Hello, my name's Mrs. Loudon and I'd like to welcome you to today's lesson on Christianity and the issue of euthanasia.

In our lesson today, you will be able to explain the key issues surrounding euthanasia and assisted suicide.

And evaluate arguments for and against legalising them.

Some keywords that we'll be using today are assisted dying, assisted suicide, euthanasia, and palliative care.

Assisted dying is helping someone end their life often through euthanasia or assisted suicide.

Assisted suicide is providing someone with the means to end their life due to terminal illness or suffering.

Euthanasia is intentionally ending a person's life to relieve their suffering, either by causing death or allowing it to occur.

And palliative care is medical care that focuses on providing relief from pain, aiming to improve the quality of life for patients.

Our lesson today will form two parts.

We will be looking at issues surrounding euthanasia and at arguments about euthanasia.

So let's get started looking at the issues surrounding euthanasia.

The word "euthanasia" comes from ancient Greek.

It has two parts.

We have the word "eu" which means well or good, and then "thanatos" which means death.

So euthanasia literally translates as good death or dying well.

It refers to the intentional ending of a person's life to relieve their suffering, either by causing death or by allowing it to occur.

So euthanasia is deliberately ending a person's life, but it's with the intention of relieving suffering.

So it is either voluntary, which is when a person consents to their life being ended.

Or non-voluntary.

And this is when a person is unable to consent.

So another person makes a decision on their behalf.

It's also either active, and this is when deliberate action is taken to end a person's life.

Or passive, and this is when life sustaining treatment is withdrawn or withheld.

Assisted suicide is slightly different from euthanasia, and this is when someone provides the means or assistance for another person to end their own life.

And again, this is due to terminal illness or unbearable suffering.

So the difference is that euthanasia is about somebody else ending a person's life.

And assisted suicide is about assisting the person to end their own life.

So the types of euthanasia can be organised like this.

We have voluntary at one end of the scale where someone chooses.

We have passive at another end of the scale where treatment is withdrawn or withheld.

We have non-voluntary contrasting with voluntary where someone does not make a decision because they're unable to.

And we have active contrasting with passive where treatment is given to end a person's life.

So an example of active voluntary euthanasia would be a lethal injection to end someone's life requested by the terminally ill patient.

So they ask for it to be done to them.

Voluntary passive would be where a terminally ill patient refuses life support and as a result, their life ends.

Non-voluntary, passive, which is the most common form of passive euthanasia would be when a doctor or maybe a family member or a combination decide to withdraw life support from a patient in a coma and they die as a result.

Non-voluntary active is very rare, but this would be a lethal injection for a patient in a coma which ends their life.

So let's check your understanding on this so far.

Someone who is suffering with a terminal illness asks a doctor to administer a lethal injection to end their suffering.

Which two types of euthanasia are described in this scenario? A, voluntary euthanasia.

B, non-voluntary euthanasia.

C, passive euthanasia, and D, active euthanasia.

So take your time, have a think about the meanings of those different terms. Pause the video if you need to and come back when you are ready to check your answers.

Well done if you said it was voluntary and if it was active.

So voluntary is where someone makes the choice themselves.

And active is where they're given treatment to end their suffering.

The law on euthanasia varies a lot around the world.

It's a really current and quite controversial issue.

We have some countries that are fairly permissive, so that means they allow it.

We have those with mixed laws and then we have some that are more restrictive.

In the Netherlands, euthanasia is legal for adults and minors.

The person must experience unbearable suffering with no hope of recovery, and the procedure must be performed by a doctor after careful review.

In Switzerland, assisted suicide is legal, but active euthanasia is not.

So this means that someone can be given the means to end their own life.

Non-physicians, so non-doctors can assist in this suicide as long as they do not have selfish motives.

At the other end of the scale, the more restricted countries, we have Ireland where euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal.

Assisted suicide, if it happens, is considered to be manslaughter and euthanasia is treated as murder.

In the UK, active euthanasia is illegal, and this is under the Suicide Act of 1961.

And it is similar to Ireland treated as murder or manslaughter.

Potentially, it carries a life sentence.

Under the same act assisted suicide.

So giving someone the means to end their own life is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

However, in the UK, it's legal for doctors to withdraw or withhold life sustaining treatment if it is deemed to be in the patient's best interests.

So have a think about those different ranges of laws from the most permissive to the more restrictive, where would you put UK law on this continuum? If you're able to pause and turn and talk to somebody, please do.

