Euthanasia

What is Euthanasia?

Euthanasia comes from Greek, meaning 'pleasant death'. It typically refers to the killing of a person for their own (or another) good, usually to end their suffering.

While virtually no-one in modern society would condone involuntary euthanasia, 'mercy killings' and 'assisted suicides', where the person killed consents to his or her fate, are the subject of heated international debate.

An important distinction in UK law exists between active euthanasia and passive euthanasia. Since the Bland ruling of 1993, 'assisted suicides', which involve 'omissions' that are principally the removal of life-saving care, are not illegal. However, actively taking action to end another's life is illegal, even with consent.

Medically assisted suicide, where doctors help patients to die or actually kill them, is legal in a number of European countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands.

Euthanasia is a highly complex issue involving difficult questions regarding the role of modern government and the rights of individual citizens. The central premise of those supporting legalisation of euthanasia is the right of individuals, often in unbearable pain, to choose where and when they will die. The arguments against the legalisation of euthanasia highlight the utilitarian role of governance and the inability of any government to support acts violating the right to life of its citizens.


Background

In law, euthanasia has no special legal position in the UK. Instances described as euthanasia are treated as murder or manslaughter. However, the Suicide Act 1961 makes a specific offence of 'criminal liability for complicity in another's suicide', while declaring suicide itself to be legal.

In practice, however, the prosecution of euthanasia in the UK is distinct from other cases of unlawful killing - the consent of the Attorney General to prosecute is an explicit requirement of the Act, and sentencing is influenced by the often desperate and harrowing circumstances of individual cases.

The law has been reviewed since 1961, but has not been substantially changed, despite regular attempts by backbenchers in Parliament.

Since the Human Rights Act 1998, however, campaigners have claimed that the denial of a right to release oneself from unbearable pain amounts to inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights), is a violation of privacy and family life (Article 8), amounts to discrimination given the legality of suicide itself, and that an individuals inherent dignity and 'right to die' is violated by the current legislation.

Jurisprudence, however, does not recognise a parallel right to die implied by the right to life.


Controversies

The subject of Euthanasia is a highly controversial and divisive topic, raising an array of sophisticated moral, ethical, social, philosophical, legal and religious concerns.

Many of these were aired in the case of Diane Pretty, who was dying of motor neurone disease and wanted her husband to end her life without being prosecuted for aiding and abetting suicide. Her case led to a high profile legal and public debate on the issue, as her husband first applied to domestic courts (up to the House of Lords), and then to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for judicial review of the refusal to give him immunity from prosecution. Had the case been successful, it would have effectively struck down the legal ban on assisted suicide.

Mrs Pretty was unsuccessful because the domestic courts, in recognition of the complex moral considerations at stake, deferred to the democratic will of parliament as enshrined in the legal text. The ECHR applied the EU equivalent, the 'Margin of Appreciation', and rescinded from passing judgment on the issue in 2002.

There are two main groups of arguments deployed against euthanasia.

The first group is religious: many religions, notably Christianity, do not recognise a right to die, believing life to be a divine gift. Christians also regard suicide as a sin.

The second group relates to the requirement of consent. The capacity of a terminally ill patient to give informed consent for their own killing is questioned. It is also suggested that doctors and relatives may press people into accepting euthanasia against their will and for reasons not related to their welfare.

In the US, Dr Jack Kevorkian - known as 'Dr Death' successfully challenged the law on euthanasia, avoiding prosecution for conducting medically-assisted suicides across the country for 10 years. In a landmark 1999 decision, however, he was sent to prison for 10 to 25 years for administering a lethal injection.


Quotes

"In the many years I have opposed the euthanasia movement, I have seen numerous cases like Pretty's. They wrench the heart but too often short-circuit the brain."

Wesley J Smith, "Assisted Suicide Seduction", 2002

"When society reaches the age of enlightenment, then they'll call me and other doctors Dr Life."

Dr Jack Kevorkian, December 1993