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A topic about MERCY KILLING
Arguments in the declaration of independence
Arguments in the declaration of independence
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The right to life that has been stated in the Declaration of Independence brings up controversial debates about the morality of war, self-defense, capital punishment, abortion and euthanasia. Euthanasia is the ending of a life to escape suffering and pain. Although many believe that assisted suicide, also known as physician-assisted death is morally wrong, I think that under certain, strict circumstances, people should have the choice whether or not they want to suffer towards the end of their lives. A person should have the rights to their own life and should have the option to end their pain in a more peaceful manner. So the real question that should be asked is- Is it wrong to let them die or is it wrong to let them suffer? There are many different names for this practice- Death with Dignity, mercy killing, the right to die, assisted suicide, physician-assisted death and Euthanasia. Euthanasia comes from the Greek word “euthanatos” meaning “easy death”. It is the act of killing a person who suffers from an irreversible coma or painful and incurable disease. This is illegal in most countries. There are a few different types of euthanasia- active and passive, voluntary and involuntary, indirect euthanasia and assisted suicide. Both voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide occurs when a person is mentally stable and has made the decision for themselves to end their life. Passive euthanasia is when a patient refuses to take a medication and knows that it will eventually lead to death. It is considered involuntary euthanasia is when a person is in a coma, unconscious or unable to make the decision for themselves so an appropriate person makes it for them. Some say that passive and involuntary euthanasia isn’t as morally wrong but... ... middle of paper ... ... Is No Justification for Legalizing Euthanasia." Assisted Suicide. Ed. Noël Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "Euthanasia: Can It Ever Be Right to Legalise It?" Catholic Insight 17.2 (Feb. 2009): 8-9. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 23 Feb. 2014 Marker, Rita. "Right-to-Die Laws Do Present a Slippery Slope." The Right to Die. Ed. John Woodward. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006. At Issue. Rpt. from "Oregon's Suicidal Approach to Healthcare." American Thinker. 2009. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 27 Feb. 2014 Smith, Michael. "There Is No Evidence of a Slippery Slope with Right-to-Die Laws." The Right to Die. Ed. John Woodward. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006. At Issue. Rpt. from "No 'Slippery Slope' Found with Physician Assisted Suicide." MedPage Today. 2009. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 27 Feb. 2014
Meaning, "good death". But the word “euthanasia” today means taking action to achieve a good death. Euthanasia is often used by doctors; the doctor would prepare the patient a lethal dose of drugs and administer the drugs to them or the doctor injects the patient with lethal injections. There are two different forms of euthanasia, active and passive. Active euthanasia is the hastening of a persons’ death by injections or a different form of assisted suicide while passive euthanasia is the withholding of treatment or medications that are currently keeping the patient alive (Barbuzzi, p.1, 2014). Informed consent from the patient is required for both passive and active euthanasia. . According to the Barbuzzi, informed consent is, “A patient’s expression of knowledge and acceptance of the risks, benefits, and alternative treatment options of a medical procedure and subsequent permission to a physician to perform the procedure” (Barbuzzi, p.1 2014).Suicide, self-deliverance, auto-euthanasia, aid-in-dying, assisted suicide, physician-assisted suicide, physician-assisted dying can all be justified by the supporters of the right to die movement for the following
Sloss, David. "The Right to Choose How to Die: A Constitutional Analysis of State Laws Prohibiting Physician-Assisted Suicide." Stanford Law Review. 48.4 (1996): 937-973. Web. 2 March 2015.
Euthanasia comes from the Greek word that means “good death” (“Euthanasia” literally). In general, euthanasia refers to causing the death of someone to end their pain and suffering, oftentimes in cases of terminal illness. Some people call these “mercy killings”. There are two types of euthanasia: passive and active. Passive or voluntary euthanasia refers to withholding life-saving treatments or medical technology to prolong life.
Potts, Stephen G.. "Euthanasia Should Not Be Legalized." Euthanasia: Opposing Viewpoints. Bernards, Neal. ed. San Diego. Greenhaven Press, Inc. 1989.
