euthanasia essay

Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. Euthanasia can either take the form of passive or active assisted-suicide. Euthanasia is a hotly debated topic international that receives a lot of media attention when a story breaks about a personal story of someone suffering from an incurable and painful disease asks to be euthanized.

Euthanasia can either take a passive or active form in that passive euthanasia is the act in which a life-support system or medication is withheld so the patient can die by natural means. This also means an ordinary human right such as nutrition or hydration cannot be with held to induce death. The injury or disease must be the cause of death not the act of the withdrawing the life support system.

Active euthanasia is the direct and intentional killing of someone when given consent or consent can’t be given. Active euthanasia usually takes the form of a lethal dose of medication to ensure a painless death. Active euthanasia has been requested by people suffering from diseases and syndromes that have reduced their quality of life to a point at which that believe that death is a better option than living in their pained and often vegetative state. This means of assisted-suicide has been requested in a case of man named Tony Nicklinson who suffered from a sickness called locked-in syndrome that left him physically disabled but was not affected mentally, he had described his life as a “a living nightmare.” As his quality of life had made him feel as though his body was a jail to his mind.

Euthanasia is not about ending a life it is about stopping unbearable pain and suffering in those sentenced to a terminal illness where they...

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...years. Under section 19A of the Crimes Act 1900 he could of faced a maximum of 10 years in jail but because of the circumstances his punishment was nowhere near as harsh as possible. This shows that people understand and sympathize with the pain a loved one can feel.

It is for the reasons above that I believe that euthanasia should be legalized under the premise that the patient must have terrible quality of life and be suffering from a terminal illness and that a physician will administer the injection under the direction of two other physicians as to stop the possibility of misdiagnoses. I also believe that a person who has been in a coma or on life support but still has no chance of survival also have the right to euthanasia. Euthanasia is a hotly debated topic as it can make someone questions their deepest belief into what they believe is the meaning of living.