The Pros And Cons Of Euthanasia

1827 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Arguments favouring euthanasia

The general argument in support of euthanasia is based on the desire for those who are in extreme mental or physical suffering to be relieved of their pain, in a way in which they can be surrounded by family rather than alone in suicide. Those in support of euthanasia argue that euthanasia is a more humane way of accepting a dying person’s wishes so that they will not resort to suicide. In 2014, a study in England revealed that 7 percent of suicides were by terminally ill people, so around 300 people a year if these figures were applied. 8While Catholics view euthanasia as a selfish choice, those who love the individual who wants to die may believe that we must respect that person's choice over their own lives, which is a way of loving them …show more content…

Pohier wrote, “because human beings receive their life from God and because they are made in His image through their freedom, they have the same right to exercise their choice in dying"10 Therefore, he argues that humans don’t disobey God’s plan by choosing to end their life through euthanasia. Instead, they are exercising the gift of free will that God has intentionally given to humans over their own lives. This is key to the relationship of ‘freedom with freedom’ between God and humans, as well as central to human nature. Other Catholic theologians who support euthanasia have similar view to those of Pohier. Catholic theologian Hans Küng agrees with Pohier about the importance of God’s creation of humans with free will, as well as stating that the belief in life after death means that we should not need to prolong life pointlessly. He states, “I am not so concerned about an endless prolongation of my life—certainly not under conditions that are no longer compatible with human dignity”.11 Catholics who argue against euthanasia would argue that although we should be heavenly minded, that should only inspire us to act according to God's plan in this life. In the parable of the talents, (Matthew 25:14-30), three servants were given bags of talents when their …show more content…

As Catholics believe that we should not judge the worth of life due to suffering, Catholics seek to make those who are suffering as comfortable as possible. Palliative care is care given to the dying in order to relieve suffering. In Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II states that rather than agreeing for someone to be euthanised out of compassion, asking for euthanasia may be a plea for support and love. "True ‘compassion’ leads to sharing another's pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear."16 Catholics are therefore obliged to support those who are dying by surrounding them with love. This is a result of following the commandment to love one's neighbour, to seek to preserve and make their life better rather than end it. A social implication of belief in human dignity means Catholics wish to improve people’s quality of life, including making the dying process more comfortable. The dying process should be respected as something that is natural and intended by God. While we should seek to give support, and ease the pain with palliative care, it would be considered wrong to hasten this process such as with euthanasia, as the dying process was intended by God. As a result of this belief, Catholic groups in worldwide and in New Zealand have set up aged care homes and hospices, to provide care and support for those who are dying. The

Show More
Related

  • Persuasive Essay: The Pros And Cons Of Euthanasia

    1907 Words  | 4 Pages

    Anyone can be diagnosed with a terminal illness. It doesn’t matter how healthy you are, who you are, or what you do. Some terminal illnesses you can prevent by avoiding unhealthy habits, eating healthily, exercising regularly and keeping up with vaccinations. However some terminally ill people cannot be helped, their diseases cannot be cured and the only thing possible to help them, besides providing pain relieving medication, is to make them as comfortable as possible while enduring their condition. Many times the pharmaceuticals do not provide the desired pain escape, and cause patients to seek immediate relief in methods such as euthanasia. Euthanasia is the practice of deliberately ending a life in order to alleviate pain and suffering, but is deemed controversial because many various religions believe that their creators are the only ones that should decide when their life’s journey should reach its end. Euthanasia is performed by medical doctors or physicians and is the administration of a fatal dose of a suitable drug to the patient on his or her express request. Although the majority of American states oppose euthanasia, the practice would result in more good as opposed to harm. The patient who is receiving the euthanizing medication would be able to proactively choose their pursuit of happiness, alleviate themselves from all of the built up pain and suffering, relieve the burden they may feel they are upon their family, and die with dignity, which is the most ethical option for vegetative state and terminally ill patients. Euthanasia should remain an alternative to living a slow and painful life for those who are terminally ill, in a vegetative state or would like to end their life with dignity. In addition, t...

    Read More

  • The Complications Of Euthanasia In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1217 Words  | 3 Pages

    Societies frequently reject the use of euthanasia because of the way in which it violates ethics. This is a major concern in the field of religion; along with other religions and religious leaders, Willem Velema of the Orthodox Protestant Church was “fiercely opposed” to the idea of euthanizing (Boer). From a religious standpoint, this procedure is wrong because patients and their families can act as God by determining time of death. Religion teaches that God keeps His children on the earth for a reason. After all, God puts certain obstacles in one’s life in order to make them stronger; resorting to death is a sign of weakness. Euthanasia is also opposed by many because of the way people take advantage of it. In Belgium, where Euthanization is legal, the number of medically induced deaths “has been going up” tremendously (Boer). In fact, “it has increased by an average of 15% a year” since 2006 (Boer). As numbers increase, citizens become desensitized to the idea, therefore, viewing it as a viable option in the face of pain.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Euthanasia

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay: Christians Should Oppose Euthanasia

