Benefits Of Euthanasia

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Recommended: ethical/moral reasoning for euthanasia

Should voluntary euthanasia be legalized? 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. There are three main types of euthanasia: voluntary, non-voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia refers to a situation in which a person of sound mind requests to die. Non-voluntary euthanasia is when a person is unable Restricting this ability goes against human rights. Others argue that death is a private matter and if it does not affect anyone else’s rights and benefits everyone involved, it is morally acceptable. Practical A benefit of the legalization of euthanasia is that it will free up scarce medical resources and hospital space. Countries have limited health budgets so expenditure on terminally ill patients who wish to die can mean reducing the resources available for those with treatable illnesses. It is further argued that euthanasia will happen regardless and it would be better to legalize it and have proper regulations and rules in place. This can be seen in Oregon where voluntary euthanasia was legalized in 1998 but to be euthanized a strict set of conditions had to be met: “patient must be resident in Oregon patient must be aged over 18 patient must make 2 oral and 1 written request for euthanasia there must be at least 15 days between the first and the last request patient must be terminally ill with a life expectancy of less than 6 Although reading and researching its negative aspects has made me recognize the many difficulties associated with euthanasia I still believe that, if regulated properly, it could be used in an appropriate way. This has been seen to be the case in countries where it has been legalized. I believe that we are breaching human rights by not allowing people to make decisions that affect only themselves. The level of suffering and distress experienced by patients and their families contemplating euthanasia are impossible for outsiders to comprehend; therefore this decision should be able to made by those directly involved, within a well regulated system of

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