Euthanasia: Humans Playing God

1107 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Moral debates of euthanasia

Euthanasia refers to the exercise of deliberately ending the life of a patient suffering from a chronic and excruciating disease or in an unalterable coma. Euthanasia, infanticide and suicide were practiced in the 5th century up to the 1st century before Christ. Euthanasia comes from the Greek words, “Eu” as in good and “Thanatosis” as in death. Euthanasia is sometimes addressed as “assisted suicide”. Some countries have adapted euthanasia as a legal death sentence to one’s self such as Belgium, and Luxembour; whereas in other countries it is strictly forbidden. Euthanasia should not be permitted because doctors are never sure that the patient’s death is imminent, humans do not have the right to decide who lives and who doesn’t, and a patient can never be certain of such a decision.

To begin with, doctors are humans and humans occasionally make mistakes. Doctors may misdiagnose or fail accurately to forecast an individual’s diagnosis. Even a patient with an extremely horrendous condition has the chance of overcoming death. (Kerridge & Mitchell, 1996, p.275) As much as we think we have reached a point of technological advancement, we still have a lot ahead of us when it comes to medicine. Science corrects itself often and at any moment a new therapy can appear. Unlike any act, euthanasia is irrevocable; and if this new cure was to be discovered then that life would have been terminated for nothing. To conclude, medical understanding cannot predict one’s course of life because it is limited and sometimes unreliable. In the Journal of the American Medical Association of February 28th, a very good example why one must always have hope of finding a new cure was given. A woman was supposedly suffering from a chronic disease wished ...

... middle of paper ...

...ic Disturbance in Dialysis and Renal Transplant Patients. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 62:91-96.

The Scientific Argument Against Euthanasia(1914). The British Medical Journal, 1(2781), 881-882.

Van der Burg, W. (1991). The slippery slope argument. Ethics, 102(1), 42-65.

Abram, H., Gordon, M., & Frederic, W. (1971). Suicidal Behavior in Chronic Dialysis Patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 127:1199-1202.

Fisher, J. (1980). No To Euthanasia. The British Medical Journal, 281(6246), 1009-1010.

Gordon, E. J. (2001). “They don't have to suffer for me”: Why dialysis patients refuse offers of living donor kidneys. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 15(2), 245-267.

Kerridge, I. H., & Mitchell, K. R. (1996). The legislation of active voluntary euthanasia in Australia: will the slippery slope prove fatal? Journal of Medical Ethics, 22(5), 273-278.

Show More
Related

  • The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    The word Euthanasia comes from the Greek and means “good death” (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/hp.asp) and in the range of this paper, it will be called physician assisted suicide or “active” euthanasia. The definition of “active” euthanasia is ending one’s life yourself or with aid of a doctor. It can be done in various different ways; however, the most common form is with a combination of drugs, usually given by a physician. ( http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/hp.asp) The reason Physician Assisted Suicide (or PAS) is an important issue in this country and around the world is that there are many people out there suffering from debilitating, incurable and intensely painful diseases that would like to end their lives with dignity and without suffering. (Leo & Lein, 2010, The Value of a Planned Death)

    Read More

  • Should Euthanasia be legalised in Australia?

    2093 Words  | 5 Pages

    Passive voluntary euthanasia, as defined by the research paper, Euthanasia – the Australian Law in an International Context, 1997, is “when medical treatment is withdraw or withheld from a patient at the patient’s request, in order to end the patient’s life”. Active voluntary euthanasia however, is when a patient requests to terminate their life, through the means of medical intervention. Voluntary active euthanasia has had a significant history within Australian laws, with the Northern Territory as the first state to pass legislation on the subject. According to the Bills Digest 45, The Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 was passed on the 25th of May, 1995 and eventually came into operation on the 1st of July, 1996. Within the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995, it allowed a terminally ill patient to gain the assistance of a doctor or other qualified physician to e...

