Peter Singer's utilitarian argument for euthanasia ethics

Euthanasia Morality & Ethics

In cases of extreme suffering, people could use a variety of moral and ethical traditions to justify euthanasia. Already, many countries in Europe have more tolerant social policies than the United States, and the policy of euthanasia is no exception. In February 2001, after two decades of being practiced underground, the Dutch government enacted a law legalizing euthanasia, or physician-assisted suicide.

The law had popular support and, like the health workers who worked with AIDS patients, it had the best intentions. Strict criteria were put in place, limiting physician-assisted suicides to terminally ill patients who possessed adequate mental capacity to decide and make an explicit request for euthanasia.

Peter Singer, the foremost proponent of utilitarianism, argues that there would be cases where euthanasia is perfectly moral and ethical. A person suffering from pain, especially those who are terminally ill, have a strong interest to be free from pain. This should be weighed against the interests of a society in keeping a person who is in pain alive. In this case, there would be little benefit to society as compared to the individual's right to be free from pain and to make autonomous decisions. According to Singer's utilitarianism, euthanasia is therefore the ethical choice.