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The ethical implications of euthanasia
The ethical implications of euthanasia
Euthanasia and ethics
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Euthanasia, also known as mercy killing is a practice of ending a life to release an individual from an incurable disease or intolerable suffering. Euthanasia has been accepted both legally and morally in various forms in many societies but not in all. “In ancient Greece and Rome it was permissible in some situations to help others die. For example, the Greek writer Plutarch mentioned that in Sparta infanticide was practiced on children who lacked "health and vigor." Both Socrates and Plato sanctioned forms of euthanasia in certain cases. Voluntary euthanasia for the elderly was an approved custom in several ancient societies.” With the rise of organized religion, euthanasia became morally and ethically abhorrent. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all hold human life sacred and condemn euthanasia in any form. Following traditional religious principles, Western laws have generally considered the act of helping someone to die a form of homicide subject to legal sanctions. “Even a passive withholding of help to prevent death has frequently been severely punished. Euthanasia, however, occurs secretly in all societies, including those in which it is held to be immoral and illegal.”
There are two main types of euthanasia, passive and active. Passive euthanasia is the deliberate disconnection of life support equipment, or cessation of any life-sustaining medical procedure, permitting the natural death of the patient. Active euthanasia is deliberate action to end the life of a dying patient to avoid further suffering; there are two types of active euthanasia. Active voluntary euthanasia is when a lethal injection is giving by a doctor into a dying patient to end life by request of the sufferer. Active involuntary is lethal injection by a doctor into a dying patient without that person's express request. Active involuntary is considered murder by most.
Since euthanasia is illegal in 49 of the 50 US states it would seem that most people are against it. There are some people who have formed organizations that help to educate people about euthanasia and that In fact euthanasia may be a good thing. One such organization is ERGO the Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization a nonprofit educational corporation, which was founded in 1993 to improve the quality of background research of physician-as...
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...he end stage. Once these symptoms are alleviated the emotional pain becomes the focus and it takes great strength to watch a loved one die slowly day by day. I’ve seen families brought together and serve as a great comfort to each other and to the patients. Death to these people is not the enemy but a natural ending of life. I’ve also seen family’s fall apart, seemingly unable to hold up under such pressure. Are these the people who assist in another’s suicide? Is it a weak persons way out? It is done because of love or inability to cope? Only they know.”
The writer of this paper feels that euthanasia should be accepted more then it is, but is not the answer. I think that most suffering can be deemed tolerable with proper medications. It seems that if the pain can be controlled with medication, that the person could pass on in a deep sleep and be comfortable. However there are other symptoms that accompany other illness that can not be changed by medication. Like Christopher Reeves no matter how much medication he is given he will never walk, ride a horse, or bath himself again. This kind of suffering I would find intolerable and would justify euthanasia.
Footnotes
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. For example, a patient has the right to refuse medical treatment. They also have the right to refuse resuscitation if they are in need to be placed on life support. Active or involuntary euthanasia refers to providing the means for someone to take their life or assisting with taking their life (“Euthanasia” Discovering).
In his writing Locke states that the legislature does not always have to operate. He explains that the legislature is not required to operate all the time because new laws are not required frequently, in fact too many laws can reduce the freedom enjoyed by the citizens. However, Locke states that “there should be a power always in being which should see to the execution of the laws that are made” (WJMI). This is the responsibility of the executive power which should be in charge all the time to make sure that the laws are enforced. Therefore the executive and legislative powers should be separated because one power should always be working to make sure that people follow the rules created by the other power. Locke believes that the people
Euthanasia dates back to the first century B.C. with the ancient Romans and Greeks. Euthanasia received its meaning from the Greek word euthanatos meaning good or well death. The idea of euthanasia came before Christianity and the value of individual human rights. In first century B.C. the Greeks and Romans had a “widespread support for voluntary death as opposed to prolonged agony, and physicians complied by often giving their patients the poisons they requested” (Dowbiggin). It was not until thirteenth century B.C. when Christianity was in full swing. The upbringing of Christianity placed euthanasia under the spot light. Many strict followers of Christianity and Judaism believed that human life is a responsibility of God; not to be put in the hands of a doctor. It was not until mid-seventeenth century when reformation of the church began. Reformation brought upo...
There are two main types of euthanasia- passive and active. Although both are illegal in all states but Oregon, passive euthanasia is easier for people to accept. Passive involves taking a person off of their life support, and letting them die naturally, while active is ending a suffering persons life prematurely, by helping them die, with an overdose of medication (A Euthanasia Glossary). Although Euthanasia is not widely accepted, nor legal, there are people who try to break the rules.
Assisted suicide, passive and active euthanasia are illegal in most countries and states and has been a controversy for decades. There are three forms of euthanasia, active, passive and assisted suicide, they all have the same outcome, but they are different ways of acquiring it. The act of passive euthanasia, is withdrawing the patient from his or her treatment and letting nature take its course, active euthanasia, is the act of a
Active Euthanasia involves causing the death of a person through direct action, in response. to a request from that person. Involuntary Euthanasia is used to describe the killing of a person. who has not explicitly requested aid in dying. This is most often done to patients who are in a... ...
