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controversial issues in euthanasia
argument over euthanasia
short note on Mercy killing
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March 31, 1976 was the day the New Jersey Supreme Court gave the parents of Kathleen Quinland, a young comatose woman, permission to take her off of life support systems. This is the day which is believed to be the birth of the modern right-to-die movement. Euthanasia, commonly known as mercy killing, is a way to end the agony of those who are suffering from terminal illnesses and should be legalized instead of having to be preformed in secrecy. The medical and ethical concerns focus on the health care delivery system as it impacts end-of-life decisions. There are three categories that this can be broken into. They are the quality of life, how decisions at the end of life are made, and the physician’s changing role in end-of-life actions (Roberts, 22). The quality of life is constantly being redefined. The courts now support an individualistic approach to euthanasia, rather than imposing a society-wide prescription to what they feel constitutes the quality of one’s life. Since the quality of life can only be determined by the individual, directives allow individuals, or should they become incompetent, their families to express their preferences (Roberts, 23). Because only the individual or their families can decide what that particular persons quality is they should have the right to choose if euthanasia is an option. For those who suffer from terminal illnesses, euthanasia would be a way to escape from intolerable pain that cannot be alleviated by pain relieving drugs (Minois, 131). However those who oppose euthanasia believe that if a person has a terminal illness that person should not be assisted in death and should have as much aid in staying alive as possible. They believe that as long as the brain is ... ... middle of paper ... ... would also give people a chance to say goodbye to their loved ones. Terminally ill persons, if they wish to choose euthanasia, would be able to stop the pain that medications cannot alleviate. And it would also give a person a little piece of mind. Bibliography: Works Cited Battin, Margaret P., Rosamond Rhodes, and Anita Silvers, eds. Physician Assisted Suicide: Expanding the Debate. New York: Routledge, 1998. Larue, Gerald A. Playing God: 50 Religions Views on Your Right to Die. Wakefield, Rhode Island: Moyer Bell, 1996. Minois, Georges. History of Suicide: Voluntary Death in Western Culture. Baltimore and London, Johns Hopkins UP, 1999. Roberts, Carolyn and Martha Gorman. Euthanasia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 1996. Woodman, Sue. Last Rights: The Struggle over the Right to Die. New York and London: Plenum Trade, 1998.
Mortality is an ever-fleeting moment in time, yet some believe the spirit and soul is eternal. The desperation of perishing flesh painted in detail Dudley Randall’s poem “To The Mercy Killers.” The focused principally on the allying functions of a mortal body during a state of no recovery. Randall presents to an audience a plea for mercy, and for the continuous gift of life. Randall’s poem strikes as a sore spot within humanity, euthanasia. The choice to exercise a person’s right to euthanasia due to a medical condition or a personal choice seems to strike a sensitive spot within most human beings. The notion of playing GOD in a sense seems ridiculous to some yet others may view euthanasia as a personal right. Who is to say which personal view is correct? The purpose of this essay is to broaden and present alternative views in which euthanasia maybe appropriate.
Callahan, Daniel. "Physician -assisted Suicide Should Not be Legal." Suicide: Opposing Viewpoints. Biskup, Michael. ed. San Diego. Greenhaven Press, Inc.1992.
Sloan, I. The Right to Die: Legal and Ethical Problems. London: Oceana Publications, Inc. 1988.
"Physician-Assisted Suicide Shows No Mercy." American Decades Primary Sources. Ed. Cynthia Rose. Vol. 10: 1990-1999. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 501-504. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.
The right to assisted suicide is a significant topic that concerns people all over the United States. The debates go back and forth about whether a dying patient has the right to die with the assistance of a physician. Some are against it because of religious and moral reasons. Others are for it because of their compassion and respect for the dying. Physicians are also divided on the issue. They differ where they place the line that separates relief from dying--and killing. For many the main concern with assisted suicide lies with the competence of the terminally ill. Many terminally ill patients who are in the final stages of their lives have requested doctors to aid them in exercising active euthanasia. It is sad to realize that these people are in great agony and that to them the only hope of bringing that agony to a halt is through assisted suicide.When people see the word euthanasia, they see the meaning of the word in two different lights. Euthanasia for some carries a negative connotation; it is the same as murder. For others, however, euthanasia is the act of putting someone to death painlessly, or allowing a person suffering from an incurable and painful disease or condition to die by withholding extreme medical measures. But after studying both sides of the issue, a compassionate individual must conclude that competent terminal patients should be given the right to assisted suicide in order to end their suffering, reduce the damaging financial effects of hospital care on their families, and preserve the individual right of people to determine their own fate.
Throughout the centuries, there has been increasing debate regarding suicide and the acceptable reasons for committing such an act. Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and David Humes are just a sample of the many philosophers and theologians that have commented on this delicate subject - each with slightly differing views. For this essay, I will focus on assisted suicide as it relates to the development of acceptable standards that would be uncompromising to the beliefs and ideals of differing social groups. It is in this manner that I will attempt to outline some of the increasingly difficult dilemmas presented by this hotly debated subject.
The discussion of physician-assisted suicide is frequently focused around the ethical implications. The confusion commonly surfaces from the simple question, what is physician-assisted suicide? Physician-assisted suicide can be defined as a circumstance in which a medical physician provides a lethal dose of medication to a patient with a fatal illness. In this case, the patient has given consent, as well as direction, to the physician to ethically aid in their death (Introduction to Physician-Assisted Suicide: At Issue,
"Assisted Suicide: Finding Common Ground." Lois Snyder, JD; and Authur L. Caplan, PhD. Annals of Internal Medicine. March 21, 2000. v.132, n.6
One of the arguments used by people who support euthanasia is that the quality of life matters more that quantity. Additionally, the proponents of euthanasia maintain that a person has the right to make the decision on what is good for him/her provided he/she does not violate other people’s right (National Health Services,
Cavan, S. . Euthanasia: The debate over the right to die. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., print.
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
The issues surrounding Life, Death and the Law spark war between those who argue the traditional view and are opposed to end-of-life procedures and those who argue for complete individual autonomy on how and when their life should come to an end. It also takes a deeper look into constitutional law, namely the roles legislation, adjudication and prosecutors play in end-of-life law and policy.
... greater pain and anguish for longer periods of time than my father did, I believe euthanasia is the only compassionate form of relief we can provide. I believe it is morally important to allow an individual to die with respect for his or her dignity, while respecting his or her autonomy. Because of these reasons, euthanasia is morally justified when administered under strict controls.
Kuhse, Helga. “Euthanasia.” A Companion to Ethics. Ed. Peter Singer. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 1991. 294-302. Print.
The major advantage of euthanasia is that it prevents a person from having to endure the rest of their life in pain. There is no appropriate reason that a person who is suffering from an incurable disease or condition should have to spend the rest of his or her life that way. If their family agrees with them, then the patient’s suffering should be put to an end. Many peop...