Thursday 29 April 2010

Hundreds of Urns found in lake could be from euthanasia clinic

The controversial Swiss euthanasia clinic Dignitas is in the spot light again. Hundreds of urns containing cremated human remains have been found dumped in a lake. Not only is this illegal and could bring hefty fines, it is also a distinctly undignified way of treating the remains of people who went there for a 'dignified' death. Read article here.
About 1000 people have had their lives ended at Dignitas, including 115 Britons. Euthanasia is illegal in the UK but there was clarification of when relatives may be prosecuted, earlier this year - see here for details.
With an aging population in the UK there is likey to be far more cases of degenerative diseases that can lead to a scenario where euthanasia is considered.
So, is it absolutely wrong to take a human life, or there situations when it is acceptable?
Is all type of killing the same?
There is also the issue of human remains. Do we have a moral responsibility to treat them with respect? (This links to the previous post)

For revision materials on euthanasia click here.

Thursday 22 April 2010

Aborted Foetus' Found in Rubbish

The remains of 14 aborted foetus' have been found in rubbish bags near a clinic in India. Some will see this as an unfortunate case of mis-managment of medical waste while others will be appalled as it highlights what they see as the legalised murder of unborn people.

It raises another issue that exists within Indian society, and some others. That is aborting foetus' on grounds of gender. Males are more desirable and it is believed that millions of female foetus' have been aborted over the last couple of decades.
If abortion is murder then this is clearly wrong. However, for those who argue that abortion can be acceptable is there anything wrong with this?



How does one decide what is an acceptable reason to have an abortion and what is not?
To read more about this issue click here.