Why is euthanasia important to those who are terminally ill? Euthanasia is the act of assisting another person’s suicide, typically someone who is very ill. There are two forms of mercy killing, voluntary euthanasia and involuntary euthanasia, which are both illegal in several states. Euthanasia should be legalized in all states because mercy killing is a humane act toward another human being. Close your eyes and imagine yourself bedridden. You’re suffering from a terminal illness and you’re only alive because there are all sorts of tubes connected to you. Your family are paying to keep you alive even though they don’t have enough to keep themselves alive. Your mom has given up her job to look over you and your dad is the only source of income. …show more content…
In 2008, Kay Gilderdale was trialed for giving her daughter, who had a severe form of myalgic encephalomyelitis, with lethal drugs that sped up her death. Gilderdale’s daughter, Lynn had already made several failed attempts at suicide before her mother gave her lethal drugs (Staff and Agencies). Myalgic encephalomyelitis is a disorder that causes extreme fatigue, the fatigue gradually builds up until a person can no longer do anything. It was clear that Gilderdale’s daughter was only going to get worse, thus, Gilderdale’s decision to end her daughter’s life was an act of kindness that relieved her of her chronic fatigue. Furthermore, in 2013, Heather Pratten pleaded guilty for assisting her son’s suicide. Nigel suffered from Huntington’s disease, an illness that progressively destroys brain cells. Pratten made a split second decision and suffocated Nigel with a pillow after he overdosed on heroin (Pietras). Nigel knew that if he continued living then his illness would eventually overcome him and he would only be a shell of his former self. In order to prevent her son’s health from deteriorating further, Pratten put an end to Nigel’s life, so he wouldn’t have to suffer any longer. Mercy killing is an act of compassion that stops an ill human being from
Anyone can be diagnosed with a terminal illness. It doesn’t matter how healthy you are, who you are, or what you do. Some terminal illnesses you can prevent by avoiding unhealthy habits, eating healthily, exercising regularly and keeping up with vaccinations. However some terminally ill people cannot be helped, their diseases cannot be cured and the only thing possible to help them, besides providing pain relieving medication, is to make them as comfortable as possible while enduring their condition. Many times the pharmaceuticals do not provide the desired pain escape, and cause patients to seek immediate relief in methods such as euthanasia. Euthanasia is the practice of deliberately ending a life in order to alleviate pain and suffering, but is deemed controversial because many various religions believe that their creators are the only ones that should decide when their life’s journey should reach its end. Euthanasia is performed by medical doctors or physicians and is the administration of a fatal dose of a suitable drug to the patient on his or her express request. Although the majority of American states oppose euthanasia, the practice would result in more good as opposed to harm. The patient who is receiving the euthanizing medication would be able to proactively choose their pursuit of happiness, alleviate themselves from all of the built up pain and suffering, relieve the burden they may feel they are upon their family, and die with dignity, which is the most ethical option for vegetative state and terminally ill patients. Euthanasia should remain an alternative to living a slow and painful life for those who are terminally ill, in a vegetative state or would like to end their life with dignity. In addition, t...
In A Tender Hand in the Presence of Death, Heather, the nurse, would put in IVs and feeding tubes in hopes of prolonging hospice care even when they were ineffective in order to give more time to the families who were having trouble letting go (MacFarquhar, 2016). In my personal situation, I can relate, as two of my grandparents have passed away from cancer and suffered for a long time before passing. Although it was incredibly sad and our families bargained for more time, there was some peace in knowing that the suffering had come to an end once they passed. For our own selfish reasons, we want as much time as possible with our loved ones who are suffering and close to death, but in reality, the decision for assisted suicide should only concern the individual whose life it
“Michael Manning, MD, in his 1998 book Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Killing or Caring?, traced the history of the word euthanasia: ‘The term euthanasia.originally meant only 'good death,'but in modern society it has come to mean a death free of any anxiety and pain, often brought about through the use of medication.” It seems there has always been some confusion and questions from our society about the legal and moral questions regarding the new science of euthanasia. “Most recently, it has come to mean'mercy killing' — deliberately putting an end to someone’s life in order to spare the individual’s suffering.’” I would like to emphasize the words “to spare the individual’s suffering”.
