Understanding ‘Euthanasia’ Across Various Medical Practices

Abstract

End-of-life decisions and assisted suicide are often equated with ‘euthanasia.’ In everyday parlance of social actors, the term euthanasia is understood rather broadly, even lumped together with other medical procedures. Still, the paper argues that ‘intended merciful death,’ whether we like the definition or not, ought not to be equated with other practices. Although all of these medical procedures result in the destruction of potential or actual life, the reasons behind such actions could be quite different from empathy or mercy, making the acceptance and advocacy of a problematic definition and understanding of euthanasia the subject of ethical and social debates and analyses. When considering the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, the debate stretches out to include also vulnerable groups in general, which in the contemporary context range from homeless persons and other marginalized groups to embryos created during IVF (in vitro fertilization). The paper presents two case studies, chosen from ten personal stories of former and current IVF procedure patients. In all ten narratives, interlocutors equate abortion with embryo reduction, and both of those with euthanasia. The paper analyzes their perspective to embryos that were not implanted, as well as similarities and differences in their views regarding the activities in the cases of implanted embryos (twin and triplet pregnancies).