The voluntary active euthanasia is legitimately moral. It is morally right for a person to seek euthanasia because it is their freedom or autonomy to control their own lives. It ends the suffering of the patient without harming other people. Furthermore, it prevents the person to suffer by giving him/her lethal injection or medication that prevents a person to die slowly with pain. On the other hand, the arguments against euthanasia are not sound. A thorough assessment will protect patient who request euthanasia for the benefits of others. A patient who seek for euthanasia does not use him/herself as means, but as ends to respect his/her own humanity. Furthermore, God as a benevolent will not allow a person to suffer which endorse the purpose of euthanasia – to end suffering. Therefore, voluntary active euthanasia should be legalized in the United States.
“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)
Before defining and discussing the three major categories of euthanasia, it is important to understand the meaning of their subtypes, known as active euthanasia and passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia is performing a direct action to take someone’s life, such as administering a lethal drug to a patient. Passive euthanasia allows someone to die by not performing some life-sustaining action or ending life-sustaining treatment (Pojman). Examples of passive euthanasia would be removing a patient’s respirator or withholding nutrients and fluids. Active euthanasia is easily the more controversial of the two.
Euthanasia had become a big debate in our society and the world. Many people ask, what is Euthanasia? “Euthanasia is a deliberate intervention or omission with the express intention of hastening or ending and individual’s life, to relieve intractable pain or suffering” (Sanders & Chaloner, 2007, p. 41). Thus the meaning of euthanasia is having the right to die if you are terminally ill, suffering and/or suffering a great amount of pain. Many people do not agree with the use of euthanasia, but if humans can put down animals why cannot we use euthanasia on humans? Back in ancient Greek and Roman times, the word euthanasia meant “good death”. Also it was allowed because many people did not live to long ages. When the times began to change so did people’s views on euthanasia, due to the new religion of Judeo-Christian Belief. Because life and death were giving to us by God, euthanasia goes against his wishes. If they practice in the act of euthanasia because of their beliefs they would be committing a sin and end up going to hell. (Yip,2009,p.1)
Marketing is a process of determining a consumer’s needs, devising a product or service to satisfy those needs, and trying to focus customers on the goods and services you are offering. Marketing is extremely important, and a fundamental building block for business growth. A marketing team is given the task of creating customer awareness through a variety of different marketing techniques. If a business does not pay close attention to their consumer demographic and needs, they will eventually fail over time. Two important aspects of marketing include acquiring new customers, and the preservation and growth of relationships with current customers. Marketing has always been viewed as a creative outlet, which encompassed advertising, distribution, and the selling of goods and services. Marketing staff will also try to anticipate what customers will want in the future, often being accomplished with market research. In summation, a good marketing plan should be able to create a favorable proposition or series of benefits that a customer can value through goods or services. The marketing mix is normally described as the strategic positioning of a product or service in the marketplace, using the specification of the four Ps. During the early 1960’s, Professor E. Jerome McCarthy of Harvard Business School stated that a marketing mix contains four elements. The four key points are product, pricing, promotion, and placement. It is recognized that all these aspects must be present to ensure a successful business model within a given industry. We will now take a thorough look at the four marketing mix points.
Bank loans are loans from the bank which is based on the future value of the business. Banks are very particular when it comes to granting loans because they want to be sure that the borrower will be able to repay. In some situations, if the loan is not repaid to bank can take possession of the borrower’s personal assets. Even though the bank pays for the business, they do not take possession of the establishment. Figuratively, when Joe Smith pays off the loan, he doe not have any more ties with the bank, unless he asks for a subsequent loan. A precaution that must be taken when requesting a loan is the cost of bank loans. Interest rates are very high and must be paid regardless of if the specific business became successful. This is a huge risk that new business owners, who decide to take out a loans, have to take. Borrowers receive tax deductibles which makes it easy for businesses to make monthly loans payments and keep up with interest rates.
Euthanasia is a medical procedure which speeds up the process of dying for people with incurable, painful, or distressing diseases. The patient’s doctor can stop treatment and instead let them die from their illness. It come from the Greek words for 'good' and 'death', and is also called mercy killing. Euthanasia is illegal in most countries including the UK . If you suffer from an incurable disease, you cannot legally terminate your life. However, in a number of European countries it is possible to go to a clinic which will assist you to die gracefully under some very strict circumstances.
The world is full of people, some of which are suffering every day from pain. Even with the advancements that have been made with medicine, it’s not enough to cure many diseases or to heal a person’s pain. Euthanasia is commonly referred to as a “mercy killing”. It is the intentional act of putting a person to death quietly and painlessly who has an incurable or painful disease, it is intended to be an act of mercy. According to (ANA, 2013), Euthanasia is the act of putting to death someone suffering from a painful and prolonged illness or injury.
Euthanasia is the process of killing a patient with the intention of relieving their suffering and pain. It is also commonly known as mercy killing, and many often do not agree with it most especially in cases where a terminal illness is not inclusive. While euthanasia has been legalized in certain states in the United States such as Oregon, a lot of opposition has arisen as to whom so legible to receiving this treatment.