Robert Latimer Case
Ethics
The Robert Latimer case details the tragic situation of a father caring for a severely disabled child pushed to his breaking point. After witnessing the suffering of his daughter Tracy through numerous invasive and minimally effective procedures, Latimer eventually decided to take his child's life (Eckstein 1995). For doing so, he was convicted of homicide and although the case was tried in 1995, it still presents a number of troubling ethical challenges to medical ethicists today.
From a deontological or Kantian point-of-view, or the notion that one must behave as if setting a moral law for all time, Latimer's actions are immoral if it is assumed that intentional killing is always wrong, particularly of a disabled person who is not in full possession of his or her ability to determine if he or she is happy or not. A Kantian would ask the question -- if Latimer is allowed to take the life of a disabled person and decide what constitutes a worthwhile life, what is to stop other persons from doing the same thing. However, from a utilitarian point-of-view,...
Right to Life For all human beings death is one of the most intricate truths to cope with. In spite of this, people take decisions to finish their lives, which in turn result in ending their pain and suffering. This practice is known as euthanasia, or even commonly called as assisted suicide by those who are against the practice completely. However, whatever term we may use to label it, it is an
Euthanasia The power to control the destiny of another person's life is an opiate which no person should have the ability to ingest when the control is over the persons life, or death. While medical technology has been creating new conditions by which individuals can live longer, and medical science has entered a new era regarding treatment of conditions which only a few years ago would haven the lives of those
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