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Ethical issues about euthanasia
Ethical issues about euthanasia
Ethical issues about euthanasia
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Don’t you think that having the right to end your own life should be just as effective as having the right to bear arm or having Freedom of Speech and all the rest of our rights as citizens? Many people have come to believe that a ‘mercy’ killing is clarified as killing a person without his or hers request. Hearing the term euthanasia and mercy killing in the same sentence can make people think that assisted suicide isn’t morally right and should be banned. “Euthanasia comes from a Greek word, meaning good death. The term normally implies an intentional termination of life by another at the explicit request of the person who wished to die. Euthanasia is generally defined as the act of killing an incurable ill person out of concern and compassion for that person and in an effort to limit that person 's suffering. It is sometimes also referred to be called a mercy killing.” (Batten 257) Although euthanasia is broken into two categories: passive euthanasia and active euthanasia. Back in the day there was a court case, People vs. Kevorkian, this case was a major influence on why many people came to believe that what Dr. Jack Kevorkian was doing to his patients was absolutely wrong, sinful and immoral. There are many pros and cons to the reasons euthanasia should and should not be allowed. …show more content…
Many people haven 't really heard about Euthanasia and know what it really is and how it works and the effects it had on Doctors who did believe in why Euthanasia should be legal and why it should be a personal choice to make on our
The Hippocratic Oath states that “I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel”. Euthanasia is where someone intentionally kills a person whose life is felt not to be worth living. It is definitely a controversial topic with many opinions on whether or not it should be legalized.
Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide has been a hot topic of debate for quite some time now. Some believe it to be immoral, while others see nothing wrong with it what so ever. Regardless what anyone believes, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide should become legal for physicians and patients. Death is a personal situation in life. By government not allowing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide they are interfering and violating patient’s personal freedom and human rights! Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide have the power to save the lives of family members and other ill patients. Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide should become legal however, there should be strict rules and guidelines to follow and carry out by both the patient and physician. If suicide isn’t a crime why should euthanasia and assisted suicide? Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide should be legal and the government should not be permitted to interfere with death.
Euthanasia is a difficult ideal to understand, to lack the ability to place a value on someone’s life and to understand someone’s suffering at the sometime. Being pulled by both your heart and your soul at the same time.
As the years go by our society advances in all fields. As a result, we as a society have come to question many elements in our lives by comparing them to longstanding morals and traditions. The medical fields has always, and probably will always, raise many controversial issues. The latest concerns whether euthanasia or physician assisted suicide should be universally legalized in the U.S. Those opposed see that there are other alternatives other than taking a person’s own life, with the help of a doctor. Not only are they essential to incorporate into the options for people experiencing terminal illnesses, legalization would allow an overall upgrade in combating abuse with this treatment, at the same time, people are thoroughly against the
Euthanasia has been a very polemic subject in American society. Its objective is to conclude the life of a person at their own request, a family member, or by the determination of a health care professional to avoid unnecessary suffering. There is a lot of moral and ethics involved in euthanasia, exist a big difference between provoke death and allow death. The first one rejects life, the second one accepts its natural end. Every single intentional act of provoke the death of a person without consent is opposed to ethics and is punishable by law. One of the biggest moral controversies in the XXI century is the fact that some people agree in the autonomy humans have to determine the moment of death. The moral and legal implications are huge and the practical benefits are also enormous. This is a touchy and controversial issue and my goal on writing this paper is to remain on favor of euthanasia. I will elaborate later on my reasons to believe and support euthanasia, but first let’s examine the historical perspective of this moral issue.
Up to 8.5% of terminally ill patients express a sustained and persuasive for an early death (Marks and Rosielle). Terminally ill patients have long lasting, painful deaths and they should have the option of assisted suicide so they don’t have to go through that. Assisted suicide is when a patient writes a written request to a doctor and after two days the doctor can prescribe lethal drugs to the patient (Engber). The doctor can’t administer them himself, that would be euthanasia, the patients has to take them him or herself (Engber). Assisted suicide should be legal because it ends patient's suffering and pain, and it is their individual right to determine their own fate.
