Discussion Points: Natural Law & Situation Ethics
Religious Studies: OCR A Level, topic 2.5.2
Situation Ethics and Natural Law Applied to Euthanasia
Here we look at how situational ethics and natural law are applied to euthanasia.
,w_800.jpg)
Situation ethics and euthanasia
- The debate over euthanasia relies on one basic question according to Fletcher.
- For the situationist, the issue is whether it is harder to justify letting someone die a slow and ugly death, dehumanised than it is to justify helping them escape from such misery.
Natural law and euthanasia
- When applying natural law, the primary precepts should be recalled.
- In the case of euthanasia, the key precept to do good and avoid evil and the primary precept to preserve life, which upholds the sanctity of life and consequently the belief that only God has the right to give and take life, are particularly important.
Catholic teaching on euthanasia
- According to the Bible, we are created in God's image and knitted together by God in the womb (Psalm 139:13).
- The Catholic Church's teachings on euthanasia conclude that euthanasia is wrong (Pastoral Constitution, Gaudium et Spes, no. 27, 1965) as life is sacred and a gift from God, 'which they are called upon to preserve and make fruitful' (Declaration on Euthanasia, 1980).
Test yourself on Discussion Points: Natural Law & Situation Ethics
Which part of the Bible states that humans are knitted together by God in the womb?