Active Euthanasia is Murder

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Recommended: Euthanasia argument issue investigation

"Euthanasia is not about the right to die. It's about the right to kill."-International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force It seems impossible for me to claim I am anti-euthanasia or pro-euthanasia because there are two ways of participating in the process...active or passive. After researching the topic, I have concluded that I cannot support active euthanasia because it seems to follow the same principle as homicide...one person killing another. I do not believe it is anyone's right to decide when, or how, a person's life should end. On the other hand, I cannot say I am totally against suicide or passive euthanasia. Although I do not condone suicide, I respect a person's right to decide between his personal life and death. As far as passive euthanasia is concerned, I view it as part of suicide and think it is a concept that has been around for years but has gone unrecognized until recently. Therefore, if I were to make a declaration of my view of euthanasia, it would simply be, "I am against active euthanasia...I am for passive euthanasia."

To understand why I feel such opposition on one topic, one must understand the proper definitions of "active" and "passive" euthanasia. According to the International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force, assisted suicide, or passive euthanasia, involves "a non-suicidal person knowingly and intentionally providing the means or acts in some way to help a suicidal person kill himself or herself." On the other hand, active euthanasia occurs when "one person does something that directly kills another." To give an example, Dr. Kevorkian has conducted passive euthanasia on patients by supplying his patients with the means (lethal injections) to end their lives. But, in 1999, Dr. Kevorkian pa...

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... 13 December 2000. http://www.death-dying.com/survey.html

"The Rule of Double Effect." U.S. House Judiciary Committee. 24 June 1999. 5 December 2000. http://www.house.gov/judiciary/hunt0624.htm

Rumbelow, Helen. "Final agonies of the 'easy' death." The Times. Times Newspaper Limited. 24 February 2000. 29 August 2000.

http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/02/24/timnwsnws01040.html

Sobsey, Dick. "A Background Paper Prepared for the Premier's Council on The Status of Persons with Disabilities." 5 December 2000. http://www.thalimide.ca/gwolbring/eau_def.html

"When Death is Sought." Task Force of Life and the Law. 5 December 2000. http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/consumer/patient/preface.htm

Teachers Comments: The effort merits and A. Please see my notes in the essay concerning your format citation problems.

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