I picked voluntary euthanasia as my written assignment topic this week because while reading through it, my mother’s comment of that she wants to just pass away quickly, rather suffering slowly and be a burden to everyone around here a long time ago came to my mind. She made that comment after visiting someone dying from cancer, so I understand why she made that remark. The reasons cited for voluntary euthanasia is to end the suffering and stop being a burden to everyone around you and is asking for health professionals to assist in ending your life (Young, 2014). Not many countries as we learned has legalized euthanasia, but a few like the Netherlands has set 5 very strict conditions for asking for voluntary euthanasia which are: “suffering
In today’s modern society the use of euthanasia and assisted suicide is a hot button topic. Due to the argumentative nature of this issue many philosophers have created their own ideas on how euthanasia and assisted suicide benefit or harm society. These philosophers such as Brock and Callahan differ in their arguments about euthanasia and assisted suicide. Like almost all the heavily opinionated topics in society there should be limits to the use thus my consensus regarding euthanasia and assisted suicide is that it should be legalized to a certain extent.
Imagine yourself laying on your deathbed, hooked up to countless machines. The doctors are constantly coming to check you while you're trying to get what little sleep you can through the agonizing pain. Even more you're suffering from the side effects of countless drugs, constipation, delirium, you can barely breathe and you've lost all your appetite. There no chance of survival and death is imminent, it's just a matter of time when. You just lay there fighting for your last seconds. Now, if you had the chance to choose how your life ended, wouldn't you choose how and when it ends? Hence, doctor assisted suicide should be a legal option for terminally ill patients. This is a humane way for them to end their lives with dignity, without shame and suffering. We don't have the freedom of speech unless we have the freedom to refuse to speak. The same goes for our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we can't have complete freedom unless we have the freedom to deny these things. We can't claim full control over our life if we cannot choose when to end it. Thus, people should be given the right to assisted suicide in order to end their unnecessary suffering, to preserve the individual right of people to determine their own fate, and to reduce the burden on their families both, financially and emotionally.
Death is something almost everyone fears, but the people that aren’t afraid are the ones suffering from terminal disease and other life-threatening illness. Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide are very serious topics in the medical community, as supporters to legalization argue that it’s the right of the person to live or die, while on the other side opponents argue legalizing it me1ans that doctors will have the ability to kill patients and that the government approves it. Euthanasia is legal in multiple countries including Netherlands, Switzerland, and Canada. Physician assisted suicide is legal in a lot of countries including; Germany, Japan, and Switzerland. Euthanasia is widely conversed in the world and has been since it was first
Should euthanasia be allowed or not? It has become a very controversial issue nowadays. Velleman and Hooker have different perspectives on euthanasia, and whether there should be laws permitting voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia. Although there are well-reasoned arguments on both sides, I would strongly agree with Hooker's argument that there should be a law permitting voluntary euthanasia when it is for the wellbeing of the person and that each individual should be able to make their own decision.
“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)
The debate over euthanasia started long ago. It is believed by many that euthanasia started in ancient Greece and Rome around the fifth century B.C. They did this by abortions and sometimes but still rarely performed a mercy killing on an individual that they knew had an incurable disease. They had no technology to keep a person alive by a venihaltor for years. So of course maybe that made it substantially easier. (Medical Care vol.46 , No.12)
Physician-Assisted Suicide is assisted suicide from a physician to a person to make it as painless and dignified as possible. There is also Euthanasia, which is to end a person life so they don’t have to go through any more pain and suffering without the patients consent. As of right now, only Montana, Oregon, Vermont and Washington have legalized Physician-Assisted suicide. To be eligible for Physician-assisted suicide, a patient must have a terminally ill disease. There are many pros and cons in this if you are having unbearable pain and want to end the suffering.
Although some people believe that euthanasia devalues life, I do not agree because I feel that it gives the patient an opportunity to end his or her life by celebrating their life in the company of loved ones. To conclude, I think that society's view on euthanasia needs to be more open, and hopefully people will realise that it is a positive thing, and not just a means of a quick death.