Do people have the right to die? Is there, in fact, a right to die? Assisted suicide is a controversial topic in the public eye today. Individuals choose their side of the controversy based on a number of variables ranging from their religious views and moral standings to political factors. Several aspects of this issue have been examined in books, TV shows, movies, magazine articles, and other means of bringing the subject to the attention of the public. However, perhaps the best way to look at this issue in the hopes of understanding the motives behind those involved is from the perspective of those concerned: the terminally ill and the disabled.
Individuals have the right to choose. Denying a person their right to choose life or death, to me, is intrinsically wrong. As stated previously, death is a very personal issue and if life is no longer worth living than who are we to force unwanted life upon someone? We have a right to make private decisions and that includes the decision to die. There is nothing wrong with wanting to die peacefully to end suffering quicker than a natural death might have allowed.
There are a couple different ways a person can go about killing themselves. Some can be done legally and others illegally. Those ways are euthanasia which have different forms and physician assisted suicide. Euthanasia consists of passive and active euthanasia and involuntary, voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia. Most times they can be combined to form types such as voluntary passive euthanasia. Forms of Euthanasia defines these different types of euthanasia as follow. Active euthanasia is described as another person causing the death of a patient. An example of this would be giving a patient enough painkillers to overdose and kill themselves. Passive euthanasia is another type which is legal but has drawn a lot of controversy. It can be defined as withholding and withdrawing from treatments. Involuntary euthanasia is the killing of a patient whose wishes are to stay alive. An ...
Smith, Cheryl. "Should Active Euthanasia Be Legalized: Yes." American Bar Association Journal April 1993. Rpt. in CQ Researcher 5.1 (1995): 409.
Legalization of euthanasia would also place us on a ‘slippery slope’. The ‘slippery slope’ argument, proposed by Walker [2], stated that if euthanasia is legalized, more immoral actions would be permitted and those actions might not be able to keep under control. One example is that involuntary euthanasia would start to happen after the euthanasia has been legalized. The Netherlands has legalized the euthanasia twelve years ago. This law at first...
If physician-assisted suicide is legally permitted yet restricted to the terminally ill adult with full decision-making capacity, it will certainly raise legal concerns about discrimination. PAS will probably broaden to include incompetent, non-consenting, and non–terminally ill persons. The final extreme of the slippery slope argument is that PAS will be abused, run amok and ultimately become involuntary euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide refers to the physician acting indirectly in the death of the patient -- providing the means for death.
“Euthanasia is defined as a deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending life of another person to relieve that person's suffering and where the act is the cause of death.”(Gupta, Bhatnagar and Mishra) Some define it as mercy killing. Euthanasia may be voluntary, non voluntary and involuntary. When terminally ill patient consented to end his or her life, it is called voluntary euthanasia. Non voluntary euthanasia occurs when the suffering person never consented nor requested to end a life. These patients are incompetent to decide because they are either minor, in a comatose stage or have mental conditions. Involuntary euthanasia is conducted when it is against the will of the patient (Gupta, Bhatnagar, Mishra). Euthanasia can be either passive or active. Passive euthanasia means life-sustaining treatments are withheld and nothing is done to keep the patient alive. Active euthanasia occurs when a physician do something by giving drugs or substances that ends a patient’s life. (Medical News Today)
Over the course of this paper, I will give a brief history, background, and address many of the arguments that are opposed to and for euthanasia. These arguments include causation, omission, legal issues, the physicians involved, the slippery slope that might potentially be created, autonomy rights, and Christianity.
McCullough, Colleen. "Why I Oppose Euthanasia." The Weekend Australian 16-17 Mar. 1996. http://www.ucaqld.com.au/trendz/3ethics/oppose.htm (27 Feb. 1997)
middle of paper ... ... I believe that for the sake of ‘B’, we come together, and finally pull the plug on this debate. Works Cited Ball, Howard. At Liberty to Die: The Battle for Death with Dignity in America.
McManaman, Doug. A. “Active Euthanasia Is Never Morally Justified.” Assisted Suicide. Ed. Nol Merino.