euthanasia

“Euthanasia”, also known as “mercy killing”, comes from the two Greek words for “good death”. It is the practice of ending a person’s life (legally) who is suffering from a terminal disease or is in a severe state where they do not have the consciousness to take care of themselves. () In the novel “Of Mice and Men”, by John Steinbeck, George kills Lennie so that Lennie has a peaceful death by the hands of his best friend rather than have him suffer by the hands of someone else, a more “informal” way of euthanasia. Euthanasia has its pros and cons but is greatly debated because it can be seen as unhuman and often considered as murder.

The formal role of a doctor for euthanasia when a patient is on the verge of death, as described by physician William Hunk, is “We dismiss all thought of cure, or the prolongation of life, and our efforts are limited to the relief of certain urgent conditions, such as pain.” () Many physicians in the 1800’s - 1900’s considered euthanasia as a part of their job by helping patients achieve a peaceful death. Although, recently there has been more and more cases where physicians try to get rid of their dying patient by giving them certain medication that the doctors knew would be deadly. The most relevant case in today’s world is abortions involving euthanasia. Infants born with a slim chance of survival and severe deformities may be killed by being given medication in lethal doses to “ease them quietly out of their life.” ()

The first effort to legalize euthanasia in the United States was made by a legislator in Ohio in 1906. A bill was shown to the state, and if the bill was to pass, a physician in the U.S. would have the right to suggest a “painless death to any...

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...ould ultimately be up to the patient to decide the value of life and death for him/her. On the other hand, those who oppose euthanasia say that if euthanasia was legalized, the right to die would be abused and ultimately changed into a “right to kill”. The main complication when euthanasia is being considered is that sometimes it is not clear if a terminally ill patient really wants to die. Some argue that it is unbearable for the patients to know that they are on their deathbed, leading to a pro-euthanasia statement by Dr. Maisie M, that “maintaining life support systems against the patient's wish is considered unethical by law as well as medical philosophy. If the patient has the right to discontinue treatment why would he not have the right to shorten his lifetime to escape the intolerable anguish? Isn’t the pain of waiting for death frightening and traumatic?”