Ethics is not the Same as Emotion

I enjoy Murdoch Mysteries in bits and pieces. And I quite like Dr. Julia Odgen, Murdoch's partner and spouse. I especially enjoy the scenes where Julia and Murdoch talk about blood and guts and  murder as a form of flirtation. I get a kick of the wedding episode where Brackenreid insists that the couple get married rather than running off to solve yet another murder. His attitude: Let's just get this over with already! 

I greatly dislike the episodes where Julia stands on her principles. 

Murdoch does the same on occasion, but it's easier to ignore, in part because the scriptwriters appear to know little about Catholicism and Murdoch doesn't seem to know much about it either, so his token protests "I can't do that because..." are token protests. He is on much firmer ground when he defends his lawful actions (or frets about them).

The problem with Julia's stands on principles is that they are based on the fluttering feelings of the moment.  There are no ethics involved.

Take, for example, Julia's decision regarding a patient in a coma. The patient is in great pain. Julia wants to end her suffering. Julia performs euthanasia despite the act putting her husband, Murdoch, at risk for exposure and blackmail. 

She claims she is standing on principle. 

She isn't.

The reason is not that euthanasia is automatically an unethical decision. Rather, Julia has failed to think ethically about the issue. If the patient in a coma can undergo suffering, the patient can undergo a violation of choice.

Patient rights have come a long way in the last hundred years (though they are currently taking an immense beating). DNR forms, health care proxies, living wills, all exist to avoid the ethical problem that Julia completely bypasses to salve her own bad feelings. 

Patients who don't believe in certain procedures have successfully sued hospitals who ignored their beliefs and performed the procedures anyway--to save a life or prevent suffering. I'm not saying I agree since I think suing hospitals for saving someone's life may be ethical yet tacky. The point is, Julia pays zero attention to whether the patient would want her life ended before the natural cessation of bodily functions. She asks no one about the patient's beliefs. She makes zero effort to learn of the patient's religious persuasion. She doesn't take the painful route of suffering alongside the patient.

Julia feels bad. Therefore, she does something. 

But her act is the furthest thing from ethical.