The 6 types of euthanasia (explained)

Euthanasia is a medical practice that aims to cause the death of the terminally ill with the purpose of alleviating her suffering and allowing her to rest in peace.

Thus, it consists of a process that by action, through medications, substances or surgical interventions, or omission, remove the support that keeps him alive or stop intervening to shorten his life, ends up leading to the intentional death of the patient. However, there are some variables that can give rise to different types of euthanasia, such as the action carried out by the doctor, the will of the patient or the purpose of the practice.

Being a subject as sensitive as death, it generates controversy, presenting arguments against and in favor of euthanasia. In fact, currently, it can only be done legally in 7 countries.

In this article we will know what types of euthanasia exist and what this process consists of, which countries have legalized this practice, what types of euthanasia exist and what arguments are given against and in favor of this medical process.

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What is euthanasia?

Etymologically, euthanasia means "good death". In most cases, we therefore understand euthanasia as the medical process of ending the life of a person suffering from a terminal illness, thus freeing him from the suffering that this entails. In this way, the action that is carried out is voluntary and intentionally directed to cause the death of the individual.

It is important differentiate euthanasia from other practices such as assisted suicide, which consists of providing help to a patient with the purpose of ending her life, but in this case the person who performs the action is the patient himself.

Euthanasia is currently practiced legally in 7 countries: the Netherlands (the first country to legalize it, in 2002), Belgium (2002), Luxembourg (2009), Colombia (2014), Canada (2006), and Spain and New Zealand (2021).

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Types of euthanasia

As we have already seen, euthanasia shows a specific definition, with particular characteristics that must be fulfilled in order to consider the action as such. Even so, there are small variations that give rise to different types of euthanasia. The variables that allow us to distinguish between the different euthanasia practices are the role played by the doctor, the will shown by the patient or what the purpose of the action is.

1. direct euthanasia

We are talking about direct euthanasia when the procedure performed by the doctor is intended to cause the death of the terminally ill patient. This type of euthanasia in turn is divided into active and passive, depending on the performance of the professional.

1.1. Active direct euthanasia

Active or positive direct euthanasia is thus named given the active involvement of the doctor in the patient's death. The professional performs an action, be it the administration of a medication or the practice of an intervention that causes the intentional death of the subject. As we have seen, the purpose is to reduce suffering and provide a painless death and thus be able to rest.

1.2. Passive direct euthanasia

Direct passive or negative euthanasia also shows the purpose of causing the death of the patient, but in this case, the person dies by omission of action. In other words, the patient does not die due to the intentional action carried out by the professional, but rather due to failing to carry out a practice or removing the support that keeps the patient alive.

Although in this case an action as such is not executed, the intent and responsibility remain being of the doctor, since it is the omission of his conduct that causes the death of the patient.

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2. indirect euthanasia

indirect euthanasia does not show as main objective to cause the death of the terminal patient, but to reduce their pain. These practices can be observed applied in palliative treatments, where the disease is incurable and, in order to reduce the suffering and pain of the patient, drugs with an analgesic function are administered that, as an adverse effect, shorten the subject's life, causing him to die earlier than expected. expected.

The process to achieve the final goal, death, will be slower than that observed in direct euthanasia, but the result in both will be the relief of suffering and pain.

3. voluntary euthanasia

In voluntary euthanasia, as its name indicates, the terminal patient expresses his will to die. Thus, the patient is the one who requests euthanasia at the present time, or he has done it previously (for example, he left in writing that he wanted euthanasia be practiced if the moment arrives he is not capable of transmitting such a wish, as his cognitive capacities are found affected).

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4. involuntary euthanasia

In reference to involuntary euthanasia, the individual who communicates to the professional the desire to practice euthanasia is not the patient himself, but a third person, who is normally a relative of the sick.

When the time has come to make the decision, given the circumstances in which the patient finds himself, such as a decrease in consciousness or a loss of cognitive faculties, he cannot communicate his will, nor did he leave it written beforehand, being in this case a relative of his who makes the decision, fulfilling the wish previously expressed by the patient and thus allowing him to stop suffering.

5. eugenic euthanasia

Eugenic euthanasia proposes the death of individuals with the aim of "improving the race", that is, for ideological purposes. In this case, the practice is not intended to end the patient's suffering, but death it is executed with the purpose of "perfecting" the human species from a discriminatory logic. It can also be performed before the individual is born, considering in this case abortion.

Examples of this type of euthanasia would consist of ending the life of weak subjects, with some type of affectation or simply ending with subjects that show specific characteristics that do not correspond to the "strong race" as happened to the Jews during the holocaust Nazi.

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6. merciful euthanasia

In pious euthanasia, unlike eugenics, the ultimate goal is to ensure that the terminally ill person can rest in peace. Thus, it is the one that is linked to the definition given to euthanasia, housing the possibility of doing it in different ways, with or without the patient's consent, as we have already seen.

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Reasons for and against euthanasia

As we mentioned in the introduction, euthanasia continues to be a practice that generates controversy and different opinions. Thus, both the group that is in favor and the one that is against will give valid arguments to defend their point of view or beliefs.

The subjects who position themselves against euthanasia argue that the action, as much as the intention is to end the suffering of the patient, it consists of killing or letting a person die and as such an immoral procedure and that goes against what is humanly correct. As much as we know that the situation is difficult and complicated, hope always arises in us and a slight thought of finally getting everything to end well. For this reason it is difficult to accept that euthanasia is the best option, since the idea of ​​a possible cure will always arise in us.

On the other hand, we also observe the ethical and moral influence, when the doctor, who, as we have seen, must be the one who executes or omits the action that causes the death of the patient, feels the remorse of having let a patient die and not having done anything to save him. He is acting against the main function that he has as a doctor, which is to heal, and therefore also carries a responsibility that can be difficult to accept.

Instead, advocates of euthanasia will argue that it is the patient's decision to decide what he wants to do with his life. Continuing to endure suffering and pain when the disease is terminal and there is no possibility of improvement is worse for the patient and his family than letting him finally rest in peace. In the end, we must look at the well-being of the patient and assess what is best for him. Letting him continue to suffer when we know he will not recover may be more immoral than helping him achieve his desire to rest.

We thus see how, depending on the factors or point of view chosen, the arguments can vary and have the same meaning, even if they contradict each other. For this reason, each country decides whether to accept and legalize the practice of euthanasia, each also providing its modes of action or characteristics that must be met, for example the number of doctors who must authorize, who requests euthanasia, the age of the terminal patient, the number of times it is necessary to express the intention of wanting the euthanasia to be carried out euthanasia.