Euthanasia Moral Isuue in the United States

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Recommended: Ethics about euthanasia

Every day thousands of people are turning to a controversial practice for solving their health problems. This unique “practice that ends the individuals life that is suffering from a terminal illness, disease, or an incurable condition by the means of lethal injection” (Emanuel) thus ceasing the persons life is called Euthanasia. Euthanasia is also referred to as a mercy killing, which is, “the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, a person or animal suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition”(Goel). The practice of Euthanasia has a long history that dates back centuries ago. However, it was not until 1906 when the first bill to legalize Euthanasia popped up on American soil. For years on end, American legislatures have been turning down bills of legalizing Euthanasia in America. Through the years 1937 to 1991 Nebraska, New York, Washington, and Oregon have been the few states that have tried to legalize Euthanasia, but have been promptly rejected or turned down and prevented from taking effect.

Today in America, Euthanasia is illegal. In fact, it is almost illegal in every country of the world except for a few places. Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands and the state Oregon in the United States. These are the only two places in the world that have the correct laws that specifically permit the practice of Euthanasia and assisted suicide. However, the state of Michigan was indeed very close to passing a

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Euthanasia bill to make it legal also but the ballot was defeated. The ballot was defeated due to television ads that were shifting the gears of Euthanasia towards alternatives to Euthanasia and focusing on alternatives such as Hospice care, which is, “t...

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...t to choose when they die?

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References

Emanuel, E. J. (2005). Journal of Clinical Oncology. In Depression, Euthanasia, and Improving End-of-Life Care. Retrieved February 8, 2012, from Official Journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology website: http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/23/27/6456.short

Goel, V. (2008). Euthanasia – a Dignified End of Life! International NGO Journal , 3(12). Retrieved from http://academicjournals.org/INGOJ

Lewy, G. (2011). Assisted Death in Europe and America. Oxford University Press.

McLoughlin, D. M. (2002). Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, and Psychiatry: a Pandora’s box. Retrieved February 8, 2012, from The British Journal of Psychiatry website: http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/181/4/278

Mitchell, J. B. (2007). Understanding Assisted Suicide. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press.

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