Active vs. Passive Euthanasia: Ethics, Law, and Personal Choice

Introduction

This paper addresses several questions about euthanasia and takes a clear position on the subject. It begins by defining and distinguishing between active and passive euthanasia, then considers the ethical issues raised by each type. It surveys the laws in U.S. states regarding euthanasia and, finally, presents a position supported by scholarly sources. While euthanasia remains controversial, there are situations in which people will act regardless of legal or social barriers — and allowing them a dignified, regulated path is the more humane choice.

Defining Active and Passive Euthanasia

The distinction between active and passive euthanasia is relatively clear. Active euthanasia, as defined by the BBC Ethics guide, occurs when "medical professionals, or another person, deliberately do something that causes the patient to die." Passive euthanasia, by contrast, occurs "when the patient dies because medical professionals either don't do something necessary to keep the patient alive, or when they stop doing something that is keeping the patient alive" (BBC, 2015). Examples of passive euthanasia include switching off life-support machines, disconnecting a feeding tube, declining to perform a life-extending operation, or withholding life-extending drugs.

The BBC also notes that there is, at least for some people, a meaningful moral difference between letting someone die and actively causing their death. Many people consider deliberately committing an act that directly leads to a patient's death to be less morally acceptable than allowing a person to die through the withdrawal or withholding of necessary care. Others, however, argue that because the end result is the same, no meaningful moral distinction exists.

Defined more precisely: in active euthanasia, the physician takes a specific action that directly causes death; in passive euthanasia, the physician either does or refrains from doing something that leads to death. The difference is real but slight. If, for example, a patient is on life support following severe brain damage, turning off the machine is technically the proximate cause of death — even if the chance of recovery is negligible. In the language of medical ethics, this tension is captured by the concept of acts and omissions (BBC, 2015).

U.S. State Laws on Assisted Suicide

As of 2015, only five U.S. states permitted some form of physician-assisted suicide: Oregon, Washington, Vermont, New Mexico, and Montana. The first three allow terminally ill adults to obtain lethal doses of prescription medication from a willing physician. New Mexico permits terminally ill patients to seek "aid in dying" following a judicial decision; the state attorney general declined to challenge that ruling. Montana does not have an explicit assisted-suicide statute, but a court decision established that physicians who assist patients in dying — provided those patients have clearly expressed that wish — will not face prosecution (Barone, 2015).

Conclusion

While many argue that the United States was founded on Christian values, or dispute whether the separation of church and state is a constitutionally grounded principle, it remains advisable to keep government out of deeply personal life-and-death decisions. People who are facing only a painful, inevitable death should be permitted to end their suffering with dignity. Not everyone will agree with this position, but it is preferable to the alternative: individuals resorting to violent or public means of ending their lives. A regulated, compassionate framework for end-of-life choice serves both individual dignity and the broader public good.

References

Barone, E. (2014). See which states allow assisted suicide. TIME.com. Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://time.com/3551560/brittany-maynard-right-to-die-laws/

BBC. (2015). Ethics — Euthanasia: Active and passive euthanasia. Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/overview/activepassive_1.shtml

BBC. (2015). Ethics — Euthanasia: Religion and euthanasia. BBC.co.uk. Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/religion/religion.shtml

Pew. (2015). America's changing religious landscape. Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/