We Have the Right to Choose Euthanasia Euthanasia is the term for opting to die under circumstances, which lead to it being a gentle and easy death. Euthanasia should be an option for the suffering patient, although certain conditions and laws should be implemented on this issue so that both for and against arguments are considered. My opinion leans toward euthanasia being legal although I can understand the critical issues in relation to this practice that cause conflict within the community. The decision for life is entirely up to the suffering individual. Only under a qualified psychiatrist should there be any influence on an individuals ability to make that decision. Reasons behind questioning the patient s ability to make this decision should relate to their mental or physical status. The psychiatrist s choice should be in the best interests of the patient after considering their health. In many circumstances, euthanasia should be seen as understandable and humane, especially if a patient has a life threatening disease such as cancer or Aids. The following state the current laws for euthanasia in the Northern Territory but only recently these laws have been overturned by the Commonwealth government. These laws include; (a) A patient had to make a request, (b) Cooling off period, (c) 3 independent doctors had to agree being: (1) patient s doctor, (2) psychiatrist, if not suffering from any mental disease, (3) Specialist in the area of disease suffered by the patient e.g.: oncologist (cancer specialist), neurologist (nerve specialist being able to deal with paralysis). The laws determining the act of euthanasia must not be open to abuse, they must be precise and sensitive to the community issues but also be unbiase to the individual. If a patient is not seen to recover at any stage and, after all treatment possible, still remains incurable, then they should have the choice of euthanasia. Euthanasia would be a blessing to the critically ill patients and their families. However, under the above conditions I still can see where much abuse could occur resulting in euthanasia being seen as inhumane. If a patient who was depressed due to a feeling of pressure from home/friends/family the individual s choice for euthanasia would not be rational because there are treatments available to help deal with depression such as regular visits to a psychiatrist or the anti-depressants available from a medical practitioner. People must consider that euthanasia must be reasoned and not used as a temporary pain relief of something easily cured, but still what must be considered is what influence their can be on an individuals choice, example; pressure from family or feeling a burden.
There are several important ethical issues related to euthanasia. One is allowing people who are terminally ill and suffering the right to choose death. Should these people continue to suffer even though they really are ba...
Patients are ultimately responsible for their own health and wellbeing and should be held responsible for the consequences of their decisions and actions. All people have the right to refuse treatment even where refusal may result in harm to themselves or in their own death and providers are legally bound to respect their decision. If patients cannot decide for themselves, but have previously decided to refuse treatment while still competent, their decision is legally binding. Where a patient's views are not known, the doctor has a responsibility to make a decision, but should consult other healthcare professionals and people close to the patient.
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.
Euthanasia, as defined by the Encarta Encyclopedia, is the “practice of mercifully ending a person’s life in order to release the person from incurable disease, intolerable suffering, or undignified death” (Encarta, 2004). Euthanasia is a Greek word, which means “good death.” As humans, we understand death is something we cannot avoid but having some control over death is empowering and reassuring to us. If someone is suffering from a terminal illness, intolerable pain, or in a long-term coma, euthanasia is an acceptable option for someone to end his or her life. With the consent of their doctor(s) these people should be able to have the law on their side supporting their decisions.
The voluntary active euthanasia is legitimately moral. It is morally right for a person to seek euthanasia because it is their freedom or autonomy to control their own lives. It ends the suffering of the patient without harming other people. Furthermore, it prevents the person to suffer by giving him/her lethal injection or medication that prevents a person to die slowly with pain. On the other hand, the arguments against euthanasia are not sound. A thorough assessment will protect patient who request euthanasia for the benefits of others. A patient who seek for euthanasia does not use him/herself as means, but as ends to respect his/her own humanity. Furthermore, God as a benevolent will not allow a person to suffer which endorse the purpose of euthanasia – to end suffering. Therefore, voluntary active euthanasia should be legalized in the United States.
Presently, many cases of euthanasia had occurred around the world. Many a time we will stop and ask whether the person has anymore hope to live as a normal person. At the end it is left to the court to decide whether the people live or die. But why does the patient or the guardian choose euthanasia when they can live a longer time with their loved ones. Some might ask whether it is worth to see your loved ones suffering, wouldn’t it be better to end the suffering? To answer this question we must know what euthanasia means. According to Fergusson(1992) euthanasia which comes from the Greek word ‘eu-thanatos’ which means “well death” or “good death”(Fergusson, A. 1992). Besides that according to the oxford dictionary sixth edition (1986) the definition of euthanasia is to” bring about gentle death especially in the case of incurable and painful disease”. According to the Journal of the Americans Medical Association (as cited in BBC,n.d) there are more than one way of defining good death(BBC,n.d). This means that good death is define according to one personal view of euthanasia or when he is in a situation that is critical to his health. Some people want to die a death that involves less pain. According to BBC(n.d) voluntary euthanasia happens when voluntary death is define as the request for mercy killing is done (BBC,n.d). According to BBC(n.d) non-voluntary euthanasia happens when the patient is unconscious(BBC,n.d).
