Euthanasia
Euthanasia is a though that ponders in the mind of many everyday. Is
it right, is it wrong, who can decide the value of a person's life?
Euthanasia is an option that many sick and dying people consider
everyday. Euthanasia can be a sick person's only escape from a life of
torment and suffering where they are waiting to die. People also
choose Euthanasia as a means to ending their life because they feel
that can no longer live their lives the way the want to. Finally,
people use Euthanasia to end their lives because they feel that only
machines and medication are keeping them alive and that they have
truly died inside. A careful and close analysis of this topic and a
review of some quotes taken from a major motion picture on this
subject will show that Euthanasia should be legalized, and implemented
in our palliative care system today.
The word Euthanasia can be a taboo in the medical care system today.
Many medical practitioners dismiss euthanasia as an option to
treatment and it is illegal in all 12 Canadian provinces. Euthanasia,
however, can be a sick and dying person's only escape from a life of
prolonged suffering and pain. Many sick and dying people are would
rather put an end to their suffering than spend out their last days in
torment. In the motion picture, Who's Life Is It Anyways, a
quadriplegic states "There is no blood, no screaming, so you can't see
the pain". This quote exemplifies the fact that many people who are
being kept alive suffer not only physically, but emotionally as well.
People choose euthanasia because it allows them to free themselves of
the unnecessary pain that they must endure. They we...
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... have proved their cases on why it
should be legalized yet it still continues to be morally questioned on
a daily basis. There has been a recent outcry by people who are sick
and dying as they find Euthanasia as their only option. Whether it is
a bout with a terminal illness or an unfortunate accident that has
caused paralysis, Euthanasia can end the unnecessary suffering of many
and allow people to die with dignity. After a sever and tragic
accident many have also lost the quality of life they once enjoyed and
would like to end their lives peacefully. Euthanasia can provide all
this to people in pain and suffering and the facts show this to be
true. With all the evidence given, and the testimonials of many, it is
painfully obvious that Euthanasia should be a viable option for those
who can no longer live with dignity.
Anyone can be diagnosed with a terminal illness. It doesn’t matter how healthy you are, who you are, or what you do. Some terminal illnesses you can prevent by avoiding unhealthy habits, eating healthily, exercising regularly and keeping up with vaccinations. However some terminally ill people cannot be helped, their diseases cannot be cured and the only thing possible to help them, besides providing pain relieving medication, is to make them as comfortable as possible while enduring their condition. Many times the pharmaceuticals do not provide the desired pain escape, and cause patients to seek immediate relief in methods such as euthanasia. Euthanasia is the practice of deliberately ending a life in order to alleviate pain and suffering, but is deemed controversial because many various religions believe that their creators are the only ones that should decide when their life’s journey should reach its end. Euthanasia is performed by medical doctors or physicians and is the administration of a fatal dose of a suitable drug to the patient on his or her express request. Although the majority of American states oppose euthanasia, the practice would result in more good as opposed to harm. The patient who is receiving the euthanizing medication would be able to proactively choose their pursuit of happiness, alleviate themselves from all of the built up pain and suffering, relieve the burden they may feel they are upon their family, and die with dignity, which is the most ethical option for vegetative state and terminally ill patients. Euthanasia should remain an alternative to living a slow and painful life for those who are terminally ill, in a vegetative state or would like to end their life with dignity. In addition, t...
In this essay, I will discuss whether euthanasia is morally permissible or not. Euthanasia is the intention of ending life due to inevitable pain and suffering. The word euthanasia comes from the Greek words “eu,” which means good, and “thanatosis, which means death. There are two types of euthanasia, active and passive. Active euthanasia is when medical professionals deliberately do something that causes the patient to die, such as giving lethal injections. Passive euthanasia is when a patient dies because the medical professionals do not do anything to keep them alive or they stop doing something that was keeping them alive. Some pros of euthanasia is the freedom to decide your destiny, ending the pain, and to die with dignity. Some cons
In the United States, euthanasia should be legalized. In the year of 1992, Chris Docker wrote about an elderly woman going through the last painful stages of her life. Docker shared that “Mrs. Boyes' was so ill that she "screamed like a dog" if anyone touched her… when she repeatedly requested to die, Dr. Cox finally gave her an injection of potassium chloride, bestowing on her the boon of a peaceful death so many of us feel we are entitled to” (Docker). This unfortunate situation is presented to many doctors across the US. With euthanasia currently being illegal, they cannot provide proper care for their patients. Euthanasia can spare many people of their undesirable agony they face close to their passing. Too many people are suffering from a terminal illness and wanting to be put out of their misery; therefore, euthanasia should be made legal and enforced nationwide.
Suffering in pain and knowing that there is no hope is a horrible thing to experience as we live. Lying on a hospital bed in misery and grief because of a condition or illness that is hopeless is completely depressing to anyone. Euthanasia is one of the most controversial issues in society due to the difference in people’s point of views about dying. Although the lives of many patients can be saved with the latest breakthroughs in treatments and technology, we are still unable to find treatment for all diseases, and these patients have to go through painful or treatments that have greater risk than benefits only to prolong their life with little or no chance of full recovery. These patients struggle with physical and emotional pain for the reason that they feel like they are worthless because they can’t move or decide rationally. Euthanasia should be an option to certain terminal ill people because it allows them to choose whether they want to die or live a painful life.
Euthanasia gives people a choice, rather than facing the degenerative effects of disease or old age. Euthanasia is life or death. The fear of the unknown or what happens afterwards is replaced by the agony of living. If life is too painful and the quality of life is extremely low, humans are left with no choice but to make a choice.
