The Pros And Cons Of Euthanasia

Euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide or Mercy Killing, gives rise to controversial debates, and people challenge euthanasia for its moral and legal bases. Some argue that patients should have the rights to end their unendurable sufferings and to die with dignity. Some, in the countries that have already legalized euthanasia, argue whether euthanasia should extend to children. Some, however, argue that legalizing euthanasia can cause a “slippery slope” that leads to murder and should not extend to anyone. In my opinion, assisted suicide should be legalized, but only to terminally ill patients competent to give consent, not including children and disabled people. The idea of extending the euthanasia law to children may have dangerous consequences, …show more content…

A euthanasia advocate, Dr. Philip Nitschke, argues in his CNN news article “Euthanasia: Hope you never need it, but be glad the option is there,” that society sees children and people with Alzheimer 's as those who cannot make decisions by themselves. He also strongly supports the statement of "a peaceful death is everybody 's right" in Belgium. However, simply avoiding unknowable prediction of suffering by ending lives that may have a fruitful future does not solve the problem. Children and disabled will consider themselves as burdens of their families and likely to end their lives for the family to be better off. Their impulsive decisions may cause irretrievable consequences. Stephen Hawking, as an example, suffered from motor neurone disease (ALS) ever since the age of 21. This form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) slowly weakened him and paralyzed him, causing him to be confined in the wheelchair for more than 50 years, unable to talk or move. If he chose to end his suffering when he first diagnosed with the illness, his legend will never exist, and his contributions to the fields of cosmology, general relativity and quantum gravity would never be …show more content…

The legalization of physician-assisted suicide will make the procedure more regulated. In The Economist article, “Time to Die”, the author shares his story of a deceased intimate acquaintance who died by physician-assisted suicide in a state where physician-assisted suicide considered illegal. The author’s personal experience of illegal practice of euthanasia gives him credibility for talking about the issue of physician-assisted suicide. He argues that many practice of euthanasia takes place underground and difficult to keep tract and regulate. People who oppose euthanasia because they fear that legalizing this practice will cause poor people to choose euthanasia instead of medical treatment. However, the author provides the “report on end-of-life decision-making” of Netherland, where “euthanasia under clear ‘precautionary conditions’ has been legally tolerated”. The Dutch government published the data in 2012, and the data appears that “legalization has not led to an increase in cases”. In 2001, before the law was passed, euthanasia accounted for 2.6% of death in Netherland; however, in 2005, when the law has already passed, the percentage fell to 1.7%. Although the percentage of the practice went back up in 2010, the cases of explicit request of euthanasia dropped greatly as the author points out. Also, the legalization benefits the patients and their family since the doctors can now