Raping and making love are different concepts: so are killing and voluntary euthanasia

Area of Science:

• Medical Ethics
• Philosophy of Medicine
• Bioethics

Background:

• The terminology used in end-of-life care, specifically 'kill' versus 'help to die,' carries significant ethical weight.
• Active voluntary euthanasia, where a patient consents to end-of-life assistance, is a subject of ongoing ethical and legal debate.
• The principle of the sanctity of life is often invoked to argue against medical involvement in ending a patient's life.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the linguistic and ethical distinction between 'killing' and 'helping to die' in the context of active voluntary euthanasia.
• To challenge the legal prohibition of active voluntary euthanasia based on the 'red light principle' (sanctity of life).
• To reframe the role of physicians in performing active voluntary euthanasia.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical argumentation using analogies (e.g., rape vs. making love).
• Ethical reasoning applied to the concept of consent in medical procedures.
• Comparative analysis of legal/ethical principles, drawing parallels with emergency vehicle driving.

Main Results:

• The term 'kill' is deemed inappropriate for active voluntary euthanasia due to the crucial element of patient consent.
• The analogy highlights that consent fundamentally alters the nature of the act, differentiating it from non-consensual harm.
• The 'red light principle' argument against active voluntary euthanasia is countered by the necessity of overriding certain rules in specific, justified circumstances.

Conclusions:

• Active voluntary euthanasia, when performed with explicit patient consent, should be linguistically and ethically distinguished from non-consensual killing.
• Legal frameworks prohibiting active voluntary euthanasia based solely on the sanctity of life principle may require re-evaluation.
• Physicians performing active voluntary euthanasia under strict ethical guidelines can be ethically compared to other professionals permitted to deviate from standard rules for a greater good.