Apuntes sobre la eutanasia

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, human life is held to be sacred, a semblance of the divine and a gift from God which the individual cannot dispose of at his or her own will. Hence, these monotheistic religions have made of the crime of murder a transgression of God's own commandment not to ki...

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Autor principal:	Goic G,Alejandro
Lenguaje:	Spanish / Castilian
Publicado:	Sociedad Médica de Santiago 2005
Materias:	Euthanasia, active Euthanasia, passive Principle-based ethics Suicide, assisted Terminal care
Acceso en línea:	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-98872005000300014
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spelling	oai:scielo:S0034-988720050003000142005-05-17Apuntes sobre la eutanasiaGoic G,Alejandro Euthanasia, active Euthanasia, passive Principle-based ethics Suicide, assisted Terminal care In the Judeo-Christian tradition, human life is held to be sacred, a semblance of the divine and a gift from God which the individual cannot dispose of at his or her own will. Hence, these monotheistic religions have made of the crime of murder a transgression of God's own commandment not to kill and have extended the applicability of this commandment to the practice of euthanasia and suicide. On the other hand, some non-religious traditions offer plausible reasons favoring euthanasia. This is a delicate matter for physicians, since the Hippocratic tradition forbids euthanasia and because as care-givers they must also bear the psychological, moral and emotional burden of carrying it out. Physicians are trained to preserve life but not to bring it to an end. As human beings, they must always respect the principle of nonmaleficence, and as physicians they must always respect as well the principle of beneficence. It is difficult to accept the fact that ending a human life can be an act of beneficence. In order to differentiate between passive and active euthanasia, the concept of proportionality of medical acts must be brought into consideration. For instance, using high doses of opiates to alleviate pain or withholding the use of an extraordinary method of treatment are not passive acts aimed at ending the life of a terminally ill patient, but medical acts that are reasonable, judicious and proportionate to the condition and irreversibility of a patient's illness. Therefore, so-called passive euthanasia cannot be considered the same as euthanasia. On the other hand, medically assisted suicide is a deceitful form of active euthanasia. The aim of this act is to cause death and the physician is morally responsible for such a death, since he is providing the means for bringing a human life to an end. Many times the desire to die expressed by terminally ill elderly and helpless patients is a request for help and an expression of reproach against a society that allows for their abandonment and neglect. (Rev Méd Chile 2005; 133: 371-5)info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessSociedad Médica de SantiagoRevista médica de Chile v.133 n.3 20052005-03-01text/htmlhttp://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-98872005000300014es10.4067/S0034-98872005000300014
institution	Scielo Chile
collection	Scielo Chile
language	Spanish / Castilian
topic	Euthanasia, active Euthanasia, passive Principle-based ethics Suicide, assisted Terminal care
spellingShingle	Euthanasia, active Euthanasia, passive Principle-based ethics Suicide, assisted Terminal care Goic G,Alejandro Apuntes sobre la eutanasia
description	In the Judeo-Christian tradition, human life is held to be sacred, a semblance of the divine and a gift from God which the individual cannot dispose of at his or her own will. Hence, these monotheistic religions have made of the crime of murder a transgression of God's own commandment not to kill and have extended the applicability of this commandment to the practice of euthanasia and suicide. On the other hand, some non-religious traditions offer plausible reasons favoring euthanasia. This is a delicate matter for physicians, since the Hippocratic tradition forbids euthanasia and because as care-givers they must also bear the psychological, moral and emotional burden of carrying it out. Physicians are trained to preserve life but not to bring it to an end. As human beings, they must always respect the principle of nonmaleficence, and as physicians they must always respect as well the principle of beneficence. It is difficult to accept the fact that ending a human life can be an act of beneficence. In order to differentiate between passive and active euthanasia, the concept of proportionality of medical acts must be brought into consideration. For instance, using high doses of opiates to alleviate pain or withholding the use of an extraordinary method of treatment are not passive acts aimed at ending the life of a terminally ill patient, but medical acts that are reasonable, judicious and proportionate to the condition and irreversibility of a patient's illness. Therefore, so-called passive euthanasia cannot be considered the same as euthanasia. On the other hand, medically assisted suicide is a deceitful form of active euthanasia. The aim of this act is to cause death and the physician is morally responsible for such a death, since he is providing the means for bringing a human life to an end. Many times the desire to die expressed by terminally ill elderly and helpless patients is a request for help and an expression of reproach against a society that allows for their abandonment and neglect. (Rev Méd Chile 2005; 133: 371-5)
author	Goic G,Alejandro
author_facet	Goic G,Alejandro
author_sort	Goic G,Alejandro
title	Apuntes sobre la eutanasia
title_short	Apuntes sobre la eutanasia
title_full	Apuntes sobre la eutanasia
title_fullStr	Apuntes sobre la eutanasia
title_full_unstemmed	Apuntes sobre la eutanasia
title_sort	apuntes sobre la eutanasia
publisher	Sociedad Médica de Santiago
publishDate	2005
url	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-98872005000300014
work_keys_str_mv	AT goicgalejandro apuntessobrelaeutanasia
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