Euthanasia

There is non voluntary euthanasia “Ending someone’s life painlessly when they are unable to ask, but when there is good reason for thinking they would want death, for example switching off a life support machine.”. There is Voluntary euthanasia “The situation where someone dying in pain asks another person to end his/her life painlessly.” Lastly a key word usually linked to those words in action, assisted suicide “Providing a seriously ill person with the means to commit suicide”.

In the UK euthanasia is currently illegal. The UK forbid on people being allowed to be killed if they are seriously ill for example using a lethal injection because someone is ill with cancer. However in other parts of Europe e.g. Switzerland euthanasia is perfectly legal, they allow people to have a gentle death by using a lethal injection.

I researched a story about 43 year old Diane Pretty (a woman who was suffering severely from a motor neurone disease). Her husband Brian and his solicitor started a petition for the government to change the law that euthanasia should be made legal. The human rights court recently said that physician-assisted death (A doctor provides drugs in the knowledge that they will be used to end life, or active euthanasia where the doctor also helps administer those drugs) were illegal and that Diane Pretty would have to wait until she died. When the Human Rights Court heard about the decision and the partition that was made they replied by saying “Are we not just all feeling sorry for Ms Pretty? We have to put this in perspective. Yes of course we feel for any individual and their families at a time like this, but I’m afraid the law still stands. The courts have had to make a hard decision but we cannot change the law on just one person, we made a decision for the country and cannot see this changing.

Another case of euthanasia is Samuel Golubchuk and 84 year old man who had limited kidney function, pneumonia and MRSA. On the 7^th of January 2008 doctors suggested to his family that Mr.Golbuchuk ventilator and his feeding tube should be disconnected because their was very little chance of him being able to live and he was becoming really expensive at the hospital he was staying at. Golubchuk’s family opposed against this situation and the case was taken to court on the 21^st of January 2008. The judge stated that the doctors know best and the decision should rightfully be theirs, however he was willing to give Golubchuk an extra month and if their was no improvement his ventilator and feeding tube would be disconnected. The doctors recently stated that neither the judge nor Mr Golubuchuk’s family should have a say. At this stage Mr.Golubchuk was making a fast recovery and had woken up and was interacting with people and being responsive. The doctors still disagreed that he will be able to live but in the next two weeks that came Golubchuk had made a half full recovery. The doctors were said to be astounded and were in total disbelief at his recovery. When the case was brought to the judge again he allowed 6 more months to watch over the patient and see improvement. Mr.Golubchuk made a miraculous recover in 2 months. He still needs help through life but he can talk, is responsive and has his life back again.