Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia are Murder

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Euthanasia is Murder

On June 4, 1990, Janet Adkins committed suicide. She killed herself under the supervision of a man named Jack Kevorkian. Again and again, Kevorkian set up machines and killed patients that were supposedly terminally ill. He escaped punishment for years, but on March 26, 1999, Kevorkian was incarcerated for second-degree murder. (Online,99) He had developed many friends and many enemies. One of his followers was a woman who had developed coronary artery disease. Her name was Donna White. She thought about suicide often, especially when her pain was incredibly intense. Help found her before euthanasia did. A hospice care facility heard about her plot to commit suicide, and they found help for her. They provided therapy for her suicidal thoughts and severe depression, and they also provided her with the medication to keep her pain free. She no longer follows Kevorkian's ideals and is against him instead. (Shapiro and Bowermaster, 94) Over 52 patients were killed in "Dr." Kevorkian's presence. (Online, 99) What if they could have found the help that they needed?

Euthanasia is ending one's life if one has a terminal disease is an incurable condition, and is done by a lethal injection. Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide began in ancient Rome and Greece. They believed that it was okay in certain situations to allow a person to die or to help a person die. This was often the case with the elderly in these cultures. Certain religions are against euthanasia. The Christian, Jew, and Islamic religions all cling to the fact that life is sacred and should not be taken away. In some cultures, helping someone to die is the same thing as homicide, and is treated so in a court of law. (Encarta, 98)

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...ailable: http://www.angelfire.com/al/jefspage/index3.html

Barnett, Erin Hoover. "Is Mom Capable of Choosing to Die?". 1999. [Online]. The Oregonian. Date of Download: November 15, 1999. Available: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/99/10/st101719.html

Cassel, Eric J. "Euthanasia". Grolier Interactive Inc.. 1998 Euthanasia.

Gould, Jonathan and Craigmyle, Lord. Your Death Warrant?. New York: Arlington House, 1971.

Mattos, Jennifer and Sachs, Andrea. "Defining the Right to Die". Time. April 15, 1996. Pg. 82

Rosenbaum, Stuart E. and Baird, Robert M. "Euthanasia: The Moral Issues". 1989. Opposing Viewpoints. New York: Prometheus Books.

Shapiro, Joseph P. and Bowermaster, David. "Death on Trial". U.S. News and World Report. April 25, 1994. Pp. 31-39.

Shapiro, Joseph P. "Expanding a right to die". U.S. News and World Report. April 15, 1996. Pg. 63.

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