Issue of human euthanasia: Life holiness or right to death

• Author: Simona Petrina Gavrila
• Position: Lecturer PhD. Gavrila Simona Petrina, 'Dunarea de Jos' University Galati, Faculty of Legal, Social and Political Sciences, Law Department
• Pages: 141-144

ISSUE OF HUMAN EUTHANASIA: LIFE HOLINESS OR RIGHT TO DEATH

Gavril Simona Petrina

Abstract

Statistics ha ve pr oved tha t there are people with terminal illnesses, people who endur e awful ordea ls

and who end up pr aying for their life, but who ca nnot be helped to keep their dignity through a n euthana sia.

Both religious beliefs and relevant legislative norms of most law systems contradict “the right to a dignifying

death”, declared by the supporters of euthanasia and medically assisted suicide.

Key words: euthanasia, medically assisted suicide,r ight to life.

Introduction

If dying is inevitable, the only aspects where the human b eing can influence his/her destiny, through the

permanent r ange of choices which he/she makes in his/her life, are related to the way and the moment of dying.

Most of the law systems restrict this freedom by forbidding euthanasia or assisted death.

Euthanasia is the deliberate act of ending a patient’s life, for the purpose of putting an end to his/her

sufferance. Medically a ssisted su icide (SAM) means the death of a patient as a direct result of the “help”

provided by a doctor. Irrespective of the arguments used for eutha nasia or SAM, the r esult always consists in

killing the patient.

Relevant legal regulations

Statistics ha ve proved that there are people with terminal illnesses, people who endure awful ordeals

and who end up praying for their life, but who cannot b e helped to keep their dignity through an euthanasia.

Nevertheless legal systems provide different solutions for this issue.

The Romanian law forbids this practice by incriminating in the penal code both passive euthanasia (art.

179 of the Penal Code: Facilitation or determination of suicide) and active euthanasia which pertai ns to the

provisions of art. 175 of the Penal Code letter a (felony murder).

The New Penal Code

1, art. 190 incriminates the offence of “Murder at the victim’s request”, which

consists in the murder at the explicit, serious, conscious and repeated request of the victim who has been

suffering from an incurable illness or a severe medically certified disability which causes permanent and

unbearable sufferance. The punishment stipulated by law is imprisonment between 1 and 5 years.

At present, the Code of medical deontology of 2005 stipulates in art. 121: " Euthanasia is defini tely

forbidden, i.e. the use of substances or means to cause the death of a patient, irrespective of the severity and the

illness prognostic, even if insistently requested by a perfectly conscious patient. ", and in art. 122: "The d octor

shall not assist or encourage suicide or self-injury by advice, recommendations, instru ment lending or provision

of means. The doctor shall refuse any explanation or help for this purpose ".

The Declaration of Geneva made by the World Medical Association in 1948 says: “I will maintain the

utmost respect for human life, from its very beginnings.”

The right to life has been included in the Canadian Chart for Rights and Freedoms. The same principle

has been implemented by the European Convention on Human Rights, stating the following: “The right of each

person to life shall be protected by law. no person should be deprived of his life on purpose …”

The Recommendation 1418 o f the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of 1999 regarding

the human rights and t he dignity of patients with terminal illnesses and of dying patie nts has noticed for the first

time the fact that these persons r equire special care services, for this purpose requesting member states to p rotect

the right to self-determinatio n of the patients with terminal illnesses and of the dying patients, without admitting

the right of a person to choose the moment and the way of his/her own death.

More precisely, the Recommendation 1418 requests Member States to support the interdictio n regarding

the deliberate deprivation of life for a patient with terminal illness or a dying patient as long as it is well known

the fact that the right to life, especially regarding patients with terminal illnesses or dying patients, is guaranteed

by Member States in accordance with the provisions o f art. 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights; it is

also well known that the desire to die of a patient with terminal illness or of a dying patient cannot be a legal

justification for performing deliberate actions with the purpose of causing death.

The ethical question remai ns – could it e ver be right to kill even if the purpose is to p ut an end to one’s

sufferance? In most co untries, the law is very clear. Killing a patient, even if t he purpose is to put an end to

his/her sufferance, is considered homicide. For this reason, euthanasia is illegal in Canada and in most

 Lecturer PhD. Gavril Simona Petrina, „Dunrea de Jos” University Galai, Faculty of Legal, Social and Political Sciences, Law

Department, gavrilasimonapetrina@yahoo.com

1 Law no. 286 regarding the Penal Code, published in the Official Gazette no. 510 of 24.07.2009.