Euthanasia in a controversial topic that does not get enough attention. It is literally a life or death situation. The legalization of Euthanasia or Physician-Assisted-Suicide is plea of all terminally ill patients for freedom. It gives those patients the right to die with dignity and to end all the pain and suffering that comes with dying from a disease. Why should people’s loved ones be forced to go through all the pain if it can all be ended with one treatment? Many people ask: what is euthanasia? Why would a person want to end their life? How would that person’s family feel about the procedure? These are all common questions that have answers; people just do not do research to find their answers. Euthanasia is not a bad thing; it’s the process of helping a person become free of pain and suffering.
The fear associated with death is powerful, but even more so is the fear of living an unfulfilling life full of pointless suffering. This spurs the belief for those in such situations that we as bodied people have the power to control our fate. Many movements involved with Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) have started internationally with that phrase in mind. Euthanasia is defined as, “The painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease, or is in an irreversible coma.” Christopher Docker defines PAS as, " ... the provision by a doctor, consciously and legally, to a patient who has completely requested it, of the means for that patient to end his or her own life." (Docker 8) These groups focus on the question of why should we endure untreatable suffering, especially when modern technology does nothing to alleviate the pain. Terminally ill patients should have the right to choose a merciful release.
In review, euthanasia is performed when the pain is too much for the patient. It is, overall, the patient’s life—their right and their choice. Everyone deserves to die compassionately, knowing that they will slip away painlessly. Everyone deserves to have a choice, especially when it comes to the manner of their death. If euthanasia is not legalized, many people will debilitating illnesses may take their lives in much more horrific ways. If they want the suffering to end badly enough, it is simply done one way or
Euthanasia should be legalized for terminally ill individuals on a voluntary basis to reduce medical costs, prevent prolonged physical pain and unnecessary suffering, and to preserve the dignity of the dying person. Terminally ill patients often accumulate massive amounts of medical expenses. In addition to costs, terminally ill patients are subject to excruciating pain and discomfort due to the disease and/or treatments involved, given only to prolong the inevitable. When a person is dying, he or she may have very little or no say in what goes on in one’s own home, finances, or other aspects of that person’s life, but one reserves the right to die with dignity intact.
Euthanasia is an action that result in the death of a person. There are four types of euthanasia, such as voluntary active euthanasia, nonvoluntary active euthanasia, voluntary passive euthanasia, and nonvoluntary passive euthanasia. Among the four types of euthanasia, voluntary active euthanasia or VAE is the most controversial ethical issue in the United States. It is the killing of a competent patient who decided to end his/her suffering by ending his/her life with the help of the physician. VAE is illegal in the Unites States; however, it is morally just. Voluntary active euthanasia is legitimately moral on the basis of Immanuel Kant’s human dignity, the utilitarian’s Greatest Happiness Principle, and James Rachel’s view of active euthanasia.
Today, there is a large debate over the situation and consequences of euthanasia. Euthanasia is the act of ending a human’s life by lethal injection or the stoppage of medication, or medical treatment. It has been denied by most of today’s population and is illegal in the fifty states of the United States. Usually, those who undergo this treatment have a disease or an “unbearable” pain somewhere in the body or the mind. Since there are ways, other than ending life, to stop pain caused by illness or depression, euthanasia is immoral, a disgrace to humanity, according to the Hippocratic Oath, and should be illegal throughout the United States.
Euthanasia has been an ongoing debate for many years. Everyone has an opinion on why euthanasia should or should not be allowed but, it is as simple as having the choice to die with dignity. If a patient wishes to end his or her life before a disease takes away their quality of life, then the patient should have the option of euthanasia. Although, American society considers euthanasia to be morally wrong euthanasia should be considered respecting a loved one’s wishes. To understand euthanasia, it is important to know the rights humans have at the end of life, that there are acts of passive euthanasia already in practice, and the beneficial aspects.
For those of you that do not know, euthanasia is the act of deliberately ending someone’s life to relieve them from suffering. Coming from the Greek words ‘eu’ meaning good and ‘thanatos’ meaning death, oppositions to euthanasia sometimes misinterpret the concept of euthanasia and distinguish it as an escape to killing someone against their will. In no way is euthanasia an act to purposely kill, but instead the decision to accelerate the death of patients in an incurable condition. As human beings we are said to live in a democratic society where we are free to make decisions. Decisions of where we live, decisions of what we look like and decisions of what we say, however living a life of anguish, adversity and agony is a decision no one ever wants to make. Society should have compassion and respect to an individual’s decision whose life has become unbearable, and are we really living in a free country if we cannot even have the choice to live or not live our own lives. What is one day you found yourself terminally ill, in excruciating pain and no longer wishing to waste yo...
In order to provide a framework for my thesis statement on the morality of euthanasia, it is first necessary to define what euthanasia is and the different types of euthanasia. The term Euthanasia originates from the Greek term “eu”, meaning happy or good and “thanatos”, which means death, so the literal definition of the word Euthanasia can be translated to mean “good or happy death”.
First of all, euthanasia saves money and resources. The amount of money for health care in each country, and the number of beds and doctors in each hospital are limited. It is a huge waste if we use those money and resources to lengthen the lives of those who have an incurable disease and want to die themselves rather than saving the lives of the ones with a curable ailment. When we put those patients who ask for euthanasia to death, then the waiting list for each hospital will shorten. Then, the health care money of each country, the hospital beds, and the energy of the doctors can be used on the ones who can be cured, and can get back to normal and able to continue contributing to the society. Isn’t this a better way of using money and resources rather than unnaturally extend those incurable people’s lives?