Leon Kass Essay Analysis

2 Pages 552 Words

Active euthanasia is defined as “painlessly putting individuals to death for merciful reasons, as when a doctor administers a lethal dose of medication to the patient.” (Beauchamp, Encarta) Leon Kass, a physician himself, believes that euthanasia is morally wrong. At the same time, if a patient voluntarily submits himself or herself to death, also known as voluntary euthanasia, can the physician be held responsible for murder, whereas if he was making the decision for someone who cannot make the decision, also known as non-voluntary euthanasia. At the same time, can it be that euthanasia is not morally wrong but yet, could be the saving grace for some people?
The first part of the article Kass mentions about voluntary euthanasia and the belief that the doctors, out of respect for the patient, would be forced to abide by the requests of the patients. But yet in the next paragraph of the discussions, he mentions about non-voluntary euthanasia, and the pure belief that the doctor cannot make a decision based on medical terms. Yet Kass deems non-voluntary euthanasia to be completely illegal. If a person is suffering from massive internal bleeding and is bound to die, or is completely comatose for ten to fifteen years and shows no signs of change, why should a doctor be bound to treat these people, and our health-care professions be bound to keep these people alive, when there’s little to no hope for them. The choice must be used with regard and care for people surrounding the patient.
Kass also makes recognition “about the healer cannot annihilate is he is truly a healer” (ACS Committee of Ethics Essay) as well as the comparison that a doctor can attempt to heal and very well end up killing the person. The reference that Kass makes is “Giving adequate morphine to control pain might induce respiratory depression leading to death.” (ACS Committee of Ethics Essay) If an attempt to heal a person would end up killing a ...