    Read More

  • Euthanasia: An End to Misery

    1369 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Thomas More, in describing a utopian community, envisaged such a community as one that would facilitate the death of those whose lives had become burdensome as a result of ‘torturing and lingering pain’” (Voluntary Euthanasia). Euthanasia is an act that would be used to relieve suffering patients. Before one can argue for or against the legalization of euthanasia, he must understand the difference between the different types of euthanasia: active versus passive, voluntary versus non-voluntary and involuntary, and euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. First, “active euthanasia occurs when something is done with the specific intention of ending a person‘s life, such as injecting a lethal medication,” while “passive euthanasia occurs when interventions that might prolong life are withheld, such as deciding against connecting a dying person to a life support” (Euthanasia- Euthanasia: History, Controversy, Facts). Second, voluntary euthanasia is when a competent person asks for help to end his life, while non-voluntary euthanasia is when a person is not competent to make the decision for himself, and involuntary euthanasia is when the patient is completely against euthanasia (National Right to Life). There is even a difference between euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, as euthanasia describes “the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals,“ while physician-assisted suicide is when a person is giving the tools needed to end his own life by a physician (Suicide, Euthanasia, and Physician-Assisted Suicide). Although involuntary euthanasia should never be viewed as permissible, all other kinds of euthanasia should be legalized with the aid of living wills, giving the sufferin...

    Read More

  • Euthanasia Pro

    2300 Words  | 5 Pages

    Euthanasia is the intentional killing of someone, by action or neglect, who is defenseless or reliant upon others for their supposed benefit. The word, in its oldest form, meant gentle or good death, but now it is used in the same context as terms like mercy killing, assisted suicide, and physician- assisted death. However, euthanasia is not a recent concern; it has been practiced as early as the 1700’s, but it did not become widely known until the 1900’s when Adolf Hitler euthanized countless of mentally, physically, and terminally ill people in the first attempts to “cleanse” the German population. Euthanasia is only a broad term: there are many subjects that fall under it such as voluntary, involuntary, active, and passive. Voluntary is

    Read More

  • Bonnie Steinbock The Morality Of Euthanasia

    1590 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this essay, I will discuss whether euthanasia is morally permissible or not. Euthanasia is the intention of ending life due to inevitable pain and suffering. The word euthanasia comes from the Greek words “eu,” which means good, and “thanatosis, which means death. There are two types of euthanasia, active and passive. Active euthanasia is when medical professionals deliberately do something that causes the patient to die, such as giving lethal injections. Passive euthanasia is when a patient dies because the medical professionals do not do anything to keep them alive or they stop doing something that was keeping them alive. Some pros of euthanasia is the freedom to decide your destiny, ending the pain, and to die with dignity. Some cons

    Read More

  • Ethics of Euthanasia

    1466 Words  | 3 Pages

    As patients come closer to the end of their lives, certain organs stop performing as well as they use to. People are unable to do simple tasks like putting on clothes, going to the restroom without assistance, eat on our own, and sometimes even breathe without the help of a machine. Needing to depend on someone for everything suddenly brings feelings of helplessness much like an infant feels. It is easy to see why some patients with terminal illnesses would seek any type of relief from this hardship, even if that relief is suicide. Euthanasia or assisted suicide is where a physician would give a patient an aid in dying. “Assisted suicide is a controversial medical and ethical issue based on the question of whether, in certain situations, Medical practioners should be allowed to help patients actively determine the time and circumstances of their death” (Lee). “Arguments for and against assisted suicide (sometimes called the “right to die” debate) are complicated by the fact that they come from very many different points of view: medical issues, ethical issues, legal issues, religious issues, and social issues all play a part in shaping people’s opinions on the subject” (Lee). Euthanasia should not be legalized because it is considered murder, it goes against physicians’ Hippocratic Oath, violates the Controlled

    Read More

  • Euthanasia

    1664 Words  | 4 Pages

    Euthanasia, as defined by the Encarta Encyclopedia, is the “practice of mercifully ending a person’s life in order to release the person from incurable disease, intolerable suffering, or undignified death” (Encarta, 2004). Euthanasia is a Greek word, which means “good death.” As humans, we understand death is something we cannot avoid but having some control over death is empowering and reassuring to us. If someone is suffering from a terminal illness, intolerable pain, or in a long-term coma, euthanasia is an acceptable option for someone to end his or her life. With the consent of their doctor(s) these people should be able to have the law on their side supporting their decisions.

    Read More

  • The Slippery Slope of Euthanasia

    1061 Words  | 3 Pages

    The debate on whether voluntary euthanasia should be legalized has been a controversial topic. Euthanasia is defined as ‘a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life, to relieve intractable suffering’ [1]. Voluntary euthanasia refers to the patients who understand the terms in the consent and sign up under consciousness, while involuntary euthanasia is performed against patient's wishes and some people may regard it as a murder [1].

