Title: Introduction%20to%20Flowers%20for%20Algernon
1Introduction toFlowers for Algernon
2Life Boat Theory
- Imagine that you were on a ship that has just
sunk. You managed to make it to the last life
boat. However, there are 9 people on the life
boat that is only designed for four. So, 5
people have to either voluntarily get off the
life boat or be thrown overboard by a majority
rule. Getting off the life boat means certain
death. - Your assignment is to decide who should remain on
the life boat. The following is a list of the 9
people on board - A 17 year-old, mentally-retarded girl
- An infant whose parents died when the ship sank
- A 30 year-old genius
- A 50 year-old who doesnt know that his cancer
has returned. - A 70 year-old woman who requires the aid of a
walker - An obese, 40 year-old mother of three young
children - A ex-convict who was in prison for murder
- You
- Your mother
3Which life should be allowedto exist?
- Premature baby born at just
Elderly man with a - 26 weeks gestation
terminal illness - 8.6 ounces
http//www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-12/2
2/xin_07120122105460401912.jpg
4Euthanasia / Assisted Suicide
- What is the difference between
- euthanasia and assisted suicide?
- One way to distinguish them is to look at the
last act the act without which death would not
occur. - Using this distinction, if a third party performs
the last act that intentionally causes a
patients death, euthanasia has occurred. For
example, giving a patient a lethal injection or
putting a plastic bag over her head to suffocate
her would be considered euthanasia. - On the other hand, if the person who dies
performs the last act, assisted suicide has taken
place. Thus it would be assisted suicide if a
person swallows an overdose of drugs that has
been provided by a doctor for the purpose of
causing death. It would also be assisted suicide
if a patient pushes a switch to trigger a fatal
injection after the doctor has inserted an
intravenous needle into the patients vein.
5Euthanasia / Assisted Suicide
Assisted Suicide in Italy
6Definitions of Euthanasia
- Euthanasia the intentional killing by act or
omission of a dependent human being - for his or her alleged benefit. (The key word
here is "intentional". If death is not - intended, it is not an act of euthanasia)
- Voluntary euthanasia When the person who is
killed has requested to be killed. - Non-voluntary When the person who is killed made
no request and gave no - consent.
- Involuntary euthanasia When the person who is
killed made an expressed wish to - the contrary.
- Assisted suicide Someone provides an individual
with the information, guidance, - and means to take his or her own life with the
intention that they will be used for - this purpose. When it is a doctor who helps
another person to kill themselves it is - called "physician assisted suicide."
- Euthanasia By Action Intentionally causing a
person's death by performing an - action such as by giving a lethal injection.
- Euthanasia By Omission Intentionally causing
death by not providing necessary - and ordinary (usual and customary) care or food
and water.
7Examples of Euthanasia
- Infanticide
- Abortion
- Premature babies
- Concentration Camps
- Severely handicapped
- People who are brain dead
- Capital punishment
- People who are
- terminally ill
- Severely mentally
- retarded
- Elderly
- Homeless
- Drug Addicts
8 Infanticide
- In the 1970s, China was facing a
- population explosion so the
- government ordered a one child
- per family law.
- The government enforced this law with
- forced abortions and compulsory
- sterilizations.
- In rural China where boys are valued
- as extra hands who will support their
- parents in their old age, and who will carry on
the family name, girls are - viewed as less desirable. If a baby if unwanted,
she is abandoned, - suffocated or drowned soon after birth.
- This preference for male children has led to
approximately 10,000 girl - infants being killed in China each year.
- Now China has a major gender-ratio problem.
China refers to this as - the missing girl phenomenon.
China's orphanages are full of girls who
have been abandoned
9Abortion
- An abortion is the removal or expulsion of an
embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or
caused by its death. - The spontaneous expulsion of a fetus or embryo
before the 20th week is commonly known as a
miscarriage.1 - Induced abortion is the removal or expulsion of
an embryo or fetus by medical, surgical, or other
means at any point during human pregnancy for
therapeutic or elective reasons.2 - The approximate number of induced abortions
performed worldwide in 2003 was 42 million.3
10Abortion
- In spite of effective and widely available birth
control methods, more than half of the 6 million
pregnancies occurring each year in the United
States are considered unplanned by the women who
are pregnant. Of these unplanned pregnancies,
about half end in abortion. - Abortions performed prior to 9 weeks are
performed either surgically (a procedure) or
medically (with drugs). From 9 weeks until 14
weeks, an abortion is performed by a dilatation
and suction curettage procedure. - After 14 weeks, surgical abortions are performed
by a dilatation and evacuation procedure. - After 20 weeks of gestation, abortions can be
performed by labor induction, prostaglandin labor
induction, saline infusion, dilatation and
extraction, or partial birth abortion.
11People who are Mentally DisabledAre sometimes
Euthanized
12People who are Physically DisabledAre sometimes
Euthanized
Quadriplegic
Amputee
Cystic Fibrosis
13People who have a Physical DeformityAre
sometimes Euthanized
14Conjoined TwinsAre sometimes Euthanized
15People who are HomelessAre sometimes the victims
of Euthanasia
16People in 3rd World CountriesAre sometimes
Euthanized
17Assisted Suicide
18People who are Terminally SickSometimes ask for
Assisted Suicide
- Dr. Kevorkians invention
- the death machine.
http//eslacs.tripod.com/english/danai-euthanasia.
html
19People who are Brain DeadSometimes receive
non-voluntary Assisted Suicide
- Terri Schiavo
- Her feeding tube was removed in 1993,
- after 13 years in a vegetative state.
20The Elderly sometimes ask forAssisted Suicide
21People who are Drug AddictsSometimes ask for
Assisted Suicide
22Stem Cell ResearchSacrifices one life in order
to possibly save others
23In Infertility Treatment, Some Embryos are
Sacrificed while others are Saved
24Quality of a Life Worth LivingProm Night
25The Problem with Euthanasia and Assisted
SuicideWho Determines Whose Life is Worth
Living? In Nazi Germany, Hitler decided that
only the Arian race was worthy of living
26Nazi Germany
A concentration camp for men.
Separating the men from the women.
27Nazi GermanyPeople were euthanized in the gas
chamber and then their bodies were burned in the
furnaces
Furnaces
28Nazi Germany Euthanasia Death Camps
- Bodies waiting for cremation
Mass grave
29In Summary, There are Two forms of Selective
Reduction
- Euthanasia
- Assisted Suicide