Euthanasia
Key terms:
Non Treatment Decision: the decision medical professionals make to withhold or
withdraw medical treatment or life support that is keeping a person alive because
they are not going to get better, or because the person asks them to. Controversially
it is also sometimes called passive euthanasia
Active euthanasia: a deliberate action performed by a third party to kill a person, for
example by lethal injection
Sanctity of life: the idea that life is intrinsically sacred or has such worth that it is not
considered within the power of a human being
Quality of life: a way of weighing the extrinsic experience of life, that affects or
justifies whether or not it is worth continuing life
Personhood: the quality of human life that makes it worthy – usually linked to
certain higher capacities
Autonomy and the right to die: the idea that human freedom should extend to
decide the time and manner of death
Voluntary euthanasia: this applies when a person’s life is ended painlessly by a third
party at their own request
Non-voluntary euthanasia: this applies when a person is unable to express their wish
to die but there are reasonable grounds for ending their life painlessly, for example if
a person cannot communicate but is in extreme pain
Dignity: the worth or quality of life, which can be linked to sanctity or freedom
Palliative care: end-of-life care to make the person’s remaining moments of life as
comfortable as possible
Involuntary euthanasia: where a person is killed against their wishes, for example
when disabled people were killed by Nazi doctors
Key terms:
Non Treatment Decision: the decision medical professionals make to withhold or
withdraw medical treatment or life support that is keeping a person alive because
they are not going to get better, or because the person asks them to. Controversially
it is also sometimes called passive euthanasia
Active euthanasia: a deliberate action performed by a third party to kill a person, for
example by lethal injection
Sanctity of life: the idea that life is intrinsically sacred or has such worth that it is not
considered within the power of a human being
Quality of life: a way of weighing the extrinsic experience of life, that affects or
justifies whether or not it is worth continuing life
Personhood: the quality of human life that makes it worthy – usually linked to
certain higher capacities
Autonomy and the right to die: the idea that human freedom should extend to
decide the time and manner of death
Voluntary euthanasia: this applies when a person’s life is ended painlessly by a third
party at their own request
Non-voluntary euthanasia: this applies when a person is unable to express their wish
to die but there are reasonable grounds for ending their life painlessly, for example if
a person cannot communicate but is in extreme pain
Dignity: the worth or quality of life, which can be linked to sanctity or freedom
Palliative care: end-of-life care to make the person’s remaining moments of life as
comfortable as possible
Involuntary euthanasia: where a person is killed against their wishes, for example
when disabled people were killed by Nazi doctors
