Terri Schiavo was a woman from Florida who suffered brain damage and was in a coma since the beginning of 1990. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, feeling guilty after seeing his wife in a hospital bed, succeeded in getting her feeding tube removed. Unknowing to the parents of Terry, they later fought a legal battle in court to make the doctors put the tube back in again but lost. In 2005, Schiavo died, two weeks after the feeding tube had been removed. Schiavo was a human being like each and every one of us in a situation that was uncontrollable, lying on a hospital bed. Her husband, knowing that he would probably not see his wife ever again, did the difficult task of ending her life, allowing her to pass on without dealing with any more misery. It is times like this that draws the question: is Euthanasia mercy, or murder?
Euthanasia, or “mercy killing”, is strategically ending an ill person’s life painlessly. In the past decades, there has been much discussion about this around the world. Some European countries, like Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, have certain divisions of euthanasia that are considered to be legal. In other countries where euthanasia is strictly forbidden, courts decide not to punish people who practice it. There are two main types of euthanasia: active euthanasia (doctors or nurses giving an ill patient medicine that will kill them), and passive euthanasia (refusing to give necessary treatment/meals.) In some cases, the life supporting machine is turned off and patients slowly succumb to their pain. Sometimes it is decided not to give them food any more. The main problem in all this is who decides if and when euthanasia should be carried out: the doctors, the family, or the patient. Sometimes the relat...
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... of an unbalanced thought process or a simple logical decision in mentally ill patients? What if the individual choosing assisted suicide as an option and the family wouldn’t agree? In some cases, it is not clear if an ill person really desires to die. Euthanasia, in my opinion, should only take place if a person really wants to commit or if they fully comprehend how ill they are.
Works Cited
http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001289
http://www.lifenews.com/2013/11/18/euthanizing-the-unhappy-the-urgent-need-for-love/
http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/09/25/palliative-care-versus-euthanasia/
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005200
http://www.assistedsuicide.org/suicide_laws.html
http://www.elon.edu/e-web/pendulum/Issues/2005/11_10/opinions/euthanasia.xhtml
http://www.statisticbrain.com/euthanasia-statistics/
killing and letting die. Some argue that letting die, which is the action considered to take
Euthanasia is a word derived from Greek that has the etymological meaning of an easy death through the alleviation of pain (Moreno, 1995). Through the course of history, the signification of the term has changed and evolved in many different definitions. A useful definition of euthanasia on which we will base this essay, is named ‘mercy killing’, which signifies deliberately putting an end to someone’s life to avoid further suffering, as stated by Michael Manning in 1998. The euthanasia debate possesses a strong significance in our modern society. A discussion conducted by both scholars and politicians is going on whether physicians have the right to hasten the death of an individual by the administration of poison. In this essay
Death. It is the inevitable outcome of this journey we call life. It is human nature to embrace self-preservation and prolong life as long as possible. In the end, death comes for us all. It can come in the form of an unexpected and tragic accident. A person is taken from this world as quickly as they entered it, leaving their loved ones in shock and grieving the life that was ripped away so suddenly. But what of those who are faced with their impending death before it even happens; those who suffer from terminal illnesses or have sustained injuries that cannot be treated? In these cases, the question arises; should these individuals be allowed the option to end or receive assistance in ending their life on their own terms? Should someone suffering be given the choice to either hang on and let nature run its course or embrace death and face it without prolonging the pain. Many would argue the choice to end one’s own life would be immoral and defy the laws of God and that one who suggests taking their own life is in need of emotional or spiritual intervention. But one cannot fully grasp the emotions experienced when facing one’s own death, making the question of the morality of assisted suicide hard to weigh-. For me, humanity is what it all comes down to. When seeing a pet suffer from either illness or injury, the humane thing to do is to end their suffering. Why would this be any different for human beings? Every person should be given the freedom and the right to end their life by choice if it avoids prolonging pain and suffering.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines euthanasia as “the action of inducing a gentle and easy death” (Oxford English Dictionary). Many people around the world would like nothing more than to end their lives because they are suffering from painful and lethal diseases; suffering people desperately seek doctors to help them end their lives. Many people see euthanasia as murder, so euthanasia is illegal in many countries. Euthanasia is an extremely controversial issue that has many complex factors behind it including medical costs, murder and liberty rights. Should people have the rights to seek euthanasia from doctors who are well trained in dealing with euthanasia?