Should opting out of life be an option for those who are sick or hurt people? With euthanasia, that is something now available for terminally ill patients. “The definition of euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma, or the intentional termination of life or the intentional interruption of procedures intended to prolong life by a physician” (Oxford Illustrated Companion to Medicine). Other names it is known by is mercy killing, or assisted suicide. It is also referred to as quietus, meaning death or something that causes death, but is very rarely called that (Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia). Euthanasia is illegal in most countries and almost every state
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
“Euthanasia is defined as a deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending life of another person to relieve that person's suffering and where the act is the cause of death.”(Gupta, Bhatnagar and Mishra) Some define it as mercy killing. Euthanasia may be voluntary, non voluntary and involuntary. When terminally ill patient consented to end his or her life, it is called voluntary euthanasia. Non voluntary euthanasia occurs when the suffering person never consented nor requested to end a life. These patients are incompetent to decide because they are either minor, in a comatose stage or have mental conditions. Involuntary euthanasia is conducted when it is against the will of the patient (Gupta, Bhatnagar, Mishra). Euthanasia can be either passive or active. Passive euthanasia means life-sustaining treatments are withheld and nothing is done to keep the patient alive. Active euthanasia occurs when a physician do something by giving drugs or substances that ends a patient’s life. (Medical News Today)
Euthanasia is a word derived from two Greek roots, which translates into, “good death”. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, “euthanasia is the act or practice of killing someone who is very sick or injured in order to prevent any more suffering”. In simpler terms, it the practice, which inhibits assisted suicide. Euthanasia was formerly a topic, which I failed to acknowledge, due to the lack of significance it has had in my life thus far. However, after taking this course this semester, I’ve come to the realization, euthanasia will impact my life and career as I move on through life. As a pre-nursing major, euthanasia will be a practice I will eventually come upon in some form, whether it is listening to patients discussing the possibility of undergoing euthanasia or
One thing that we often hear is that “death is just a part of life.” So often in our day and age do we hear people utter these words. However, death is far more significant and impactful than some would allege. True death is not merely a time when we cease to exist; it is an entombment, a mindset in which we are dead to this world. Throughout our lives, it is true that we can all be dead in one way or another, but it does not have to be that way. When we have our eyes opened to what death actually is, it is far easier to grasp what the true meaning of life is, and to embrace it. Often, we will come across individuals who are enveloped in death and others who are immersed in true life. The shadow of death and entombment lies upon some, encompassing
In order to provide a framework for my thesis statement on the morality of euthanasia, it is first necessary to define what euthanasia is and the different types of euthanasia. The term Euthanasia originates from the Greek term “eu”, meaning happy or good and “thanatos”, which means death, so the literal definition of the word Euthanasia can be translated to mean “good or happy death”.
Mercy killing terms are comforting when someone is going through severe medical condition. When person very close to us, is going through severe pain, or if they have completely lost the battle to fight with their life, our intuition is to free that person that lost battle. The desire to flee from this life goes to that certain level where the disabled person tries his/her best to end their life themselves only. Such as when Maggie was unable to use her hand, she tried to chew her own tongue and tried to choke on her own blood.
Mercy killing is the act of taking someone’s life painlessly. Victims of mercy killing “include persons who are in a vegetative state or those who suffer from an incurable and painful disease or condition.” People argue and refute mercy killing whether it is acceptable or not. It is neither acceptable nor wrong, arguably it is required to be a necessity when dealing with cases when there are no other options than surviving in the world in misery. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck’s character, Lennie, mentally ill, has committed a treacherous act of murder by mere accident because he was panicked. He is mercy killed by his close friend and sort of master, George, so that he will no longer be in misery and suffering. Mercy killing is a
Death is final. Some die naturally in a peaceful manner while others suffer through tremendous pain in order to get there. Euthanasia is the only way for some people to leave all their pain behind. Euthanasia is the act of killing another person in a merciful way. Of course, euthanasia has many more meaning to it than that. A person that is suffering from a terminal illness decides that life is not worth living because there is too much pain involved and ends his own life, would that be wrong of him? That is the question that is at hand.
First of all, euthanasia saves money and resources. The amount of money for health care in each country, and the number of beds and doctors in each hospital are limited. It is a huge waste if we use those money and resources to lengthen the lives of those who have an incurable disease and want to die themselves rather than saving the lives of the ones with a curable ailment. When we put those patients who ask for euthanasia to death, then the waiting list for each hospital will shorten. Then, the health care money of each country, the hospital beds, and the energy of the doctors can be used on the ones who can be cured, and can get back to normal and able to continue contributing to the society. Isn’t this a better way of using money and resources rather than unnaturally extend those incurable people’s lives?
The financial burden that is caused by the medical treatments needed is a contributing factor for many patients hardship. Patients that have no health insurance must rely on public assistance, meanwhile those that carry insurance must have the resources to pay co-pays, deductibles, out of pocket maximums and/or up to a 20% portion of medical services. “Estimates show that about 27% of Medicare's annual $327 billion budget goes to care for patients in their final year of life” (Appleby, 2006). States like Washington and Oregon have legalized the “Death with Dignity Act”, which allows patients with a terminal disease the right of choice.
An individual may ask questions along the lines of it is estimated that we spend approximately 20-30% of insurance money to the terminally ill. According to the online article, “The Cost of Keeping The Terminally Ill Alive,” by physician Richard Meyer, “Last year, Medicare paid 55 billion dollars just for doctor and hospital bills during the last two months of patient’s lives.” This means that more of our money is, almost in a sense, wasted on a patient in their last two months of life, instead of going into something more significant such as infrastructure, education, and food which would be more of a long term thing as all of those ideas can be implemented and last for years and years--more than just two months. In addition, Meyer strengthens his argument by explaining that “most of the bills are paid for by the federal government with few or no questions asked.... Modern medicine has become so good at keeping the terminally ill alive by treating the complications of underlying disease that the inevitable process of dying has become much harder and is often prolonged unnecessarily.” What physician Meyer is trying to explain is that, just because doctors and hospitals have the technology to keep individuals alive for a prolonged period of time, and because the federal government has the money needed to pay for the doctors, to build these hospitals, and to