    Read More

  • Euthanasia Should Be Legal

    2051 Words  | 5 Pages

    Euthanasia has been an ongoing debate for many years. Everyone has an opinion on why euthanasia should or should not be allowed but, it is as simple as having the choice to die with dignity. If a patient wishes to end his or her life before a disease takes away their quality of life, then the patient should have the option of euthanasia. Although, American society considers euthanasia to be morally wrong euthanasia should be considered respecting a loved one’s wishes. To understand euthanasia, it is important to know the rights humans have at the end of life, that there are acts of passive euthanasia already in practice, and the beneficial aspects.

    Read More

  • Euthanasia; A Divided World

    1363 Words  | 3 Pages

    Euthanasia is the medical practice of ending one’s life in order to preserve their dignity and relieve extreme pain when quality of life is low. There are several methods of euthanasia of which people choose from. These methods include active, passive, voluntary, involuntary, indirect and assisted euthanasia. As of now, only a few countries have legalized euthanasia. The countries most known for the legalization of it are Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. In a recent news article titled “Why I Support Assisted Dying”, a Canadian poll revealed that 26 % of physicians would be willing to actually participate in assisted dying and that if euthanasia were legalized, more and more medical professionals would agree with it (Morris, 2013). In this specific article, there is some light shed on the issue in comparison to others which often put a negative spin on the issue. In instances where palliative care is not enough, physician assisted euthanasia is proposed by the article. Due to many of the negative stigmas attached to the matter at hand, many see euthanasia as a social problem which should not be carried out. However, there are plenty of reasons to rectify such attitudes. From a sociological perspective, a functionalist would argue that euthanasia should not be a social issue and should be legalized. Euthanasia is an alternative anyone should have the right to exercise to end one’s own suffering, maintain dignity and pride until the very end, and to free up medical funds that could be used towards saving other lives.

    Read More

  • Euthanasia: An Ethical Dilemma

    1817 Words  | 4 Pages

    The ethical debate regarding euthanasia dates back to ancient Greece and Rome. It was the Hippocratic School (c. 400B.C.) that eliminated the practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide from medical practice. Euthanasia in itself raises many ethical dilemmas – such as, is it ethical for a doctor to assist a terminally ill patient in ending his life? Under what circumstances, if any, is euthanasia considered ethically appropriate for a doctor? More so, euthanasia raises the argument of the different ideas that people have about the value of the human experience.

    Read More

  • Argument in Favor of Euthanasia

    1897 Words  | 4 Pages

    Euthanasia is one of the most recent and controversial debates today (Brogden, 2001). As per the Canadian Medical Association, euthanasia refers to the process of purposely and intentionally performing an act that is overtly anticipated to end the person’s life (CMA, 1998)

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Legalizing Euthanasia

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    Death, whether we accept it or not we must all face it at some point in our lives. But, why must some choose to leave before their time? The term euthanasia comes from the Greek language meaning “easy death.” Euthanasia, also known as mercy killing or physician-assisted suicide is a widely disputed argument, that numerous individuals who are for it and those who are opposed to it believe that their views are correct. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines euthanasia as the intentional killing of a patient without agony who is suffering from an incurable and painful disease or an irreversible coma. The practice of euthanasia is illegal in most countries yet it is still a debatable subject. Although, countless countries and states do not allow euthanasia, there are pros and cons for their decision. However, the more nuanced approach would be legalizing euthanasia due to the freedom of choice, humanness, and the grief of loved ones.

    Read More

  • Argument Against Euthanasia

    477 Words  | 1 Pages

    Euthanasia is a medical procedure which speeds up the process of dying for people with incurable, painful, or distressing diseases.  The patient’s doctor can stop treatment and instead let them die from their illness.  It come from the Greek words for 'good' and 'death', and is also called mercy killing.  Euthanasia is illegal in most countries including the UK .  If you suffer from an incurable disease, you cannot legally terminate your life.  However, in a number of European countries it is possible to go to a clinic which will assist you to die gracefully under some very strict circumstances.

    Read More

  • Women Health: The Legalization of Abortion

    1575 Words  | 4 Pages

    Keown, J. (2002). Euthanasia, ethics, and public policy: An argument against legislation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Read More

More about Euthanasia: Humans Playing God

Open Document