Assignment #13 due 11-19
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PHIL-101
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Philosophy
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Jan 9, 2024
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Uploaded by ProfessorHornet304
Assignment #13
due 11-19
ONE
:
read through the
Quinlan
and
Glucksberg
court cases, with commentaries.
TWO
:
on the
Quinlan/Glucksberg
discussion board, address the following issues:
A
:
the
Quinlan
case certified as legal the procedure that we call the "letting die" option
(see commentary) - on the basis of the right of personal privacy
. Under this option, a
patient - having met certain criteria - is allowed to request a discontinuance of life
support (or the patient's representative - like Karen's father). Is this carrying the privacy
right too far? How would we determine if the patient is "rational" in making the request?
I do not think that carrying the privacy right was too far. The privacy right gives the
patient’s the right to make the decision to decline medical treatment, you can't force
someone to do something if they don't want it. Additionally if the next of kin who has the
right to the patient's medical treatment has the same right to make that decision for the
patient if the patient can not do it themselves. They know the patient better than anyone
else and would know what they want when it comes to their own life. In my opinion we
can determine if a patient is rational in making the request by talking to many
psychologists and doctors. If both the psychologist and doctor come to the same
conclusion that the patient is rational and is able to make decisions then they can make
the request.
B
:
in the
Glucksberg
case, one worry was that the acceptance of voluntary euthanasia
would lead to an acceptance of
directed euthanasia (this is the "slippery slope"
argument) - therefore, voluntary euthanasia ought not to be allowed. Is this reasoning
correct? Is it possible for society to legitimize voluntary euthanasia in a way that
wouldn't
lead to the legitimation of directed euthanasia?
I do not think this reasoning is correct. Voluntary euthanasia means that the patient has
made the request. So, having satisfied certain hospital criteria we give the patient a
lethal injection and they die. Direct ethanasia is when the patient has not made the
request for the termination of life. People can just go ahead and kill the patient, maybe
thinking that they would be better off dead, or that they would have wanted it this way.
However, this is totally illegal in America, it’s called murder. You can’t just kill the patient.
Thats why we have the patient make the option or have the next of kin do so when the
patient is unable to. I do believe that it is possible for society to legitimize voluntary
euthanasia and it wouldnt lead to the legitimization of direct euthanasia because of the
ethical and moral standards it would uphold.
QUINLAN
Dr. Stephen
-
The Karen Quinlan case comes to us from the year 1976.
-
It is this case – and others like it – that certified as legal the
letting die option
-
As described on page 314, for reasons still not fully understood, Karen fell into a
persistent vegetative state
(PVS; see page two of my
intro to euthanasia commentary
.
She wasn’t “brain dead”).
-
“At the age of 22, she lies in a debilitated and allegedly moribund state at Saint Clare’s
Hospital in Denville, New Jersey.”
-
Her father – Joseph Quinlan – has gone to court requesting that he be given the
authorization to disconnect Karen’s respirator
that supposedly was sustaining her. Her
medical condition is described in “The Factual Base” on page 314.
-
It’s amazing how quickly one can go downhill physically if not active..
-
Joseph Quinlan won the case
, and was appointed his daughter’s legal guardian – on the
same legal basis as was offered in the Roe ruling. In both these cases
the ultimate legal
appeal was to the right of personal privacy
.
-
“… this [privacy] right is broad enough to encompass a patient’s decision to decline
medical treatment
under certain circumstances, in much the same way as it is broad
enough to encompass a woman’s decision to terminate pregnancy under certain
conditions.”Of course Karen herself couldn’t make the request for a termination of life
support; but as her legal representative, her father could.
-
And obviously the court had to be guided by medical considerations
-
One interesting aspect of this tragic case was that when the machine was turned off,
Karen against all expectations continued to breath on her own – and this went on for
years. Imagine what a nightmare all this was for her family!
-
Note again that this case did not entail a justification of euthanasia, but rather the
letting die option.
Sometimes in letting die situations the patient
doesn’t die,
at which
point we don’t kill him!
Williams
-
THE SLIPPERY SLOPE ARGUMENT
.
(Page 321, bottom of first column). “Finally,
euthanasia as a policy is a slippery slope… It is only a short step, then, from voluntary
euthanasia… to directed euthanasia…”. Williams evidently feels that the two forms of
euthanasia are essentially linked together. If we legitimize voluntary, then over time we
will “slide” into an acceptance of directed – which would be bad. So, better not to go
there at all!
-
Voluntary Euthanasia
:
notice the word “voluntary”. What this means is that the patient
has made the request
.
So, having satisfied certain hospital criteria we give the patient a
lethal injection and he dies
.
-
Directed Euthanasia
:
Like voluntary, the outcome is certain. We give the patient a lethal
shot, and that’s the end of him. But notice the word “directed”. What this means is that
the patient has not made the request for the termination of life. We just go ahead and
kill him, maybe thinking that he would be better off dead,
or that he would have
wanted it this way. But whatever the reason, no request is forthcoming from this patient.
Sometimes this option is called
“mercy killing”, and is totally illegal in America – it’s
called murder. You can’t just kill patients!
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