What are the moral issues of euthanasia?

OpinionNo one can claim to truly know whether, or in what circumstances, euthanasia is moral. So, while it is possible to try to answer this question by discussing the moral issues, it is not easy to say whether euthenasia is ever morally supportable. Of course, euthanasia should be differentiated from simple removal of life support from a patient who has already effectively succumbed.

The Churches, on good grounds, oppose euthanasia in all circumstances. We all regard life as sacred, whether in the religious or a secular sense. The Church position also helps guard against terminating an elderly person's life out of greed or other improper motives.

Others believe that euthanasia is not only permissible but proper, providing it is voluntary, based on full information, and is restricted to those suffering serious pain and close to death. Like that of the Churches, this view is also understandable and defensible.

What few would support, is assisted suicide for reasons other than to end great suffering of the terminally ill.

OpinionI suggest that is a matter of (moral) fact. (There are people who (explicitly or implicitly) believe that moral truth does not exist… but they usually object if you try to kill them.)

Conversely, some situations can constitute ethical dilemmas; that is, there are moral and ethical reasons pointing in opposing directions, because of elements in those situations. (For example, (glossing over the difficulties) euthanasia is done (or not) where there is a moral conflict between • death and • pain plus absence of proper life.)

Even where there is an ethical dilemma, I suggest that this can still be described and quantified. (Of course, it is possible to have an ethical dilemma wherein the result is 50:50.)

Conversely again, it is reasonable to note moral principles that are part of the ethical dilemma of euthanasia, and analyse how much moral weight they have.

I should mention, while I'm here, that it has been accepted medical practice, for many centuries, to not intervene to uselessly prolong the life of someone who was dying. The point is that the current term "euthanasia" is often used in a way that ignores this distinction.