The American Medical Association and Euthanasia

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Every day, millions of people are being diagnose with terminal illnesses or being seriously injured in accidents. Sometimes, those illnesses and accidents become long and agonizingly painful deaths. Although medication could briefly ease the pain, the long-term agony that the patient has to deal with is ceaseless. Undoubtedly, the human life has an enormous value and is for that reason that it should be preserved in all the possible ways. Nevertheless, when the terminal illness comes to its last stage, or the damage caused for an accident is too much to handle and the only option left is death, shouldn’t it be the patient’s decision to end its suffering and pain in a dignified way? Or in cases where the patient has an impediment to decide, shouldn’t the family have the option to give their loved one an end to its suffer? As part of a free society, euthanasia should be considered as a legal and humane option for patients suffering from terminal diseases and victims of accidents, mainly because is every human right to die in a decent way. The American Medical Association (AMA) defines euthanasia in its Code of Ethics as the administration of a lethal agent by another person to a patient with the purpose of relieving the patient's intolerable and incurable suffering (qtd. in Frey). Euthanasia is categorized in two ways; as active or passive, and as either voluntary or involuntary. The first category refers to the means of ending life, and the second refers to the decision-making. Active euthanasia is associated with the merciful death act, while passive euthanasia involves withholding the medical care or not doing something to prevent death. When talking about voluntary euthanasia, is the patient the one that makes the r... ... middle of paper ... ...itable part of life and one task is to understand and grow from suffering, it cannot be evade. For individual liberties and general benefits of society, euthanasia should be permitted and be morally acceptable. Works Cited British Broadcasting Corporation. British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC, 2009. Web. 14 Apr. 2014 Frey Rebecca, Ph. D "Euthanasia." The Gale Encyclopedia of Senior Health: A Guide for Seniors and Their Caregivers. Ed. Jacqueline L. Longe. Detroit: Gale, 2009. 5 vols. Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health, 3rd ed., Detroit: Gale, 2013, pp. 1282-1285. Marker, Rita L. Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide & Health Care Decisions: Protecting Yourself & Your Family. Patients Rights Council, 2006. Web. 14 Apr. 2014 Walters, Ray. “Death with Dignit,” Letters to the Editor, Burlington Free Press, Apr. 12, 2005. Web. 13 Apr. 2014

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