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Week 3 Assignment: Course Project Milestone – Topic Selection and Discussion
Ahlam Hussein
Chamberlain University
Ethics
07/25/2021
Week 3 Assignment: Course Project Milestone – Topic Selection and Discussion
Selected Topic: Euthanasia
Euthanasia has been a hotly contested debate globally, attracting various ethical theorists. Request to die prematurely by some patients is not ethically, morally, financially, socially, and spiritually accepted by some people.
Positions of Proponents and Opponents Noting Two Moral Reasons in Each Side
Proponents of euthanasia argue based on the “right to self-determination” and “right to die with dignity.” Generally, autonomy and self-determination allow patients to take control of their health (Pesut et al., 2020). A terminally ill patient with the capacity to make a decision should decide how to live and end their lives without opposition. The argument holds if there is no hope of recovery from the terminal illness. Euthanasia allows terminally ill people to leave the world on their terms and wish. “Good death” is not bad after all. Proponents of euthanasia also maintain that terminally ill patients focus on “die with dignity” (Kumar, 2020). Some people do not want to suffer when dying or seeing their loved ones undergoing traumatic grief. That is where euthanasia comes in. some terminally ill patients perceive euthanasia as a technique that eliminates unnecessary suffering and frees people from “painful treatment.”
Opponents of euthanasia would make strong arguments focusing on “live devaluation” and “Hippocratic oath.” The bottom line is that life is a precious gift from God and no one except God has the right to take it. Healthcare providers should respect life’s sanctity and value human life (Kumar, 2020). Every human being is valuable irrespective of their conditions, sex, and other variations. Euthanasia renders human life disposable and facilitates exploitation, and that is dangerous. Second, euthanasia is one of the practices prohibited by the Hippocratic Oath. During oath-taking, caregivers vow to “do no harm” and not administer deadly medications that are binding (Pesut et al., 2020). Healthcare providers should obey fundamental clinical ethics by “doing no harm.” Besides, the practice gives God-like powers to doctors ruining the patient-doctor relationship.
Evaluating the Positions Based on the Moral Theories We Studied This Week
Ethical Egoism
An ethical egoist would say that euthanasia is good if it promotes both patients’ and healthcare provider’s self-interests. Generally, ethical egoism is a normative theory focusing on how people “ought to behave” irrespective of others’ interests (Rachels & Rachels, 2018). An ethical egoist would not support or reject euthanasia practice but would leave the doctor and patient to pursue their self-interests. Ethical egoists would argue that anyone seeking their self-interest is the surest way to foster the general good (Fang & Slavin, 2018). In other words, a healthcare provider should only practice euthanasia if it serves the caregiver’s self-interest (pain-relieving and autonomy). Patients should recommend and accept euthanasia if it serves their self-interest (die with dignity and relieve loved ones of traumatic grief. The topic introduces a conflict between self-loyalty and loyalty to society. Healthcare providers are obligated to offer lifesaving solutions to the community members and not harm or kill them. Same healthcare providers must obey ethical principles of nursing, including patient autonomy and self-determination (ANA, 2014). I feel that caregivers should act in the best interest of patients even though it would not be the best solution.
Social Contract Ethics
Social contract ethicists would say that euthanasia is not “illegal” or immoral if both patient and doctor surrendered some of their liberty and power to agree. Generally, human beings would not be part of society if they lived in a “state of nature.” According to Thomas Hobbes, human beings are fundamentally selfish in the “state of nature”; hence the weak would not thrive, and the strong would not relent (Rachels & Rachels, 2018). Social contract ethicists would support the practice based on multiple factors. First, social contract ethicists would argue that rigidity is a component of the “state of nature,” which promotes disagreement (Chemhuru, 2017). Euthanasia would be “bad,” but it all depends on how the nation or country perceives the practice. People entered into a contract with the government, which approved the patient’s autonomy and self-determination. In other words, everyone “gave up” the right of caregivers to make patients’ decisions. The topic introduces a conflict between nurses’ obligations and the nation’s responsibilities. Nurses must obey patient autonomy, but the government serves to protect every life. The best course of action is the abolition of euthanasia since people “gave up” their rights to allow the government to “protect” their lives. In other words, the government and healthcare providers should disobey the “patient’s autonomy.”
Professional Code of Ethics Relevant to the Topic: The ANA Code for Nurses. How the Chosen Topic Involves Any Conflicts between Professional and Familial Duties
Euthanasia practice has more to do with the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics. The procedure requires healthcare providers to respect patients’ decisions regarding care and “good death.” Provision 1 of the Code of Ethics compels nurses to respect human dignity and observe the “right to self-determination” (ANA, 2014). In other words, terminally ill patients in their rightful mind and capacity have the right to decide when and where to end their lives.
The topic presents a conflict between the nursing profession and familial duties. Euthanasia introduces the concept of provider “conscience” and patient “needs,” which must be explored. Some terminally ill patients need euthanasia to “die with dignity” while healthcare providers’ conscience is at play. Healthcare providers have divided opinions on whether to “devalue human life” and “disobey Hippocratic oath” or heed to “right to self-determination.”
References
ANA. (2014). The Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. Retrieved from https://homecaremissouri.org/mahc/documents/CodeofEthicswInterpretiveStatements20141.pdf
Chemhuru, M. (2017). Gleaning the social contract theory from African communitarian philosophy. South African Journal of Philosophy, 36(4), 505-515. https://doi.org/10.1080/02580136.2017.1359470
Fang, J., & Slavin, N. (2018). Ethics–Comparing Ethical Egoism with Confucius’s Golden Rule. Journal of Business and Economic Studies, 22(1), 17-31.
Kumar, M. M. (2020). A socio and legal perspective of euthanasia in India with reference to arguments for and against euthanasia. European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine, 7(11), 2020.
Pesut, B., Greig, M., Thorne, S., Storch, J., Burgess, M., Tishelman, C., … & Janke, R. (2020). Nursing and euthanasia: A narrative review of the nursing ethics literature. Nursing Ethics, 27(1), 152-167. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733019845127
Rachels, J., & Rachels, S. (2018). The elements of moral philosophy (9th Ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
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