Life is precious and shouldn’t be taken for granted. A high percentage of people living in America believe that the taking of someone’s life is rather normal in certain ways. Euthanasia is illegal in most of the world, however is permissible in the Netherlands and also in Colombia. In the United States of America, euthanasia is legal only in the state of Oregon. Rendering to a May 2004 Gallup Poll, 53% of all Americans think that euthanasia is ethically acceptable, while 41 % believe it is wrong. During the time of the early 20th century, groups formed supporting euthanasia, and mainly were located in England and America.
Throughout World War II, the Nazis in Germany had their own program assisting euthanasia. They assisted people with euthanasia who weren’t worthy and who were not in good physical shape enough to live on. They were comprised of primarily children and older people. Euthanasia has its pros and cons, and obviously has its reasons. You’re probably wondering, what is euthanasia? Euthanasia comes from the Greek language and means “good death”, and is basically a thought of “mercy killing”. Euthanasia can be divided in to two categories.
Two Main Types of Euthanasia There are two types of Euthanasia, active and passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia is an ending of one’s life, mainly done by a physician, usually by lethal drug injections. On the other hand, passive euthanasia is when someone stops a patient from receiving his/her medical treatments which eventually causes that person to die. As we can see, euthanasia is related to death in either case. Euthanasia is mainly used at hospitals, where people are in very bad condition, especially individuals who are in comas.
The Term Paper on Euthanasia – Whose Life is it Anyway?
... this decision may include direct interventions, active euthanasia, or withholding life prolonging measures, passive euthanasia (1). People tend to make incorrect assumptions such as: ... that there are many reasons why euthanasia should be legal in America. As mentioned before, if euthanasia is legalized, there should be some ...
There are even times when Euthanasia is practiced by turning off the life support machines, or not providing enough food and/or water to the patient. In addition, there are cases where prescribed medications like antibiotic, morphine, etc. , are given to patients which can lead to a patient’s death. Performing the action of euthanasia, passive or active, is a big problem that needs to be addressed by the government. The main problem lies with the decision maker in determining the sick patient’s future.
If the decision maker thinks that the patient is suffering exceedingly, he/she will perform the act of euthanasia. However, if the patient is not suffering, the performer will not proceed to his/her prescribed actions. It’s important to note that today, machines, medicines and other technology have saved millions of lives, therefore, making euthanasia a more and widely discussed and controversial matter throughout the world. Sometimes euthanasia can be beneficial when a person is in critical condition and is too sick to benefit from life.
It could also be a way to dismiss extreme pain. However, Euthanasia can have a negative aspect. Euthanasia can debase human life or a monetary reason to save loads of money rather than spending it on life support machines. In conclusion these are the basic pros and cons of euthanasia. The pros and cons of the supporting evidence will be discussed in detail below to be understood in its supposed manner. Pros and Reasons Supporting Euthanasia There are many pros for supporting Euthanasia. One would be to help remove extreme suffering from a terminally sick person.
Secondly, it another way for ending tremendously high medical bills, knowing that a patient is not going to be cured or knowing that a patient will not live due to the suffering that’s being experienced. Lastly, euthanasia can be beneficial when used on a person who has been in a coma for a while to help family members or close friends overcome any thoughts or feelings that they might have towards the person in the coma. Cons and Reasons Opposing Euthanasia There are also negative aspects for supporting Euthanasia.
The Essay on Assisted Suicide Euthanasia Life Patient
... actual taking of life is how some religions differentiate their opinions between passive and active euthanasia. Their main ... not adequately cater for human rights. If a patient is assessed, and has no chance of ... only crime is being humane? I strongly support the euthanasia movement. It is a crime against humanity ... scenario: a doctor may bring a person back to life once they were officially dead, or ...
A person shouldn’t be killed with the use of euthanasia because it is compared to “murder”. Secondly, Euthanasia is another way to stop the high costs of medical bills. This type of thinking is immoral. Lastly, Euthanasia can be influenced by the sick patient’s wealth and his/her personal belongings, i. e. , acquiring wealth, property, inheritance, etc. As we can see from the above pros and cons mentioned above, the action of Euthanasia is rather opinionated. Some people side with euthanasia while others criticize and oppose it.
There seems to be no really right or wrong side, but more of a sense of morals involved. Euthanasia is a large topic and can interfere in many people’s lives, and can even interfere in one’s religion, which is a whole separate topic. The following will show the thoughts about Euthanasia in both Christianity and Islam. The Christian religion has several beliefs on Euthanasia. One aspect deals with life which concerns the giving and life and the taking away of life is created by God and God only, and therefore people’s lives should not be determined by human choice.
They also believe that no human being should have the right to take the life from another for any reason possible. The Islamic religion is quite similar to the Christian religion on this topic. In the Islamic religion, Allah SWT once said in the Quran, “Do not take the life, which Allah made sacred, other than in the course of justice. ” The Prophet, PBUH, said: “Amongst the nations before you there was a man who got a wound, and growing impatient (due to the pain), he took a knife and cut his hand with it and the blood did not stop till he died.
Allah said, ‘My slave hurried to bring death upon himself so I have forbidden him (to enter) Paradise. ” Sahih Bukhari. Therefore, a person who takes one’s own life away will not enter Paradise. It’s not up to individuals to make the determination on when life should end; it only belongs to God. Carmelite Spirituality and the Practice of Mental Prayer. Web. 30 May 2011. . As we can see in the figure above, a very ill patient, Faye, lying down in bed, with an illness which caused her to be both paralyzed and speechless.
The Essay on Euthanasia 60
Few issues in medical ethics are as highly debated as death and euthanasia. The topic raises questions including who has the right to take a life and under what circumstances they may do so. Furthermore, it examines under what conditions a person is perceived as being dead or as having no quality of life left. Since the days of the ancient Greek philosophers, medical topics have rarely remained as ...
Faye cannot move any part of her body and cannot communicate with anyone, as well. Faye and her family collaborated together and have decided to use active euthanasia, by the means of using lethal drug injections. In this situation, Faye has agreed to the injections because she feels that she will not gain anything from life due to her terminal conditions. Euthanasia for Faye was an upright choice because it provided an easy death for her and avoided a lot of pain and suffering that she was experiencing.
As for Faye’s family, it saved them a large debt that included life support, which would have kept her alive throughout her miserable future. In conclusion, euthanasia is a debatable subject matter and deals mostly with morals and one’s beliefs about the topic. It has both positive and negative aspects to it, but in regards to both sides, it’s a very controversial topic. My belief is to allow one’s life to be in the hands of our Creator, the only one who instills life in us and the only one who can take life away.