    536 Words  | 2 Pages

    As Christians, we believe that life is the most basic gift of a loving God--a gift over which we have stewardship but not absolute dominion. Our tradition, declaring a moral obligation to care for our own life and health and to seek such care from others, recognizes that we are not morally obligated to use all available medical procedures in every set of circumstances. But that tradition clearly and strongly affirms that as a responsible steward of life one must never directly intend to cause one's own death, or the death of an innocent victim, by action or omission. Euthanasia and willful suicide are offenses against life itself which poison civilization.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Euthanasia

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Egnisia And Religion: The Views Of Euthanasia

    2210 Words  | 5 Pages

    ​Euthanasia is and will always be one of the leading ethical issues present in the world. There are strong arguments present on both sides of the issue including that of one of the most influential institutions on the planet; the Catholic Church. The Church has, and always will be against the killing of a human being. This applies to euthanasia: “An action or omission which of itself and by intention causes death, with the purpose of eliminating all suffering.” (Pope John Paul II - Evangelium Vitae). The Church also refers to euthanasia as “assisted suicide” and the “mercy killing”. “Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable. Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church – 2277).

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay Euthanasia

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, to preserve the individual 's self respect they would not want their family to see them fall apart and wither away. Nevertheless, the end of a family member 's life is hard on all loved ones and the last memories they have should be ones of joy and care. A patient should be able to pass away peacefully knowing that they did so with their respect and dignity intact. In the article “Is physician-assisted death in anyone 's best interest?”, James downar explains that many people try and delay death, even when faced with a hopeless situation. However, although they remain cognitively intact, other patients have limited life prolonging options and their quality of life and function deteriorate below the threshold that they consider acceptable. This portrays the idea that regardless of whether or not a person is in favour of, or opposed to euthanasia, all people would agree that they would want a dignified death for themselves and their loved ones. The problem starts when people cannot agree as to the definition of 'dignity. ' According to a new survey commissioned by ‘Dying With Dignity Canada’, approximately 84 per cent of Canadians support assisted dying. These results clarify that terminally ill patients need their rights recognized. That being said, those who are continually opposed to voluntary euthanasia must not deny people the right to die with

    Read More

  • The Catholic View of Euthanasia

    845 Words  | 2 Pages

    disease, or a person who is dying". the church says any law permitting euthanasia is a unjust

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Euthanasia

    1823 Words  | 4 Pages

    On United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, It is suggested that “As Catholic leaders and moral teachers, we believe that life is the most basic gift of a loving God- a gift over which we have stewardship but not absolute dominion.” They also suggest that the God will always offer them with bearable experience and an end shows distrust and disrespect to the God. All these opinions points out the disagreement of Catholics in euthanasia. It is a fact that in some parts of the world the religion plays a big part in the society. Therefore allowing euthanasia is obviously a measure to destruct religious beliefs so that we should ban it for the religious side. Yet there is a significant and growing percentage of non-Christians and liberal Christians in North America who do not accept these arguments, the number of opponents compared to that of people holding the previous point is still

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Euthanasia

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    The topic of euthanasia and assisted suicide is very controversial. People who support euthanasia say that it is someone 's right to end their own life in the case of a terminal illness. Those in favor of this right consider the quality of life of the people suffering and say it is their life and, therefore, it is their decision. The people against euthanasia argue that the laws are in place to protect people from corrupt doctors. Some of the people who disagree with assisted suicide come from a religious background and say that it is against God’s plan to end one 's life. In between these two extreme beliefs there are some people who support assisted suicide to a certain degree and some people who agree on certain terms and not on others.

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Euthanasia

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    “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)

    Read More

  • Death And Dying In Roman Catholicism

    653 Words  | 2 Pages

    Regarding euthanasia, which the Church defines as acts of commission, such as actively assisting a patient to take his or her own life, or omission, such as withholding nutrition and other support to patients, that cause death in order to eliminate suffering, the Church lives by two principles. Pope Pius XII taught the use of ordinary means to sustain life and extraordinary means in some cases, a principle that the Vatican later refined with support for the withholding of medical treatment or technology if it is excessively burdensome or not beneficial to the patient. The Church also tries to distinguish between patients in persistently vegetative states and terminally ill patients, which secularists tend to group together in their advocacy for euthanasia (McHugh).

    Read More

  • Euthanasia Pros And Cons

    959 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Defense of Euthanasia

    1271 Words  | 3 Pages

    More than likely, a good majority of people have heard about euthanasia at least once in their lifetime. For those out there who have been living under a rock their entire lives, euthanasia “is generally understood to mean the bringing about of a good death – ‘mercy killing’, where one person, ‘A’, ends the life of another person, ‘B’, for the sake of ‘B’.” (Kuhse 294). There are people who believe this is a completely logical scenario that should be allowed, and there are others that oppose this view. For the purpose of this essay, I will be defending those who are suffering from euthanasia.

    Read More

  • Euthanasia: Not Morally Acceptable

    1644 Words  | 4 Pages

    ‘Mercy’, ‘dignity’, ‘good’ and ‘self-determination’ are the moral basis that the advocates for euthanasia defend. How appealing they sound, their accounts are simply an attempt to escape from dying process, through which we still hold our existence. The argument of pro-euthanasia might suggest that we are able to control over our life and death without moral conflict because such values related to euthanasia can justify the action of killing.

    Read More

More about The Pros And Cons Of Euthanasia

Open Document