Or you can pause and talk to me, come back when you are ready to join the lesson.

So let's check your understanding.

Give one country where assisted suicide is legal.

So take your time, have a think about those different laws in the different countries.

Pause if you need to and then come back when you are ready to check your answer.

So you might have said either the Netherlands or Switzerland.

If you remember in the Netherlands, we actually have euthanasia as legal.

And in Switzerland we had assisted suicide as legal.

So both illegal in the Netherlands and in the Switzerland, assisted suicide is legal.

So euthanasia is a really difficult issue.

There are many considerations that will impact on people's views on it, and there is a huge range of views on the general topic of assisted dying.

Here are some of the things that would be considered.

You might ask questions about life.

Is it always valuable regardless of suffering? So even if someone is in great pain, unbearable agony, does their life still have value? Should they still be living life? Should people have the right to choose when to end their own life? So how much choice do we have over what happens to our own bodies? What about other people? Do they have the right to choose to end someone's life, maybe on their behalf? If someone wishes to end their life, is it right for them to ask someone else to help them do it? Or is that asking too much of maybe a friend or a relative or a doctor? Should euthanasia or assisted suicide be legal for those who are terminally ill? And what about people who are vulnerable? Would they feel pressure to go for euthanasia even if they didn't want to? The legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide is regularly debated in the UK with charities and organisations either campaigning for or against it.

One example is a charity called Dignity in Dying, and that launched a petition in 2015, and that was to gather support for legalising assisted dying for terminally ill adults.

There have been approximately seven attempts to legalise assisted dying since the 1961 Suicide Act, decriminalised suicide.

So you might not have realised, but actually suicide used to be illegal in the UK before 1961.

Here are some examples of those organisations that I mentioned in the UK who campaign either for or against the legalisation of assisted dying.

We have, as I mentioned before, the charity Dignity in Dying, which campaigned for the legalisation of assisted dying, but with strict safeguards in place to prevent that law being misused.

And we have the charity, Care Not Killing, which poses euthanasia and assisted suicide, and instead, it advocates for better palliative care.

And that means the pain relief and support that helps someone who is in great suffering and who is terminally ill.

Let's check your understanding.

I'd like you to name an organisation which argues people who are suffering and terminally ill should have a right to choose when to end their own life.

So take a moment to think about your answer, pause if you need to, and then come back when you're ready to check.

You could have said for this one, Dignity in Dying.

Well done if you got that one correct.

So let's work on our first practise task for issues surrounding euthanasia.

I would like you to complete the table to show your understanding of euthanasia and assisted suicide.

So we want to make it really clear that we get the differences between the different types.

So on the left column, you have got scenario and one of those is completed for you.

A doctor provides a terminally ill patient with medication to end their life.

The second column says assisted suicide or euthanasia.

So here, you're going to be deciding whether it's assisted suicide, which means that someone is giving the person the help to end their own life or euthanasia where a different person is ending their life on their behalf.

The third column, we have legal in the UK, yes or no.

And finally in the last column, an ethical question that's raised by that situation.

So we have an example in the first row.

Who has the right to decide for someone who can't make a choice? So pause the video, take your time, come up with some scenarios in column one, decide whether they're assisted suicide or euthanasia, whether they're legal in the UK.

And then give me a question related to that.

Pause the video, come back when you are ready to look through your work.

Let's have a look at what you could have set.

So for my first scenario, I put a patient in a coma is taken off life support.

And this is euthanasia because it's done to them.

Yes, it is legal in the UK and that's because it's passive, it's withdrawing treatment.

The question we already had was who has the right to decide for someone who can't consent? For my second scenario, I put a doctor gives a patient a lethal injection at their request.

We already knew this was euthanasia and it was not legal in the UK and that's because it's active.

And my ethical question here is, is intentionally causing death morally different from letting someone die? The final scenario we already had, a doctor provides a terminally ill patient the medication to end their life.

This is assisted suicide because the patient is doing it themselves.

And no, it is not legal in the UK.

And we already had an ethical question, which is, is it more acceptable for a patient to take the dose themselves? So well done if you've got anything similar to those.

Of course, your scenarios might not be exactly the same as mine, but well done where you manage to kind of get that difference between the active type of euthanasia and the passive, and also that comparison with assisted suicide.

We're gonna move on to the second part of our lesson and we're going to be thinking about arguments about euthanasia.

Laura and Jacob are discussing how someone's beliefs about the value of life might affect their views on assisted dying.

