The Right to Die: Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide from a European Perspective

• Author: Niamh O'Brien
• Position: Final Year BCL (International) Student, University College Cork. I would like to thank my parents for all their encouragement throughout my studies and to the members of the Editorial Board for their invaluable help with my article
• Pages: 96-115

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THE RIGHT TO DIE: EUTHANASIA AND ASSISTED SUICIDE FROM A

EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE.

Niamh O’Brien*

A INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this article is to examine the social history of euthanasia, and to analyse and

contrast the legal attitude to ‘mercy killings’ and the right to die in two different European

Union member states; Ireland and Belgium. This article will explore the history of euthanasia,

the cultural reasons which underpin the differing approaches of these states and examine to

what extent the relevant EuropeanUnion member states; Ireland and Belgium. This article will

explore the history of euthanasia, the cultural reasons which underpin the differing approaches

of these states and examine to what extent the relevant European policies are capable of

protecting vulnerable patients and the right with which the policy intends to safeguard. It will

also examine whether in this process they unintentionally curtail the right that they are meant

to serve. As stated by Philippe Aries ‘[D]eath no longer belongs to the dying man, nor the

family. Death is regulated and organised by bureaucrats whose competence and humanity

cannot prevent them from treating death as a thing that must bother them as little as possible.’

1

B EUTHANASIA: A BRIEF HISTORY

The term euthanasia derives from the Greek phrase εὐθανασία. The English translation refers

to a good death, characterised by ease and absence of pain.

2

The practice of euthanasia is long

established, it is woven throughout the fabric of human civilization.

One of the earliest recorded discussions of euthanasia was found in the historical records of

Suetonius. Suetonius, a biographer, wrote De Vita Caesarum in AD 121 wherein he chronicled

the life of Roman nobility. Suetonius spoke about the painless and quick death of Emperor

* Final Year BCL (International) Student, University College Cork. I would like to thank my parents for all their

encouragement throughout my studies and to the members of the Editorial Board for their invaluable help with my

article.

1

Phillipe Aries, The Hour of Our Death: The Classic History of Western Attitudes Toward Death over the Last

One Thousand Years (2nd edn, Vintage Books 2008) 588.

2

Visnja Strinic, ‘Arguments in Support and Against Euthanasia’ (2015) 9(7) British Journal of Medicine and

Medical Research 2.

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97

Augustus - a passing which was the euthanasia that the Emperor had desired.

3

Euthanasia was

recognised, but not always accepted as a societal practice, in many ancient cultures.

During the reign of Sparta, euthanasia was seen as a way to promote an ideal model of citizens.

The Spartans believed that it would advance their society to allow invalids, citizens and infants

with disabilities to pass away. The practice was often carried out irrespective of the

individual’s wishes in order to execute the expectation that ‘a person ill-suited for health and

service to the state’ would be better off dead than alive.

4

A departure from the Spartan acceptance of euthanasia can be seen in the works of Hippocrates

of Kos, most notably his work on the Hippocratic Oath. The oath is estimated to have

originated from the 3rd to 5th centuries BC, its code outlined ethical guidelines for medical

practitioners.

5

The Hippocratic Oath required physicians to promise to uphold certain moral

standards. One such moral standard was the exclusion of certain medical treatments from the

practice of the physicians who swore under it, including administering poison to induce death.

6

Although the oath originates from Roman and Grecian times, records suggest that the practice

of assisting with death continued.

7

Medical practitioners would continue to administer mercy

killings to those who requested it of them into the later centuries. There are several

explanations; namely that the registration of practitioners was not mandatory prior to

practicing on patients and there was an absence of enforcement agencies to engage with lapses

of professional standards.

8

Euthanasia was both an accepted practice and an acceptable death.

The fall of the Roman Empire and the increasing importance of religion were the leading

factors in the decreasing acceptance of euthanasia in the succeeding years.

9

The majority of

the world religions denounced suicide and euthanasia. The teachings of Judaism and

Christianity stated that to commit suicide ‘violates God’s authority over life’, a gift which

3

Philippe Letellier, Euthanasia: Volume 1 – Ethical and Human Aspects (Council of Europe 2003) 13 as cited in

Soumi Biswas and Malay Mundle, ‘Passive Euthanasia/Physician Assisted Suicide - Whither Indian Judicial

System?’ (2014) 2(1) Journal of Comprehensive Health 11, 12.

4

Ian Dowbiggin, A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death, God and Medicine (Rowman & Littlefield

Publishers 2007) 8.

5

ibid 10.

6

Steve Philips, ‘Physicians, t he Morality of Euthanasia, and the Hippocratic Oath’ (Bioethics at Trinity

International University, 15 July 2015) of-

euthanasia-and-the-hippocratic-oath/> accessed 13 October 2018.

7

Dowbiggan (n 4) 9.

8

ibid 9, 10.

9

ibid 16.