The Study of Euthanasia

Bioethics, which refers to ethics of biological and health sciences, has attracted an increasing public attention (Andorno 14). Bioethics usually studies many controversial issues such as euthanasia, cloning, gene therapy and human genetic engineering. It is said that bioethics is the study of human behaviors related to human science and healthcare according to moral values and principals. With the mushrooming development of science and technology, many new technologies such as cloning technology, organ implant, and cloning are developing fast. Many new technologies are creating continuous miracles. Before human beings analyze the benefits and drawbacks of those new technologies, they have been penetrating in the life of human beings and at the same time bringing lots of controversial. In the following part, I would analyze one of the most controversial bioethics issue – euthanasia.

Euthanasia refers to the practice of ending life without pain and suffering. The issue of euthanasia has been quite contentious which centers around the debate that if human beings have the rights to live, do they have the rights to choose to die or not. Besides, it is also quite controversial whether euthanasia fits in with human moral standards and whether the vocation of doctors is to relieve pain or to extend life. Although the issue of euthanasia is related to medicine, it also involves social economy, traditional concepts and social customs and habits. With the development od social science, human beings start to have many simple ways to end life. The questions such as whether human beings could choose the rights to die or whether helping others to die is moral or not are haunting human beings. Although many people approve the right of living, there are lots of debates as follows. Some people oppose any type of euthanasia and regard euthanasia illegal and violate laws while other people approve all kinds of euthanasia. And some people approve euthanasia under strict conditions.

Euthanasia has been legalized in many western countries such as Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland. Many people associate euthanasia with human rights including dignity, rights and humaneness. From the perspective of bioethics including human values, family, and society as well as humanitarianism, euthanasia brings lots of reflections. From the viewpoint of human values, bioethicists think that every man has equal rights and dignity to be alive and the right to be alive is divine. Hence, the values of life are supreme. In western society, many people usually regard life as natural rights endowed by God from the perspective of the Christian religion. Therefore, depriving one’s life is profane to God. And opponents of euthanasia usually think that life is important in any situation and choosing death is irrational. However, opponents do not consider the extreme situation where life is in the living purgatory and living is much more painful to some people than death. To some people, the pain of life overwhelms the fear to death. That is why some families of patients would choose euthanasia to end the life as well as the pain of patients. Under such condition, the theory that life is divine is to some extent is pointless. Besides, from the perspective of family and society, choosing the practice of euthanasia is not the personal choice, but it is strongly related to society and families. For example, if one suffers from a terminal illness, his families also suffer the mental torture with him. In some countries such as China where usually families of patients have to bear medical expenses, the expensive medical cost would push families into corners as well. In addition, from the perspectives of humanitarianism, many people think that euthanasia to some extent is a civilizational improvement. Supporters argue that a patient who has a terminal illness and is at death’s door has to suffer both of the mental and physical torture. When physical pain lasts for a long time, some patients may be eager for death, which has surpassed their desire for living. At this moment, respecting the patients’ will and eager to death to some extent reflects the humanitarianism principal of caring for people and respecting people.

Medically speaking, euthanasia at one hand relieves the pain and torture of patients. On the other hand, it is also related to the issue of organ donation and organs for sales. According to the statistics, currently, many countries face the predicament of a shortage of human organs. Many people die of lack of organs. For those people who die of euthanasia, their human organs are well- preserved. If they donate their organs after they pass away, the donated organs not only save the lives of other people but the donation also helps to save health resources. However, the truth is quite different. There are not so many people who are willing to donate their organs after they die. And some family relatives consider it immoral to donate organs of patients because in some patient families’ eyes, taking organs from patients to some extent is the violation of human bodies. Some people also worry that once they agree to donate their organs, doctors may take away organs before they die. In addition, once euthanasia is related to organ implant, the phenomenon of organ commercialization appears which brings a series of issues such as organs for sales, and some hospitals may conduct organ implant for the purpose of profits so that organ implant from patients died of euthanasia is equipped with strong color of commercialization. Hence, in the following part, based on three articles related to organs for sales, I would analyze the relationship between euthanasia and organs for sales.

In the article Kidneys for Sales: A Reconstruction by Miriam Schulman, it shows that the issues of organs for sale have received increasing attention from the world. In many countries, there exist black markets where human organs are sold. Although many countries have laws against the selling of organs, dealings are still going on every day. Many ethicists worry that legalization of organs for sales may lead to the commodification of human life. In this way, many people may utilize the practice euthanasia to trade human organs. Under the tremendous temptation of economic profits, some hospitals may take away patients’ organs who die of euthanasia without the approval of patients and their families, which is related to the issue of ethics. Hence, many countries make laws to be against the practice of trading organs. For example, kidneys for sales have been conducted in many countries. Many people donate kidneys in order to pay the debt. With the popularity of euthanasia, more and more people relate euthanasia with organ tradings. Besides, the development of the technology of organ transplantation facilitates the process of organs for sales. Hence, more and more people use the practice of euthanasia to make the deals of organ trading.

The other article An Ethical Market in Human Organs by Harris and Erin also talks bout the issue of human organs trading. Though many people donate their organs voluntarily, the sales of organs may involve exploitation, corruption, and murder. For instance, it is found that in one case in China that a person injected the medicine of euthanasia to a patient in order to get the organs for sale. Hence, it could be seen that the practice of euthanasia to some extent has been used illegally when it is associated with organ implant. Like the controversial of whether it is legal to conduct the practice of euthanasia or not, the issue of whether it is legal for people to sell parts of their bodies also comes under fire. The price of organs always attracts people to sell their organs. Though it is forbidden to sell organs in many countries, some people claim that the forbiddance may lead to more shortage of organs provided tor patients in urgent need. Besides, it is impossible to forbid people to make the deals of selling organs.

In another article named Buying the Eye of the Beholder: The Case for Selling Organs, the issue of whether one has the right to terminate his life and to donate his organs has aroused the attention in South Africa. It is said that in the context of one’s organs, the concept of the right to life has traditionally been considered to deal with the right to live and the right to choose to die instead of what one is able to deal with his body (Kirby,5). The study found that with an agreed price, many people agreed to sell their body to a third party. Although this practice has aroused much controversial, the selling of organs has been increasingly conducted in South Africa.

In conclusion, bioethics concerns with lots of controversial issues including euthanasia. The heated debates about euthanasia of whether it is legal or not have been carried all over the world because euthanasia is related to the morals and ethics. With the development of the technology of organ transplant, the practice of euthanasia is related to organs for sales. As there are many people willing to donate their organs after they die of euthanasia, some people utilize the practice of euthanasia to do illegal tradings. Hence, the legalization of euthanasia and organs for sale is still under controversial.