming that quantitative data collection and therefore unless time, and budget allows it is generally necessary to include a smaller sample size.

I collected in my data by going to the person I gave it to and collect it. This helped because it meant that I was able o ensure that questionnaires were completed and I got a 100% return rate.

Advantages

Disadvantages

Quick, easy and efficient way of collecting information.

You can gain the views of lots of different people and use this information to answer your key questions and your hypothesis.

By using adults you can gain a representative sample.

In theory asking 40 people could deliver the approximate results to asking 400.

As I gained quantities I can analyse the data and make conclusions based on the information.

You can also look out for different/strange results.

Not a very large sample size, however this sample was very representative. I considered both genders when choosing my sample. I also considered the religion of my sample when choosing this also.

I had no people ask me to explain my questions or that didn’t understand my questions. From the questionnaires it seems that everybody understood the questions and answered them correctly. I believe that I didn’t word any questions that influence the answers.

Interview

I decide to use interviews in my research to collect information as; this allows me to collect people’s opinions first hand. This will make my research more accurate and reliable and give me more detailed information to work with, and this will allow for more precise and interesting results.

I will be doing 5 interviews. The first will be with a 16 year old male, with no religion, the second will be with a 55 year old Christian male, the third will be a 38 year old Hindu female, the fourth interview will be with a 24 year old Muslim male, and the final interview will be with a 74 year old female, with no religion. I think that interviewing these 5 people of varied ages, gender, and religion will give me a good representation of the general public.

When I do my interviews I will ask questions relevant to my 5 key questions, so they can be answered and ultimately try to find out whether the people believe my hypothesis is correct or incorrect. I will also ask some questions which are similar to the ones in my questionnaires, however because it is an interview I will be able to get much more detailed answers. This is an advantage of interviewing. I will be trying to ask questions to find out whether people believe age, gender, and religion has an impact on people’s thoughts about Euthanasia. I will also ask questions regarding how they think Euthanasia should be carried out if it was legalized. I will do my best to make my interviewee feel as comfortable as possible and will try not to control the interview too much, and will let the person speak as freely as possible.