Laura says, "What would someone who believes life is intrinsically valuable think about euthanasia and assisted dying?" Jacob replies, "They might think they're wrong because life should always be preserved no matter the situation." Laura responds, "What if someone believes that the value of life depends on its quality?" And Jacob replies, "Well, they might see them as an option as it stops unnecessary suffering." So here, we can see that a key issue is going to be how valuable someone thinks life is.

And is it always valuable or does it depend on the suffering or the quality of life that someone is experiencing? A survey of Americans in 2013 asked them their views on end of life treatments.

So of us adults, we have 66% saying that there are situations when someone should be allowed to die.

18 to 29-year-olds, 54% of them agreed, 30 to 49 to 64%, 50 to 64, 71%, 65 to 74, 76%, and 75 plus was 74%.

And we can see on the other end of the scale, people that disagreed and thought medical staff should do everything possible to save the patient's life.

So what does this data tell us about the impact of age and views about end of life treatment? So look carefully down that first column.

We can see the age categories, pause and turn and talk to someone if you can, and then come back when you are ready to move on.

So you might have said that younger people are less likely to say there are times when someone ought to be allowed to die.

So that's quite interesting.

The older someone gets, generally speaking, it seems more likely that they're going to say there are situations when someone should be allowed to die.

So arguments against the legalisation of assisted dying usually centre around the value of life.

Life has intrinsic value.

So it might be that life has value regardless of its quality.

So these will be people that advocate a sanctity of life view.

And they might say, well, instead, we should support with palliative care such as that provided in a hospice.

They might also believe that suffering itself has value and it can help people to grow.

And that devaluing lives, that involves suffering potentially is actually discrimination of sort because we are discriminating against people maybe with disabilities or who live a life with pain and suffering by saying their life has less value.

And another issue for people who have this view about the intrinsic value of life will be that vulnerable people might feel pressured to choose euthanasia if it were legal and that this is a slippery slope.

If we legalise assisted dying, it could lead to people being forced into euthanasia.

Zoe, who's a psychologist and an atheist, has been asked whether she thinks euthanasia and assisted suicide should be legalised.

She says, "I don't think euthanasia or assisted suicide should be legalised.

I value human dignity and I think legalising euthanasia could lead to vulnerable people being pressured into ending their lives.

It could also be misused for financial or emotional gain.

Instead, we should focus on improving palliative care to support those who are suffering." So what arguments does Zoe use to support her view on the legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide? Pause the video.

Have a look at what she said again.

Turn and talk to someone nearby for you can and then come back when you are ready to move on.

How might Zoe's opinion on the legalisation of assisted dying be influenced by her role as a psychologist? So again, if you're able to, turn and talk to someone nearby or you can pause and talk to me and come back when you're ready to rejoin the lesson.

We're gonna check your understanding on arguments about euthanasia.

Part of this question has been completed for you.

Outline three arguments against euthanasia.

We've got two here.

Euthanasia is wrong because life has intrinsic value and euthanasia is wrong 'cause suffering can help people to grow.

So take the time to think about the third argument against euthanasia.

Pause the video and when you are ready, come back to check your answer.

You could have either of the following.

Euthanasia is wrong because palliative care helps relieve pain and suffering.

Or euthanasia is wrong because vulnerable people may feel pressured to choose it against their will.

Well done if you got either of those two arguments.

So we're going to look at the other point of view arguments for the legalisation of assisted dying.

And these usually centre around what's called autonomy, which means freedom of choice.

So some people would say that we have the right to choose to end our own life.

No one else has the right to tell us.

We must continue with our lives if we are living a life of intolerable pain or suffering.

They would also argue that assisted dying is actually compassionate and loving.

It's a positive response to those in pain.

It provides relief from suffering when nothing else is doing that.

Choosing assisted dying does mean that people can maintain their dignity so they can die in a way that they want to peacefully and they are experiencing control over the end of their life rather than a loss of control.

Brandon, who's a humanist and a hospice nurse, has been asked whether he thinks euthanasia and assisted suicide should be legalised.

Brandon says, my priority is to provide compassionate high quality care that maximises comfort and dignity at the end of life.

I value autonomy and believe euthanasia should be legalised under strict conditions.

If this happened, hospices would play a vital role in providing palliative care, ensuring euthanasia never becomes a substitute for compassionate end of life support.