“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”.
My claim: I argue in favor of the right to die. If someone is suffering from a terminal illness that is: 1) causing them great pain – the pain they are suffering outweighs their will to live (clarification below) 2) wants to commit suicide, and is of sound mind such that their wanting is reasonable. In this context, “sound mind” means the ability to logically reason and not act on impulses or emotions. 3) the pain cannot be reduced to the level where they no longer want to commit suicide, then they should have the right to commit suicide. It should not be considered wrong for someone to give that person the tools needed to commit suicide.
Although society has a strong interest in preserving life, that interest lessens when a person is terminally ill and has a strong desire to end life. Lastly, legalization of assisted suicide would promote open discussion. These arguments make it hard to go along with the arguments against assisted suicide. Religious believers feel that we should trust the medical experts to
A person should have the option to discontinue living if they are in unbearable pain. The unrecoverable unconscious patients should have a relative make the choice for them. But only if they cannot make the choice themselves, such as a permanent coma, nonfunctioning brain, etc. A person suffering immense unbearable pain should be able to choose whether they want to continue fighting the pain. “In October 2014, twenty-nine-year-old Brittany Maynard renewed attention to the debate over euthanasia when she posted a YouTube video relating her personal story. Maynard was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in January 2014. After weighing the various treatment options, she decided that she would end her life before the disease became intolerable. She and her husband moved from California to Oregon, where assisted suicide [has been legal since] 1997. She established residency in the state and was able to obtain a prescription for a lethal dose of medication from her doctor” (Assisted Suicide and
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
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
There are two methods of carrying out euthanasia, the first one is active and the second one is passive. Active euthanasia means the physicians deliberately take actions which cause the death of the patients, for example, the injection of sedatives in excess amount. Passive euthanasia is that the doctors do not take any further therapies to keep the ill patients alive such as switching off the life supporting machines [1]. This essay argues that the legalization of the euthanasia should not be proposed nowadays. It begins by analyzing the problem that may cause in relation to the following aspects: ‘slippery slope’ argument, religious view, vulnerable people and a rebuttal against the fair distribution of medical resources. This essay concludes that the legalization of the voluntary euthanasia brings more harm than good.
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.
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.
More than likely, a good majority of people have heard about euthanasia at least once in their lifetime. For those out there who have been living under a rock their entire lives, euthanasia “is generally understood to mean the bringing about of a good death – ‘mercy killing’, where one person, ‘A’, ends the life of another person, ‘B’, for the sake of ‘B’.” (Kuhse 294). There are people who believe this is a completely logical scenario that should be allowed, and there are others that oppose this view. For the purpose of this essay, I will be defending those who are suffering from euthanasia.
Questions will always be present in an attempt to reason if euthanizing a person is an act of mercy or murder, and what situations fall under murder or mercy. The Christian worldview believes that suffering in life is a necessity much like God suffered for humanity’s sins through his human form of Jesus Christ who was crucified to pay ransom for man’s wrongs. Christian’s also believe that God has a plan for humanity despite the suffering that they must face. Euthanasia should not be used in Joni’s case because she is not facing a terminal illness. The family needs to reach out to local church members and pastors to help form a positive relationship in aid of reversing the negative thoughts. Emphasis on positive role models affected by suffering should be introduced to her such as the cases of Bethany Hamilton and Amy Purdy. There are studies that are progressing science in the direction of one day reversing paralysis through synthetic molecules to promote nerve growth. There is a possibility that if Joni’s wishes to be euthanized are not met, then she may attempt voluntary suicide. There are other beliefs that may not see euthanasia as an intolerable act of murder and sin, such as Atheism as they do not believe in God. To suffer is to be human, to accept suffering as a way to make a person stronger creates a lasting connection with the love and compassion of