Euthanasia refers to the intentional bringing about of the death of a patient, either by killing him/her, or by letting him/her die, for the patient’s sake to prevent further pain or suffering from a terminal illness. Euthanasia is a complex issue in many underlying theological, sociological, moral, and legal aspects. Its legalization is heavily debated around the world, with strong arguments made for both sides of the issue. The supporters of euthanasia often repeated that “We have to respect the freedom of the patient" or “people should be able to exercise control over their own lives and death.” However, Euthanasia, by nature, is “wrongfully killing” or “mercy killing”, and if we allow any type of euthanasia, all sorts of negative affects might follow, and our commitment to improve the lives of the terminally ill might be weakened.
I believe that euthanasia, as a drastic course of action, should not be legal. In my opinion, the only exception to this that should exist is euthanasia being used to carry out punishment for a crime. Euthanasia should only be used to punish criminals who have committed a crime that the punishment of their crime is the death penalty.
As safeguards, clauses are proposed that would require the doctor to be satisfied that the patient's request was freely made and sufficiently informed, that there was no psychological abnormality such as depression, and possibly by requiring psychiatric consultation, that more than one doctor be involved in the decision that it was medically appropriate to take life in the circumstances, and that there be adequate documentation. It is also common to find lawyers who declare that such laws would be feasible to devise, though it is less common to find actual draft laws published for discussion. In one sense, those lawyers are correct when they say such law would be possible - but they stop short of addressing t...
I’d like to begin by telling you a story about a lady by the name of Valery Joy Brooks, once a great nurse and loving mother of four girls. In 1984 Valery suffered from an aneurysm of the frontal and temporal lobes (a.k.a a stroke) that left her completely paralysed except for autonomous movements such as breathing and blinking. For the first twelve years of my life, I watched my nan, Valery, cruelly await the end of her suffering. In 2008, Valery finally passed away after 24 long and arduous years of being stuck in a bed, watching the world move on without her. For these reasons I will be talking to you today about why Australia should legalise Euthanasia for terminally ill patients.
If a patient finds himself or herself terminally ill and in excruciating pain, they should have the option to partake in assisted suicide to end their misery. Some insights support Euthanasia, and some reject the concept. This issue is important to society because people want the right to end their lives when facing terminal, or life threatening, illnesses. In my opinion, certain forms of euthanasia should be considered legal. Euthanasia, in a sense, has way more advantages than disadvantages.
The idea of euthanasia is something that elderly people today face almost every day. I believe that it should be up to the human being suffering, whether or not they want to suffer any longer. As people grow old, they become weaker and more dependent on others naturally. Plus adding a fatal sickness to the scenario and things must seem hopeless. Nobody should have to endure such pain and agony just to save their loved ones the pain of letting them go. We do not let an animal suffer to any extent, as soon as things seem hopeless; we put them to sleep. Not that we should kill anyone at the first sign of illness, but there are many elderly people in convalescent homes just waiting for the day their pain will end. And why do we let these people suffer, because we believe it is morally wrong to kill a human being. But in this scenario I believe it is morally right to grant the wishes of the person in agony...
Euthanasia, according to the dictionary, means the killing of a person who is suffering from an incurable disease. Lately, it had been a huge debate over whether euthanasia should be legalized or not. Personally, I believe that euthanasia should be legalized if it is voluntary. I have three reasons for my argument.
Every human who suffers from such diseases should have the right to leave this world peacefully and to die with dignity. Prisoners even have a right for their last wish, so it is our duty to fulfill the last wish of sick patients. Besides, if the patient’s will is rejected, he or she might try to commit the suicide.So many times they are enticed to do such a great harm to themselves . Very often this is the only way to relieve the pain away from patients. Euthanasia not only helps the terminally ill patients, but also their loved ones.“Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide will shorten the period of pre-mortem suffering and eliminate fear about how and when death will occur. The patient will have a measure of control over the process of dying” (Singer,
Euthanasia is the intentional killing of a person in order to relieve pain and suffering. The debate over the legalization of euthanasia is one of the most contentious and controversial issues in the world today. While some countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the American states of Oregon and Washington have legalized euthanasia, the majority of countries still oppose euthanasia due to the various issues, both ethical and practical, it creates.