How is Brandon's opinion on the legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide influenced by his humanist worldview? So a humanist is someone who is an atheist, but they believe that humanity has a very important part to play in the world because of human potential.

Pause the video, turn and talk to someone nearby if you can, and come back when you are ready to rejoin.

How might Brandon's opinion on the legalisation of assisted dying be influenced by his role as a hospice nurse? So a hospice is where someone can go to get relief from pain and suffering at the end of their life is not where euthanasia happens.

Instead, it's about pain relief, so palliative care.

What's influenced his view there? Turn and talk to someone nearby if you can, or you can talk to me, pause the video and come back when you're ready to move on.

So let's check your understanding.

Hospices will play a vital role in providing euthanasia if it were legalised.

Is this true or false? Take a moment to decide which, and also why.

Pause the video.

Come back when you're ready to check.

So well done if you put false.

But why is this false? Well, a hospice is a place where people go at the end of their life when they're in suffering and pain.

But its role is to provide palliative care not to bring about death.

So the focus is on comfort and dignity, but dying in a natural way.

So for task B, arguments about euthanasia part one, I'd like you to complete the table, setting out the positives and negatives of legalising assisted dying.

Here are some key words that you could include.

Autonomy, which means freedom.

Compassion, dignity, pressure, palliative care, slippery slope, and suffering.

So take some time, try and see if you can get at least three positives of legalising them and three negatives.

And the keywords are just there to get you thinking.

Pause the video and come back when you're ready to see what you could have written.

Let's have a look at what you could have said.

So on the positives, you could have said it respects an individual's autonomy and it allows them to make the decisions about their own end of life.

It would be compassionate to those who are in unbearable pain, and it would allow individuals to maintain their dignity by choosing to end their life before they go through prolonged suffering.

On the negatives, you might have said that vulnerable individuals may feel pressure to choose euthanasia, and actually, this would compromise their freedom of choice, their autonomy.

You might have said that it would encourage society to overlook other ways to address suffering such as palliative care.

And finally, that it could create a slippery slope, which means it would start to be used too widely with people being maybe forced into it.

So well done if you picked out any of those positives or negatives.

Let's move on to the next part of our task on arguments about euthanasia.

I'd like you to think about that table of positives and negatives that you've already produced, and I'd like you to choose the strongest point on it.

It could be a point to agree or to disagree that assisted dying should be legalised.

What you're gonna do is you're gonna practise your evaluation skills, which is really important for the top marks at GCSE.

So rather than just saying about a pointer making an argument, you're actually going to evaluate it.

You're going to assess it.

Here are some suggested ways that you could do that.

So you'd start by saying, "Well, a strong argument which agrees or disagrees is," and then you would comment on why it is strong.

So you can use a phrase like, "This is a strong argument as," or, "This argument is compelling because," or, "The argument is powerful as it's," or, "This argument is convincing because." So those are four options.

You don't have to use them, but they're guidance.

If you want to think about how you can really expand on why you found that argument strong or convincing.

So take your time, pause the video and come back When you're ready to see what you could have written, you could have said, "An argument which suggests assisted dying should be legalised, is that it would be a more compassionate option for those in unbearable pain".

"This argument is compelling because it focuses on the need to reduce suffering for those in extreme pain.

If euthanasia and assisted suicide is legal, people who can't be helped by other treatments can choose to end their life and pain peacefully." You could have said lots of different things because it really depended on which argument you picked, but that's just one example of how you might really expand on what it is that you feel convinced about with that argument.

Well done if you manage to choose one and if you manage to explain why it's a really important and convincing argument.

In today's lesson on euthanasia, we've looked at the fact that euthanasia involves ending a life to relieve suffering.

It can be voluntary or non-voluntary, and it can be active or passive.

We've understood that active euthanasia directly ends a life and passive withdraws treatment.

We've learned that assisted suicide is slightly different.

This involves helping someone end their life with the person administering their own means of death.

We've also thought about the law on euthanasia.

In the UK, active euthanasia is illegal.

Assisted suicide is punishable, but withdrawing treatment can be legal.

We've thought about arguments, so we've learned that opponents argue life has intrinsic value and palliative care is an alternative.

Suffering can be meaningful and legalisation may pressure vulnerable people.

On the other side, we've learned that supporters argue it respects autonomy, allowing choice to end suffering whilst maintaining someone's dignity.

We've learned a lot today.

Thank you for working with me on this lesson.

It's a really challenging issue and I appreciate all of your efforts on it.