Bioethics and Medical Ethics Commons^™

"Life Unworthy Of Life" Aktion T4: The First Nazi Genocide, Alexander M. Remington

Student Publications

Though usually viewed as a prelude to the Holocaust, the T4 euthanasia program was a distinct genocide carried out by the Third Reich’s doctors. Allowing themselves to be corrupted by eugenics and Nazi policy, the perpetrators of the Nazi euthanasia killings transformed themselves from healers to murderers. Despite public resistance led by Bishop Clemens von Galen which resulted in the cancellation of the T4 program, Nazi doctors took it upon themselves to continue euthanizing patients until the end of the war, emphasizing the legitimacy that euthanasia had acquired. The history of the T4 program, its perpetrators, and resisters is critical …

Ethics Of Euthanasia And Physician Assisted Suicide, Kathryn Halloran

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Promoting Health Literacy To Aging Christians To Combat The Scourge Of Euthanasia Through The Church, Willie Mae Corley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The many dilemmas that occur in the medical care of chronically ill seniors raise the question of whether senior populations have become the new black. The research seeks to provide an evidence-based review of limited health literacy among elderly African American Christians regarding diagnoses and medical treatments, which has resulted in unethical Christian practices becoming a norm. The researcher adapted the health literacy framework of Paasche Orlow and Wolf’s view of three distinct causes that influence health literacy: the access and utilization of health care, the patient-provider relationship, and self-care. The problem is that Victory Church members may not understand …

Biomedical Ethics In The Medical School Curriculum: Lessons Learned From The Holocaust, Emma Flanagan

College Honors Program

The Holocaust, the murder of 6 million Jews, is the only medically-santioned genocide. This thesis explores the roles of Nazi doctors in the planning, organizing, and implementation of the organized mass murder of European Jewry. Given the German medical community’s complicity, it is imperative that physicians today are well informed about their profession’s history of involvement in the Holocaust. In addition, and by way of contrast, a study of the moral challenges faced by doctors imprisoned in concentration camps or in the ghettos of Nazi-occupied Europe might serve to better prepare physicians for future ethical dilemmas. In a survey of …

Ethical Theories And Perspectives On End-Of-Life Decisions, Lauren Skelton

Dialogue & Nexus

This paper approaches several different ethical theories to see how they interact with the issue of withdrawing and withholding life-sustaining care. After the theories of Utilitarianism, Kantian and Prima Facie Deontology, Virtue Ethics, and Evolutionary Ethics are explored at length, Deontological theories are proven to be the best decision-making guide from the perspective of both patients and those in policy-making positions. When used together, Kantian and Prima Facie Deontology offer the overall best combination of ethical instruction and personal freedom.

The Ethical Considerations Of Physician-Assisted Suicide, Madeline Jordan

Dialogue & Nexus

With respect to physician-assisted suicide, several approaches to adjudicate an ethical position can be processed from the theories of utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, and virtue ethics. This paper will explore these three positions with respect to physician-assisted suicide and the pros and cons of each. In conclusion, based on my research and Christian beliefs, I will define why I reside with virtue ethics and why it leads me to a position that is against physician-assisted suicide at this particular point in my life.

Dignity, Pet-Euthanasia And Person Euthanasia, Thomas A. Cavanaugh

Philosophy

Challenging the standard argument for euthanasia, G. E. M. Anscombe holds that euthanasia does not comport with human dignity interpreted in terms of self-determination. For, were self-determination to ground any killing it would justify self-killing, not being killed by another. I articulate reasons for thinking that she correctly identifies the dissonance of self-determination with euthanasia. Additionally, I argue that the same holds, less obviously, for physician-assisted suicide (PAS, which she does not explicitly consider).

Moreover, Anscombe suggests that what actually occurs in euthanasia in effect equates a person to a humanely euthanized dog and, thereby, trivializes and degrades human lives …

Euthanasie Und Menschenversuche Im Dritten Reich, Mit Einer Ethischen Analyse Der Menschenversuche, Max J. Roehmholdt

Honors Theses

The idea in Nazi-Germany of a “pure” Germany culminated in the systematic murder of millions of people, and within that, the crimes against humanity of euthanasia and human experimentation. The memories of child and adult euthanasia pervade society even today. This project looks at the development of Nazi-euthanasia and the memoirs and films about it, which leave lasting impressions by engraining in audience member’s minds the real facts about euthanasia and euthanasia institutions. The victims of euthanasia were often used in Nazi human experimentation, a product of the Nazi pursuit of scientific advancement. This project also examines these human experiments, …

Killing And Letting Die: The Irrelevant Distinction, Sarah Beth Shaw

Honors College Theses

The object of this essay is to explain why the distinctions made in euthanasia between killing vs. letting die and willingness to kill vs. unwillingness to kill are not relevant to real life euthanasia cases. The specific purpose of the research is to isolate the relevant factor for debate when discussing the morality of euthanasia. It begins with a brief examination of some vocabulary that is commonly used when discussing euthanasia. Following this is a quick overview of what the word euthanasia meant in the ancient Greco-Roman world compared to what it means in the modern vernacular. I use an …

A Distinction Without A Moral Difference? An Essay On The Difference Between Palliative Sedation And Physician-Assisted Death, Patrick T. Smith

Wayne State University Dissertations

Professionals engaged in palliative care have a responsibility to treat their patients by aggressively managing pain and certain kinds of suffering within legal and professional ethical boundaries. Many medical professionals and ethicists, rightly or wrongly, have considered the practices of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, which can be categorized as instances of physician-assisted death (PAD), to be beyond the scope of ethically appropriate health care. Many of these same individuals who oppose PAD, and the professional organizations they sometimes represent, often embrace, at the same time, the practice of palliative/terminal sedation at the end of life. Palliative sedation is thought to …

Critical Remarks On The Dutch Policy And Practice Of Euthanasia And Proposed Guidelines For Physician-Assisted Suicide, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

My essay opens with some personal words about my acquaintance with Ivan Šegota. I proceed by explaining the methodology of my research on euthanasia in the Netherlands. I then detail the major findings and end with guidelines for physician-assisted suicide (PAS). My research in the Netherlands made me change my mind: from supporter of euthanasia I became an ardent opposer of this practice. I think, however, that physicians should not turn a deaf ear to patients at the end of life, who suffer miserably and request to die. Therefore, PAS is suggested. To prevent potential abuse, we need to devise …

Update - October 2006, Loma Linda University Center For Christian Bioethics

Update

In this issue:

-- Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Jewish Perspective
-- Jack W. Provonsha posthumously honored with Centennial Vanguard Award
-- Student updates
-- Associate Scholars of the Center for Christian Bioethics
-- Editorial

Learning From The Dutch: Physician-Assisted Death, Slippery Slopes And The Nazi Analogy, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.

Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide And The Family Physician, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.

Update - Winter 1985, Loma Linda University Center For Christian Bioethics

Update

In this issue:

-- Hastings Center and Ethics Center to present "Biomedical Ethics Today: Old models and New" at Loma Linda April 21 and 22
-- Maloney and Winslow address allocation
-- "Worship Aids" unite ethics and liturgy
-- Ethics Center: Priest, Prophet, or Participant? (Editorial)

[ Reflections Regarding William Bartling ]
-- Siding With Life
-- The Patient is the Final Arbiter
-- Competing Claims Make Hard Choices

-- Excerpts from the California appeals court decision
-- $200,000 given to Ethics Center